Aussie sensation invades US Idol

THEY shared a first name, an Australian heritage and a passion for music - now budding American Idol Michael Johns has been compared to his idol, the late Aussie rocker Michael Hutchence, en route to the program's final 12.

Johns received the rave review from the starmaker show's influential judges, who have backed the young hopeful to "go all the way through" the series.

Despite mutterings over an import potentially taking the US show's top prize (hello, Damien Leith?), the 29-year-old is now considered one of the hot favourites to win the record deal.

Music producer and industry heavyweight Randy Jackson was first to praise Johns for his Hutchence-like qualities, after impressing with a performance of the Simple Minds hit Don't You (Forget About Me).

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