Songs From Previous Australian Idol

There's no better place to start our star-dusted retrospective of the Australian Idol wunderkids than with the winner of Season One, Guy Sebastian ("Angels Brought Me Here"). The finale, in which he faced off against Shannon Noll, became the second-most-popular (non-sporting) broadcast in Australian television history. For Noll fanatics, we lead off with "Shine."

The all-girl final from 2005 saw Kate DeAraugo ("Faded") prevail over Emily Williams. In the competition's aftermath, the two finalists would unite, alongside show veterans Ricki-Lee Coulter and Paulini Curuenavuli, in the Australian Idol supergroup Young Divas. Fancy a boogie? Look no further than their infectious cover of "Happenin' All Over Again."

Season Two (2004) was conquered by Casey Donovan, who was only 16 at the time. Here we've included a couple of tracks from her debut album, For You: the blissful "Flow" and the gutsy "What's Going On." Runner-up that year was Anthony Callea, who, post-Idol, showed his effortless mastery of the heartbreaking ballad with "Per Sempre (For Always)."

Australian Idol, like its worldwide counterparts, is more than just a TV talent show; it's a pop culture landmark, the truly defining global entertainment phenomenon of the 21st century. The show is so big you can see it from space. Each winner of the first four seasons has seen their debut singles rocket to #1 on the charts — and, in the case of Anthony Callea, "The Prayer" became Australia's biggest- and fastest-selling track . . . ever. Here, we've gathered together the best of the show's finalists, as they belt out the tracks that took them from TV stars to chart-conquering pop heroes.