Kiwi just misses becoming an Australian Idol

Emily Williams

They may have lost the rugby, netball and league - but the Aussies rallied to narrowly prevent a Kiwi becoming their third reality television pop star.

Emily Williams, a teenage mum from Auckland who started a new life in Brisbane driving a forklift three years ago, was pipped to the Australian Idol crown by Kate DeAraugo when the public vote was revealed at the Sydney Opera House last night.

Telephone and text message voting closed at 10.30pm (NZT) with a show spokesman saying the early trend showed a 50:50 split between the two women. The exact margin had not been released last night.

DeAraugo, who failed auditions for the show's first two instalments, scored a recording contract with Sony BMG and a new Mazda MX5, which the 19-year-old can head back to rural Victoria in.

The Bendigo swimming instructor will release her debut album in mid-December.

Williams, 21, and DeAraugo beat more than 25,000 hopefuls to make the grand final.

The New Zealander, a self-confessed "ghetto chick", dedicated her dream run to the show's climax to her daughter Asia.

"I just want her to be proud of me, to one day say 'that's my Mum'," she said before performing Chaka Khan's I'm Every Woman while the votes were being tallied.

The bubbly Polynesian impressed the judging panel from the outset, emerging from the massive talent cull six months ago to make the initial 150 - and then the top 30 contenders that were eventually whittled down to the final 13.

Williams, who was rated as the favourite with Australian bookmaker Centrebet, was the first contender to make it through to the final and was joined by DeAraugo after the last elimination round last week.

Williams was all smiles despite the verdict and had plenty of support in the audience including her mother Yvonne Miller who made the trip across the Tasman.

"It's just so fantastic to get this far. I never thought I'd have gotten this far."

Though Williams will be eventually returning to the warehouse, her singing career is far from on the rocks.

Runners-up in the previous Idol competitions, Shannon Noll and Anthony Callea, have both forged successful recording careers in Australia.

- NZPA