Canadian Idol

From Idol series wiki

Canadian Idol is a reality television show on the Canadian television network CTV, based on the popular British show Pop Idol and its American counterpart American Idol. The show is a competition to find the best young singer in Canada. It is hosted by Ben Mulroney. Jon Dore was the "roving reporter" for the first three seasons (appearing in comedy skits throughout the show), and Elena Juatco is assuming the role for season four.

The show begins with a cross-Canada tour in which singers audition in front of four judges: Jake Gold, Sass Jordan, Zack Werner, and Farley Flex. Eventually the performers are narrowed down to 10 finalists (11 in season one due to a near-tie), with each competitor performing live. Viewers have two hours following the broadcast of the show to phone in their votes for their favourite competitor. On the following night's episode (live again), the competitor with the fewest votes is sent home.

L'oreal and Subway Restaurants are the sponsors for the show. L'Oréal hair and skin care segments replace the Ford singing segments seen on American Idol as it is not one of the sponsors. There is an unsponsored live group performance during the results show.

[edit] Season one

In the first season, which debuted in July 2003, Ryan Malcolm of Kingston, Ontario won, with Gary Beals of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia coming in second. Malcolm released his debut album entitled "Home" in October 2003, which included his first single from Canadian Idol: "Something More". In fact, eight members of the Season One Top 11 have released their own solo albums, including Gary Beals, Billy Klippert, Audrey De Montigny, Jenny Gear, Toya Alexis, Mikey Bustos, and Karen-Lee Batten.

Auditions were held in Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Ottawa, Calgary, Winnipeg, Halifax, and St. John's.

[edit] Season two

The second season of Canadian Idol debuted on June 1, 2004, and became the most watched show in Canada, drawing in over 3 million viewers each week.

Auditions were held in Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Ottawa, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Halifax, Regina, and St. John's.

Kalan Porter of Medicine Hat, Alberta won the series, and Theresa Sokyrka of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan was the runner-up. In November 2004, merely two months after the competition, Porter released his debut album entitled 219 Days - the number days spanning from his first audition to the release of his CD. Competitors from Season Two's Top 10 who have released albums include: Sokyrka, Jacob Hoggard (an album with his band Hedley), Jason Greeley, Shane Wiebe, and Joshua Seller.

[edit] Season three

In December 2004, CTV announced that they will be producing a third season of Canadian Idol in 2005. Auditions began in February and finished in April 2005 and the show debuted May 30, just days after the conclusion of the fourth season of American Idol but did not follow suit yet on the new change to that show.

Auditions were held in Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Ottawa, Calgary, Winnipeg, London, Sudbury, Saskatoon, St. John's, Moncton, Charlottetown, Sydney, and Whitehorse.

This season introduced a twist in the Wildcard semi-final round. On the group 4 results show, after the results were revealed, 11 previous competitors were brought out. (CTV had advertised the broadcast as having 12 competitors, but one dropped out at the last minute.) The judges expressed how they felt about each competitor, and each competitor had a chance to show why they should sing in the Wildcard, whether it be through song or a plea. Then, the public had a chance to vote which would decide which of the 11 competitors would sing in the Wildcard.

After the closest final vote in series history, Melissa O'Neil of Calgary, Alberta was crowned the winner; with Rex Goudie of Burlington, Newfoundland and Labrador the runner-up. Both O'Neil and Goudie have released albums. Aaron Walpole, Josh Palmer, and Suzi Rawn are also working on album releases; while Casey LeBlanc, Ashley Leitao and Amber Fleury will be recording one as a group.