FRESH from the South African jungle, Shannon Noll is embracing his new title as Australia’s favourite runner-up.
His second place to comedian Fiona O’Loughlin on this year’s instalment of I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! was reminiscent of Australian Idol in 2003 when he just missed out to Guy Sebastian.
“I can’t dodge it really, can I,” Noll joked.
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READ NOW“That close and no cigar again.
“But Fiona’s a wonderful person and she’s been through so much, so I was quite happy to get as far as I did amongst the company I was in.”
But Noll’s career from a farm hand in Condobolin to the only Australian male artist in national chart history to ever achieve 10 consecutive top 10 singles has shown that coming second is sometimes just as good as winning.
“I’ll continue to come second if I can,” he said.
Now the Aussie music icon is celebrating his first album in seven years – Unbroken – which was released while he was in the jungle.
“It was something very different than I’d ever done before,” he said.
“But it definitely did my head in there without knowing what was happening.
“I wondered if I could ask production to find out for me but then I thought if it didn’t go well, then I’m stuck in here and I can’t get out and promote it, so I thought I was better off just leaving it and finding out when I got out.
“It was the record label’s idea and we thought it might pay off.”
And it did, debuting at number 7 and as the highest Australian release for the week.
“I was really proud of that,” he said.
But now Noll is back in civilisation, he is able to get on the road and bring the new album to fans.
“I’ve been so excited to play a few of these new songs off the new album for so long now,” he said after his first show of the tour.
“Breath of Life is one we put in the set and I think I wrote that six or seven years ago, so to finally see that make it into the set and make it on the album and be released is a really great feeling.
“The crowd seemed right into it and knew a lot of the new songs, which is great.
“Then with Lift and Shine and Drive and What About Me in there as well, plus a sprinkling of new ones, it’s a really fun mix and it’s great and really enjoyable to perform.”
THE ESSENTIALS
Who: Shannon Noll
June 1 – Ravenswood Hotel
Tickets from the venue on 9537 6054
June 2 – The Charles Hotel, North Perth
www.ticketmaster.com.au
June 3 – The Northshore Tavern, Hillarys
www.ticketmaster.com.au