Viewers described the change as ‘one of the weirdest decisions’ the show has ever made.

Australian Idol fans have called out a major change in Monday night’s grand finale. Photo: Channel Nine

Australian Idol fans have been left outraged after noticing a major change in Monday night’s grand finale. The nail-biting episode ended with 19-year-old Marshall Hamburger being crowned this year’s winner, beating out runner-ups Iilysh Retallick and Gisella Colletti and taking home $100,000.

While many viewers were thrilled by the result, they were left baffled by the “anticlimactic” announcement and the fact that he didn’t perform a winner’s single at the end of the episode. Instead, host Scott Tweedie revealed that Marshall’s debut album, which is full of covers performed on the show, would be released later this week.

“Marshall’s album featuring a collection of his performances from Australian Idol is available this Friday,” he said. “It also includes this top 12 group single, ‘Listen to the Music’. You can pre-order it right now on iTunes, or scan the QR code on the screen, or search for it right now.”

Fans quickly took to social media to complain about the glaring omission, with one person asking: “Doesn’t the winner get some sort of winner’s single?”

“Where was the winner performance?” another asked, followed by a third who said, “Getting rid of the winner’s single certainly ruins the ending! What a bad idea that was”.

“Really anticlimactic without a winner’s song. That’s a dumb change,” someone else said, while a different user replied, “No winner’s single is a stupid change”.

“No winner’s single one of the weirdest decisions they’ve made. Not sure why they did that,” another remarked.

Fans have questioned why Marshall Hamburger didn’t perform a winner’s single after being announced as the 2025 champion. Photos: Channel Nine

What’s a winner’s single?

It’s tradition for the Australian Idol champion to release a debut single alongside the grand finale announcement, dating back to season one’s Guy Sebastian and his song ‘Angels Brought Me Here’.

Other notable winner’s singles include Casey Donovan’s ‘Listen With Your Heart’, Damien Leith’s ‘Night of My Life’, Natalie Gauci’s ‘Here I Am’, Wes Carr’s ‘You’ and Stan Walker’s ‘Black Box’. Season three champion Kate DeAraugo also recorded her winner’s single ‘Maybe Tonight’, although this was released six days after her finale aired.

Even the last two Australian Idol winners of Channel Seven’s reboot released a winner’s single, with Royston Sagigi-Baira releasing ‘Invincible’ in 2023 and Dylan Wright releasing ‘Paper Heart’ last year.

Why didn’t Marshall release a winner’s single?

It’s believed the reason why Marshall didn’t record a winner’s single is because the prize for this year’s season of Australian Idol no longer includes a recording contract with Sony Music Australia.

This has been replaced with an exclusive recording package with Hive Sound Studios, in addition to the $100,000 prize money and the esteemed title of Australian Idol 2025.

Instead of recording a winner’s single, Marshall’s debut album, The Idol Collection, features 11 songs he performed throughout the season. This includes his audition song ‘Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic’, his three grand finale songs, and the top 12 group single ‘Listen to the Music’.

The album is being released on Friday, April 11, by 19 Recordings, Ltd. and Eureka Productions Pty Limited, which is the production company behind the reality show.