Australia has voted...

...and our new Australian Idol is Natalie Gauci! Watched a bit of Australian Idol since I got here, and it's been the source of much amusement. Pretty much a carbon copy of the American version, although instead of one smarmy host, they have two. And instead of three judges of varying temperaments, they have four.

Most of the pleasure I've derived from watching has stemmed from the multitude of people on the show who have pretty obvious American doppelgangers. Seriously, of the two hosts and four judges, I see legitimate (and often scary) American resemblances to five of them. First, there's James Mathison, one of the two hosts, who looks like a dorky version of Jimmy Fallon. (If it's possible to be even dorkier than Jimmy Fallon.) Then there's Andrew G, the other host, who bears an eerie resemblance to Seann William Scott, aka Stifler. G -- guess he's related to Kenny (HA HA HAAAAA!!) -- has been growing a moustache this month for Movember, which has only made him look more like Scott's white trash/tranquilizer gun character from Old School. Of the judges, there's Dicko, who might as well be the twin of another SNL alum, Daryl Hammond. Mark Holden and Kyle Sandilands are not only Mark Hamill and Kiefer Sutherland, respectively, but they even share the same initials! And Marcia Hines... well, I can't exactly place her. But there's something there. Anyone have any thoughts?

All in all, it's made for quite enjoyable entertainment.

Oh yeah, there was another vote here this weekend. Australia has a new Prime Minister! And may I say, what a novel concept to have an election on a Saturday! An election during a time when it's easier for people to exercise their right to vote? Mind-blowing! The only logical reason for why the US doesn't do this is that the government just doesn't want to open for a whole extra day.

Anyway, it's out with John Howard, the second-longest tenured and arguably most successful Prime Minister in Australian history, and in with Kevin Rudd, a man whose creepiness can't be fully appreciated until you've seen his big shiny face plastered on every billboard and sign with the same vanilla smirk for six weeks. (I defy you to stare at the picture on the left for more than ten seconds. Go on, give it a try. It's impossible to not let it freak you out.) All in all, it's a big win for the Labor party here, which leans towards the liberal side. (That, of course, shouldn't be confused with the John Howard's Liberal party, which leans towards the conservative side. I know. Go figure.) And with Australia in the midst of a long-running and unprecedented state of growth, it will be interesting to see how this all pans out.