Believe it or not, but Shannon Noll may just be experiencing something of a career renaissance. No, he hasn’t found acclaim in musical theatre or released a critically acclaimed album.
Nollsy’s rebirth is entirely grassroots. See, 2015 was the year that Shannon Noll officially became a meme, which isn’t to say it was the first year that Shannon Noll memes first appeared.
Instead, 2015 was the year that the former Australian Idol contestant went from a symbol of the Aussie cultural cringe to a living, walking, breathing, singing, human punchline.
It’s something we’ve touched on briefly in the past, but it seems like the groundswell is threatening to consume us all. Guys, this whole Shannon Noll thing is officially getting out of hand.
The Memes
There’s no exact logic as to what becomes a meme and what doesn’t. Something just enters the internet’s consciousness and it’s at that point that it says, “Alright guys, let’s do this.”
This is basically where the Noll phenomenon started, as one big inside joke amongst Australian internet users, who as it turns out, have simply way too much time on their hands.
The Trolls
Not content with simply lampooning the man who lost to Guy Sebastian on the first season of Australian Idol, the internet’s troll armies decided to take the piss out of the man’s livelihood.
As we recently reported, Noll pretty much can’t announce a gig without having the Facebook event flooded with hungry and eager trolls and the ‘Attending’ numbers on the pages often rank in the thousands.
To be fair, all this irony is actually something of a boon for the singer. As Huffington Post Australia notes, Nollsy’s Australia Day appearance at Cronulla’s Sting Bar has actually sold out.
“My friends and I did not know what happened. We wanted to go to take the piss as well but Sting [Bar] announced that the event was sold out. We were in disbelief but at the same time cacking ourselves laughing,” Shire local Rory McDonnell told HuffPo.
The Petitions
This is where the ironic trolling turned into a full-blown resurgence. Earlier this month, a ‘fan’ of Condobolin’s favourite son launched a petition to see Noll added to the Groovin The Moo lineup.
At the time of writing, the Change.org petition has just under 6,000 signatures and Nollsy himself has responded to the call, saying he’d definitely be up for playing Groovin The Moo if the organisers ask.
The dates for Splendour In The Grass 2016 were announced just yesterday and already the festival’s Facebook event page is being flooded with requests to add Shannon Noll to the lineup. No doubt a petition is forthcoming.
The Remixes
Those who want to express their tongue-in-cheek affection for Shannon Noll but are more musically inclined than into crafty memes have resorted to turning the singer’s hits into EDM mash-ups and remixes.
We recently wrote about one bedroom producer who combined Noll’s signature hit, ‘What About Me’, with Darude’s classic dance anthem ‘Sandstorm’. This is what the internet was invented for, boys and girls.
The Nollday
Nollsy is such an internet phenomenon at the moment that social media-savvy artists like Allday have managed to cash in on the singer’s popularity, jacking up their social engagement and like count by simply mentioning Nollsy’s name.
That said, Allday’s use of the ‘Noll Effect’ was pretty funny. Taking recently to his hyperactive Facebook page, the rapper penned an open letter to the singer requesting a duet on Guy Sebastian’s ‘Angels Brought Me Here’.
“Dear Shannon Noll,” he wrote, “I invite you to Melbourne to join me in recording a cover of Guy Sebastian’s song ‘Angels Brought Me Here’ on the 27th of January to prove once and for all that you are the DESERVING winner of Australian Idol 2003.”
“I will happily pay for your flights from Condoblin,” he added. Allday accompanied the post with an image of him sporting a makeshift Southern Cross chest tattoo, mimicking Nollsy’s own.
The Tribute Show
We’re not sure if this will even still be a ‘thing’ in November, but if you hold out until then, you can attend the 13th Annual Shannon Noll Was Robbed of Winning Australian Idol Memorial.
It’s being held on the steps of the Sydney Opera House “where this tragedy took place”, but there could be a bit of a line to get there – 14,000 have RSVP’d and 21,000 are interested.
“Saturday November 19th marks the 13th anniversary of the inaugural Australian Idol grand final where tragedy swept the nation as our lord and savior Shannon Noll was robbed of winning the Australian Idol title,” the event page reads.
“We will be playing Shannon’s music all afternoon followed by a moment’s silence to reflect and mourn, finishing up with a mass burning of Guy Sebastian CD’s and merchandise.”
