Murtzcellanious: LIVE Canadian Idol Recap – August 18

Monday’s Canadian Idol performance show featured the Top 5 contestants singing songs from The Beatles and that were specifically chosen for them by the judges. This was after a scheduling conflict with Anne Murray who was supposed to be mentoring the Idols this week, but had to be moved to next week.

Critically-acclaimed Canadian figure skater, Brian Orser was in the crowd for the show, which opened with a cold opening where a brief recap from last week was played. I was tremendously amused by the recap because in Ben’s voiceover, he said that the show featured “a twist that no one saw coming,” referring to the contestants on the couch being in the bottom three and the trio standing on stage being safe. I saw this coming a mile away.

The show opened with Ben talking about the music of The Beatles and introduced a video package. He also explained that the song for each contestant would be picked by the judges. One had to wonder if the reason for combining judges choice week with Beatles week was because only certain songs could be cleared for air.

Ben asked the judges for their thoughts. Zack said that during one point in their careers, “the Beatles were more important than some people’s God.” Jake said that they were the first band to fill stadiums, citing Shea Stadium as an example.

The Top 5 then came out to wave to the crowd before the first commercial break.

I think this was the first time that a commercial break was taken before the first contestant took the stage. I think this was probably because there was a lot of time to fill given that there were so few contestants left. I believe that having each performer sing two songs will begin next week with the Final Four.

When the show resumed, a quick video was played that featured the Idols visiting Camp Oochigeas (an outdoor adventure experience for children with cancer).

After that, Earl Stevenson was up first. He sang the Joe Cocker version of “With A Little Help From My Friends.” I have to say that this was my favorite Earl performance thus far. He sounded great and in the opening video package (where the judges explain why they chose the song that they did for each contestant), Farley Flex said that Earl was “a master of the chorus.” I really liked that description. It was a great song choice for Earl and my only minor nitpick complaint was the fact that he kept closing his eyes during the performance. Earl definitely needed a good performance because he has been in danger for the last couple of weeks. It was funny though because as he sang, I kept seeing Wonder Years in my head. The judges liked it as well.

After a commercial, it was time for Mookie Morris. Clad in a red jacket (circa Mick Jagger), Morris was given “Come Together” to sing and he chose The Meters arrangement. In his opening video, Farley said that Mookie was “all about the physical performance” and they wanted to choose a song that reflected that. Zack said that Mookie showed a “real understanding of the history of rock.” I thought it was a decent performance, but definitely not one of Mookie’s best (despite the crowd loving it). The judges said that they wanted to see more of the physical side of Mookie’s performances, but I just saw him standing there with a guitar.

After another commercial, Theo Tams was up next. His designated song was “The Long And Winding Road” (with piano). As usual, it was the best performance of the evening and highlighted his vocal superiority over the others. On pure talent alone, I believe that Theo is the obvious winner. In my opinion, this season of Canadian Idol will come down to performance versus singing ability. It is widely expected to be a Mookie/Theo showdown and ultimately will come down to whether Canada wants to see Mookie jive or Theo live.

Mitch Macdonald was up next and he sang “In My Life.” In his video, Zack said that he had a really unique tone. Unfortunately, and (as per usual), I thought that Mitch’s performance was quite boring. There’s not much more to say. The twilight-lighting format also didn’t help energize the cowd. Zack said that it was adorable and Jake said that he hoped Mitch would be there next week and that he thought that Mitch had a good shot. I am not sure that he does.

Drew Wright closed out the show with “While My Guitar Gently Weeps.” Zack said that the reason they chose that song for him is because it had a really strong melody line and they wanted to see how he would do with it. I have to be honest. I like Drew, but hated this song for him. The lyrics sounded like gibberish to me and while it was very obvious that he cared about what he was singing, it just wasn’t for me. The judges loved it and said it was heartfelt.

Time for a recap and there’s your Top 5 performance show?

Predictions?

I don’t think they will do a bottom three. I think either Drew or Mitch will go home.

See you Tuesday.

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.