Canada got its first peek at the first 45 hopefuls in the race towards Canadian stardom in the season premier of Canadian Idol. Ottawa and Toronto were the first two cities showcased in the preliminary audition show. Ryan Malcolm (last year’s controversial winner) showed up in Ottawa to wish contestants well as they prepared to meet the show’s four judges: Farley Flex (concert promoter and artist manager), Zack Warner (“Simon Wannabe” and president of Toronto-based Venus Management and Venus Records), Sass Jordan (Singer-songwriter and obligatory Canadian 80s icon) and Jake Gold (artist manager whose clients include super-Canadian rockers The Tragically Hip).
Front and centre were host Ben Mulroney and kooky sidekick Jon Dore, who shamelessly spent the first five minutes of the show promoting Winterlude – a HUGE winter festival in Ottawa - with a goofy romp skating down the world famous Rideau Canal (the world's largest skating rink!). Ahhh… but back to the contestants! What can we expect this year?
Ottawa saw 22 finalists receive “gold tickets” that would see them to Toronto where they will take their place in the top 100. Some folks that received a lot of positive attention from the camera and the judges included:
· Katie Bernard, a rock chick extraordinaire
· Anmary Legault, a drop dead gorgeous electrician/construction worker who was described by the judges as “someone with a natural, graceful personality” who has “Star power,” but is not the best singer.
· Andrea Gal, who – being the last contestant of the day- was so impressive, Jake stated that her audition was the first time that day he felt truly inspired.
Toronto saw 23 finalists move through to the next round. International Idol winner Kurt Nielson entertained the crowd as they waited for their chance to dazzle the judges. Random acts of dodge ball and mambo lines broke out as the day wore on. Toronto saw more men come through the competition than Ottawa, but they also had the more defensive crowd. Of course, being Canada, the harshest come back came from one contestant who accused Jake of wearing pants that were too tight.
Those showcased from the Toronto round (thus, indicated by the producers as the ‘ones to watch’) included:
· Dianne Archer, a woman with a ‘Lauryn Hill-like’ voice who was warned by the judges that she needed to make the songs her own, although she had them by the second note.
· Amy Baillard, who sang something from the Littlest Mermaid and had a Betty Boop quality to her voice (in my opinion she got in on her “cuteness” and obvious theatrical talent. I can see her getting on people’s nerves in a hurry)
· Mohanza Kelly. Supported by his high schoolteacher who waited for him as he auditioned, Mohanza was told by the judges that he was the first “real” singer of the day.
· Joshua Seller (My pick so far!) who sang “Where the Streets Have No Name” was called the best singer in the competition thus far by Zack.
· Brock Groombridge is a Clay Aiken dead ringer. This 16-year-old farm boy caused the most controversy amongst the judges. Jake declared he would not survive past the next round, to which the other three judges strongly disagreed. I guess time will tell….
Tomorrow night, CTV will air the second episode where Idol auditions from Eastern Canada (Montreal, Halifax and Saint John’s) will be shown. The moral of tonight’s show seemed to be DON’T sing “A Whole New World” when auditioning for Canadian Idol (evidently the judges heard enough versions from Ottawa alone to last them a cryogenics induced lifetime).
What I liked best about what I saw tonight was that presence and vocal ability were clearly being judged without a search for the most marketable “model” who can sing; although, at least two of the women showcased tonight probably got in on their looks and not on talent. Last year’s watchers may remember the unique folksy Jenny Gear who made it into the top ten with her talent that actually brought the male judges to tears when she auditioned!!! This year looks just as promising.
It was striking to me tonight how different Canadian Idol is from American Idol. There is less of a “Pop” quality to the show and the judges seem to encourage other genres of musical talent into the competition. Our 80s icon (Sass) is also not afraid to be honest (unlike Paula). Similar to American Idol, though, are the weirdoes who came out in full force, as predicted. I believe William Hung may have competition from one fellow who screamed a very painful version of “Rhinestone Cowboy”. The best line of the evening, however, belonged to Zack who said to one particularly tone-deaf contestant, “You don’t have a future in singing, but you may have a future in moose calling”.
Good writeup Starfishy. I watched the hour and must admit some of it was very painful to watch. It is a much different program then American Idol but I can see some similarities that will likely be developed over the next few months. The panel is good and like you said Zack Warner will give Simon a run for his money.
We had the usual back talk from some of the contestants who did not agree with the judges commentary. They can get a little beligerent but over all they behaved themselves.
