So Damn Beautiful

I am not right out there, so it is very easy for people to go, ‘Where has he gone?', but I am still here. This has just been my job since I was 17.

– Singer Michael Murphy on his music career, The Press, 18 June 2014

If Frankie [Stevens] was my Idol daddy than Ben Lummis and Michael Murphy were definitely my cool older brothers. Chalk and cheese in style and personality, Lummis was reserved, deep, magnetic, with an air of mystery. Whereas Murphy was every bit the rock star: electric, unafraid, and responsible for the dramatic increase in Timaru hair wax sales during the mid-2000s.

– Timaru-raised poet Jordan Hamel remembers the 2004 season of NZ Idol, The Spinoff, 18 July 2019

It is strange — considering a decade has passed. I am sure I do not look like the same guy, but apparently I do. There are lots of photos up on my parents' walls. It is kind of hard to get away from.

– Michael Murphy on still being recognised a decade after NZ Idol, The Press, 18 June 2014

On the night of the finale my mum told my sister and I that we could call up and vote once each. I voted for Michael Murphy, and my sister voted for Ben Lummis, cancelling out each other’s votes and ruining my life. Look at the state of our country now, Jenny. This is what you made.

– Comedian James Mustapic remembers the trauma of 2004's NZ Idol final, The Spinoff, 16 March 2017