Can’t believe that Canadian Idol is down to the final six.
This week’s theme was Canadian Rock and the Idols were mentored by chart-topping Canadian band, Simple Plan. Before the show began, the host Ben Mulroney asked the judges for their thoughts.
Jake said that Canadian bands have a reputation for being great live bands. Sass said that some of her favorite Canadian acts include The Odds, Nickelback and Three Days Grace. Zack said that he wanted to get over with the lame part of the show. I couldn’t agree more. No, really. I couldn’t.
Ben threw to a Simple Plan video and then it was time for the performances.
Amberly started things off with “1, 2, 3, 4″ by Feist. It was an ironic song choice because I had just recently heard American Idol contestant Brooke White perform the song on the American Idol Live Tour. Before the song started, in her tutoring session, Simple Plan said that she looked like the girl next door. This was unintentionally ironic as Thiessen looked very different on this night as she was clad in a black ensemble and way more make-up than usual. Hey, I am not complaining. I thought she sounded good. It wasn’t the most memorable of performances, but definitely not one of her worst. I liked the shortened arrangement of the song as well. Jake said that while she didn’t change a lot about the song, she still did a “really good job.” Sass said that she had the singing thing down and Farley said that she “swallowed up the stage.” Zack said that she came across as an “Elvira Mistress of the Dark singing a Feist song.”
Next up was the competition-favorite, Theo Tams. He chose to sing “Sweet Ones” by Sarah Slean. What’s this year’s Canadian contestants continuing to choose Carly Rae chansons (I just wanted to see how many words I could fit into that sentence that started with the letter “c”). Anyway, it was just weird that Amberly sang “Put Your Records On” last week (which Carly Rae sang to perfection last year) and this week Theo also stole a page from Jepson’s songbook). Before the song started, Simple Plan told Theo that he belonged on the piano and to never forget who he was. As usual, Theo did a flawless job. At one point in the song, he kicked the bench that he was sitting on while playing the piano and while it was obviously rehearsed, it was still a cool spot. The judges all agreed that it was awesome and while Zack compared Theo to Rufus Wainwright, he wondered if Canada was ready for that type of Idol.
A puff video was shown next, showing the support that the Idols got from fans.
It was then time for Mitch MacDonald. While I seriously cannot believe he is still in the competition, you do have to respect the fact that he is. Before he started, Simple Plan said that he was ‘immersed’ in the song. When he came out, I knew something was up because the band was absent. It was just Mitch standing in front of the mic with his guitar and no one else on stage. Mitch chose “Love This Town” by Joel Plaskett. It was a very heartfelt performance and Mitch’s best so far. Unfortunately, I cannot escape the fact that MacDonald still has a very feminine-sounding voice and it is just hard to take him seriously. While I can admit that it was his best, I still think he is not at the level of the others.
Simple Plan told Earl Stevenson that he was really into his song and that he was intense. When Earl took the stage to sing “Little Bones” by The Tragically Hip, he looked a little rougher and seemed very motivated this week. He literally poured his heart and soul into the song, and while I am not the biggest Earl fan either, even I have to admit that his performance absolutely rocked the Bassett to its core. While I still think that his phrasing is completely off-base, he was one of the best on this night.
On the other side of the coin, one of my favorites in the competition, Drew Wright, did not have a good night. He chose “That Song” by Big Wreck and before he started, in his Simple Plan video, the band told him that they wanted to see “a little more dirt and a little more passion” from him. Also, before he took the stage, 6 enormous amplifiers were rolled on to the stage, making it look pretty cool. Unfortunately, Drew didn’t sound good. He seemed to only flirt with the performance without really getting into it. I think he pretty much sealed his fate as the next contestant to be leaving. Jake said that the band got ahead of him in the performance. Farley said that he was an emotional guy but just didn’t push it to the edge. Zack didn’t hold anything back when he said that he just didn’t like the reinvented Drew.
Mookie Morris closed out the show with his take on the Steppenwolf classic “Magic Carpet Ride.” It was an UNBELIEVABLE performance as Mookie brought out a DJ with turntables for the song and that added a completely different vibe to the performance. With the new set this year, I think that the biggest beneficiaries have been the rockers, Mookie and Earl. That was no more evident than on Monday when Mookie had this very cool looking black/white image of himself playing on one of the stage’s back lighting boards. Mookie sounded great, chose a great song and did it with style.
Not sure if there will be a bottom 3 this week (given that there are only 6 performers left), but I am predicting Drew to exit.
See you after the results.