I agree that Joshua Seller was good and I liked Andrea Gal as well. She was a pleasant surprise to the judges at the end of a long day. I disagreed with Jake on Brock Groombridge (definitely a Clay look alike). I think he will make it further then the next round.
Tonight should be interesting. I must admit I prefer the competition when they have made their selections to go to the final 100. I know that some of the contestants honestly think that they are talented and can sing but they obviously are not hearing things the way we are.
I am looking forward to tonight and the contestants from Eastern Canada.
Hey Wolf, did you catch the welcome for us on the discussion board? There's some info about "how to submit there" and I hope you don;t think I am elbowing in on the Canadian Idol action...please feel free to submit as well!
Thanks for the feedback. I was certainly charmed by Brock too...he's not as twangy as Clay.
I am ALSO looking forward to the Eastern Canadian show tonight (Halifax being my adopted 'hometown', although not where I am now... I expect to get VERY 'homesick'!).
Hi Starfishy! Yep caught the welcome after I had finished writing. Guess I should read the headlines before I start typing. Don't feel like you are elbowing at all. I appreciate your coverage and will support you in your writing. Look forward to it.
I agree with JosephNYC. I think it would be cool to watch Canada's version of the show. I know for a fact that American Idol is shown in Canada... so why not the other way around?
I think that it would be great for Fox to carry it. It is a smaller version of American Idol but I think that the American audience just might enjoy it. At least it would be fun to compare. We get lots of coverage of the American Idol up here and enjoy it.
The humour is quite different for each show too. I mean, I know I am gonna come off like I am slightly biased (which I am), but I find the American Idol commercials SOOO lame (the ones that use AI contestants for Subway/Ford/Coke/ECT). And the Canadian show steers clear of those - if I am remembering correctly, and relies on little comedy bits by the , albeit arguably as lame, "correspondant".
Its something you would have to watch to see...but I find the humour used in each to be one of the biggest differences. That and the musical styles that are permitted within the competition... And the fact that the AI is almost garenteed to hit it "big"...where the winner of CI is not garenteed the same instant prestige.
Perhpas you might be able to download them from some file sharing program (not that I would encourage anything illegal... because in Canada its not...heh heh).
*lol*, as far as I know there is no legal place to download the episodes of Canadian Idol, so you'll just have to suffer or find a canadian to record it for you and sent the tape to you :)
Rellybois said: Is there a place online where you can watch episodes of Canadian Idol?
If you are still interested....
If you go to the Canadian Idol page they have a video wall with tonnes of videos from the auditions and they will probably be putting up the performances soon too.
Then we will welcome you to weigh in with your opinon if you still think the show is as bad as your forsee...
GUEST said: I take issue with Ryan Malcolm being last year's controversial winner. First I've heard! He had and has a lot of fans.
Ryan Malcom over Toya???
COME ON!
Remember how upset the judges were that show? I believe Jake Gold walked off the set he was so cheesed off. It was a shocker result show to say the least. You REALLY don't remember that?
And besides hosting cheesy entertainment bits for CTV...Malcom has hardly been burning up the airwaves...
The best bit of truth so far was on Air Farce...when they were making fun of Malcom's dissapointing CD sales...It was a spoof on all those silly promos on CTV that were promoting his album in between shows...instead of saying the title and whatever PR, the voiceovers were saying:
"Please, the next 10 people to make it down to the station can take as many of these CDs as they can carry...we need the storage space".
And then after the next commercial...the same promo with,
"Ok, ok, ok...We will pay YOU to cart these CDs away...If you have a truck, make us an offer...whatever you think is fair...PLEASE"
Hey guys. Brock goes to my school, he is TOTALLY awesome, deserves nothing but the best. He is such a talented person, in singing, acting, and just a genuine guy. VOTE BROCK FOR CANADIAN IDOL!!!!!
I gotta say my favourite is Mohanza Kelly. Not only because we went to school together but because he can really sing. He has the total package. talent, personality, looks and a darn good smile.
I'm from the states and I grew up with Joshua Seller. He went to my church until he went off to college. He is an awsome guy with an amazing voice. He's not bad looking either! I really hope he wins, he deserves it! I just wish that they would air Canadian Idol in the states!
That's so awesome that your pick so far is Joshua Seller. He's mine too! I know him, and besides being a GREAT singer (you should hear him and his little brother Jonathan sing together) he's a great person. A great pick!
Who was it that said they went to church with Josh?? That would be Colonial Woods Missionary Church...I may know you! I go there a lot because I have lots of friends that live there. And was in quizzing for a long time.
