Dating someone from another country (in my case New Zealand), means occasionally stumbling upon pop cultural differences that didn’t quite make the jump across. A few days ago, after it came up in conversation, I sat my girlfriend down and forced her to watch the 2003 Australian Idol Paulini Gold Dress Incident. If you don’t remember this because it was 20 years ago (my bones are turning to dust as I write this), I’ll refresh your memory. Once upon a time back in the days of yore, a 21-year-old contestant named Paulini Curuenavuli was standing in front of the Australian Idol judges, getting feedback after singing the (very difficult) Destiny’s Child song Survivor.
This was pre-streaming, back when millions of people across the country would all sit down as a family (for once!) to watch together. On this particular night, Paulini had the gall to front the judges while wearing a fitted dress.
