Murtzcellanious: Canadian Idol Live Report

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Canadian Idol Live Report

It was an interesting evening to say the least for me on Wednesday. I received media access to cover the second-last Canadian Idol performance show and it was a great experience.

Let me begin by saying that I am a big Theresa Sokyrka and Jacob Hoggard fan. While I desperately want both to make the finale on Wednesday, in some ways I kind of hope that Kalan Porter also makes it so that I no longer have to split my support. This will go against the wishes of many of Kalan’s wannabe wives that were standing outside the John Basset theater last night, but it is the truth. At least that is what my thoughts were before I headed inside.

I told Scott Keith that Kalan was the favorite to win a long time ago (although he still claims that I said Kaleb Simmons), and I thought that he was still the heavy favorite as I walked down Front Street.

When I got to the Convention Centre, I talked to a few friends that I saw standing in line. It seems that this show is either really popular or that there really are people in Toronto that did not care about the big Canada/Slovakia World Cup Game. In any event, it was cool seeing that there were other males in the 18-34 demographic that have no problems that they watch the show. There is no shame gentlemen. There is no shame.

I picked up my media access and got a sneak preview of the songs that were selected for each contestant and walked around for a bit. I popped into the media room for a second and saw the who’s who of Toronto journalism.

I then decided that it was time to work and headed outside to survey the situation. At around 7 PM Eastern, Jon Dore (Ben Mulroney’s sidekick host) made an appearance which excited the minions who were not able to get in. Leave it to Canadians to not do anything when they are rejected at the door of the venue. If we were in the States and Kalan Porter was Clay Aiken (actually, I don’t think that is too far off) I know the crowd wouldn’t have been as forgiving.

I headed back inside and went to my seat. There were many Canadian celebrities in attendance. I saw Kurt Browning and Brian Orser (figure skaters), as well as Brian Mulroney and Mike ‘Pinball’ Clemons.

At 7:15, the lights went up and then they got even brighter at 7:31. It was at this point that I saw a lot of Theresa support in the crowd. I got some reaction from one of Teresa’s biggest fans who was in attendance (as he is for most shows) which I will include at the end of this piece. When asked about her performance in comparison to the others, he said:

For some reason, Theresa’s popularity never translates well on TV, but it is clearly there. They are just more reserved than the Jacob and Kalan groupies who actually think that their Idols will hear them on stage and scream nonsensical poems of love to an audience that clearly isn’t there.

Right before the show started, producer John Brunton came to thank the crowd for making Canadian Idol the top show in the country. They brought on one of those standard audience-hypers to the tunes of ‘You Start Me Up’ by the Rolling Stones, but I really think this was unnecessary considering how ‘up’ the crowd already was. Nothing needed to be started. It was already there.

Before the show started, I noticed that judge Zack Werner was talking quite casually to Jacob Hoggard’s girlfriend. Unfortunately I didn’t catch her name, but I think we all know her as ‘Jacob’s girlfriend’ anyway (as evidenced by the two young girls sitting in front of me who would have probably been disappointed if the lovely girl would have signed her real name).

The show began promptly at 8 PM and Ben Mulroney came out to introduce the contestants. It was quite clear that Jacob received the biggest pop, although this would change over the course of the evening. There was an electric atmosphere in the crowd and I think this is because the show culminates with a winner next week.

Jacob was announced as the first performer and received a loud cheer. There was a theme of ‘hands’ that I saw in both of his songs. In the first song, he had his hands in his pockets the entire time and I thought this was kind of strange.

In any case, the judges seemed split on the performances as evidenced by their comments.

Jake: If people don’t vote for you, they gotta be crazy!

Sass: You’re a big giant juicy ham with a side of cheese… (Does anyone ever understand Sass’ comments?)

Zack: You don’t really want this thing.

Jacob was very good at playing the crowd and smiled to everybody before he headed off. I am sure that certainly earned him a few votes.

During one of the commercial breaks, the judges all got their make-up retouched. Gotta love live TV. I want somebody to do my make-up while I am typing at the computer.

Theresa was up next and delivered a mesmerizing performance, although I felt Zack’s commentary was a little harsh.

Zack: You gotta show why you’re the one.

I don’t know if Zack was trying to show his impartiality after giving Theresa and Jacob great feedback most of the time, but it was clear that Kalan was clearly the one he preferred all night long.

Speaking of the competition’s favorite, Kalan Porter was up next. He had a good show and even though I am not one of his biggest fans, it was certainly one of his better showings. Kalan had the benefit of having popular songs chosen for him. The crowd loved his rendition of U2 and it certainly trumped the India.Arie thing that they gave Theresa. At the end of the song, Zack stood up and clapped and this is the equivalent of getting Simon Cowell to actually give a damn. It was unheard of and I didn’t understand why Zack (who really never stands up) felt that Kalan was deserving of a standing ovation. To each their own though.

My favorite performance of the night belonged to Jacob. When he sang “I Want You To Want Me” by Cheap Trick, I was riveted. This time his hands were flailing all over the place. I don’t know if he was using his appendages to illustrate the difference between a ballad and an uptempo, but the irony was not lost on me. I was pleased that he saved his faster song for last and this totally erased any doubts that his first song left. Unfortunately, the judges did not agree with my assessment and while they applauded, they didn’t give him the standing ovation that I expected.

For all the reasons I liked Jacob’s song, I disliked Theresa’s. Don’t get me wrong. I think she sang it perfectly, but it just was a downer. Whereas Jacob got everyone on their feet, I almost felt like it was an insult to clap for Theresa. Not that the performance was bad, but because the sad emotion that she expressed almost made it seem like you were doing something wrong! The judges ate it up though, so I was pleased. Farley highlighted one of Theresa’s biggest strengths which is her vulnerability.

Farley: The way you use the first person makes me feel the song.

Finally, Kalan was up next. It was a good performance. Was it enough to win? I don’t think so, but it would be a shocker if he didn’t make the finale. His fans were happy and I was too because I felt that all three put on great performances. Enough to fend off any criticism that they did not belong there.

I am very interested to see what happens tonight. I really am not sure who is going to go home.

As promised, here is some reaction from Sherman, who is one of Theresa’s biggest fans. I asked him what he thought of her performance in comparison with the others.

She was truly amazing! She sings with soul and passion – that’s what captivated
so many fans. I conducted a poll on the CTV boards, and although it’s not a perfect way to get results, she has fans from every age group. People are signing her guestbook from the States and all over Canada – and you can tell that they too are from all walks of life. She has touched so many people with her music already.

Her Ready to Love performance was what I found to be the better of the two. She had the audience in the palm of her hand. Some people were in tears.

Kalan’s first performance had the crowd going and was the first performance of the night that really got crowd going and cheering. His 2nd performance didn’t do much for me, I’ve heard him sing much better before. But apparently the judges said it was really technically sound.

Jacob’s first performance was great. But his 2nd performance blew EVERYONE away. He is an entertainer and performer at heart, and he will always be. You just never know what to expect with Jacob. As Farley said before, he’s the M.A.P. of the competition – Most Anticipated Performer.

Theresa Rox my Sox!

Canadian Idol results are on tonight at 8 PM Eastern on CTV.

Murtz Jaffer is the world's foremost reality television expert and was the host of Reality Obsessed which aired on the TVTropolis and Global Reality Channels in Canada. He has professional writing experience at the Toronto Sun, National Post, TV Guide Canada, TOROMagazine.com and was a former producer at Entertainment Tonight Canada. He was also the editor at Weekendtrips.com.