TUESDAY, AUGUST 26
Final Four Results Show
I already filled you in on what happened on Monday when I took a seat behind the stage as the Canadian Idol performance was taped in front of me, and now it is time for the most exclusive Canadian Idol story of all-time to continue.
On Tuesday, I arrived at the John Bassett theatre at 2:30 pm. Before you snicker, no, I wasn’t there to join the rush line for tickets. I was there because in addition to going backstage that night, I was being given the exclusive opportunity to talk to the four remaining Idol contestants, hours before one of them would be eliminated from the competition forever.
I will post those interviews for you later.
After I finished the interviews, I waited around until it was time for the show to start.
At about 6:30 pm, I was escorted backstage by a new Idol representative. My seat was in the same position, but seconds after getting into it, I was told by one of the lighting board guys that I would have to move because they would be readjusting the lights from my position. I automatically assumed that this was because there would be different lighting elements that were needed for the group performance, Anne Murray’s performance, the Jordin Sparks show and oh yeah, the elimination.
After repositioning my seat, I was immediately surprised to see the difference between Tuesday’s show and Monday’s (from a backstage perspective). It seemed like the number of people backstage had quadrupled. And there was a much greater sense of urgency (given all of the aforementioned elements that went into making Tuesday’s show).
At 6:42 PM, I saw all the Idols getting make-up put on, with particular attention being paid to Earl and Theo. I silently mused to myself if this was an indication that they were in trouble or if I was reading too much into it and that they were just in need of some extra powder. As an aside, it’s a good thing I never have to worry about powder.
Similar to Monday, I couldn’t get a full-out view of the stage and the volume was kind of stunted. As a result, when the strains of “Disturbia” by Rihanna rang out (one of the warm-up songs before the Sue Brophy show gets started), it was totally strange to not hear it blare as it usually does when I am in the audience.
The throngs of people only seemed to increase as the show drew closer. In addition to the Idols, I saw Jully Black mulling around. The President & CEO of CTVglobemedia, Ivan Fecan was there and it took me a second to figure out why. It was because Anne Murray was there and Fecan was there for one of the many photo-ops. Murray took a few photos with some VIP’s and had a couple of her handlers around her.
At 6:48 PM, Ben Mulroney came out to give a final pep talk to the Idols. He said that they all “put themselves in the best possible position to have a career after this.” The Idols shook hands with the host of the show and then also went to participate in the Murray photo-op.
At 6:53 PM, Anne Murray, now standing just a few steps away from me, had her mic adjusted. Behind her, stood Mitch and Drew and they both had their arms crossed against their chests, standing in very similar positions.
I noticed Ben’s assistant following him around, and he had Ben’s water bottle (clearly marked with ‘BEN’ written on it) in his back pocket.
At 6:57 PM, I finally saw the stunning Jordin Sparks. She literally walked right over to me as she waited for instructions on which side of the stage she was to enter from for her big performance. She was wearing an eye-catching purple ensemble and when one of the Idol team members asked her if she wanted water, she immediately nodded. I interviewed Jordin last year when she was in town for the American Idol Live Tour.
At 6:59 PM, right before the show started… Drew Wright screamed ‘Anne Murray’ which made everyone backstage laugh. It’s a good thing Anne wasn’t around!
When the show began, Earl was handed a mic and had his hair fixed one last time. He went out onto the stage with Mitch. Ben Mulroney introduced a recap of Monday’s performances and then immediately threw to a group performance of “Danny’s Boy” (the Anne Murray staple), by the Idols. This is where I noticed something interesting as well. On one of the television sets beside me, I noticed that there was a teleprompter and on it, it was noted for Theo to introduce Anne Murray. Sure enough, that’s exactly what happened as Theo welcomed Anne Murray to the stage as the Idols all returned.
I had so many questions about this. Why was Theo picked to do the introduction? Was it random? I think everyone agrees with me that he is the favorite to win the competition. Was this a sign of things to come? So many questions!
When Anne Murray took the stage, the Idols returned backstage. Earl was totally rocking out to the Anne Murray beats (which was very funny to watch). Mitch was played with a baby that one of the crewmembers had brought backstage.
After Anne Murray sang “Can I Have This Dance?” Ben thanked her for helping out the Idols. During the commercial break, Earl and Drew both had make-up reapplied.
When the show resumed, it was time for Jordin Sparks and she delivered one of the best guest performances of the season. When she was done, Ben asked her to give the remaining Idol competitors some advice and Jordin said that she totally identified with where they were since she also had to face the stress of result shows. She told them to concentrate on their song choice since that is ultimately what it would come down to.
During the commercial break, Sue Brophy continued to dance like crazy backstage. It was a completely different kind of vibe with Brophy dancing on one side and the Idols preparing for the last time that they would on stage together as a quartet.
The Idols all shook hands and hugged and Theo said “this is it guys” before their way back to the stage to hear the final outcome.
The Idols lined up on stage. First Earl, then Mitch, then Theo and finally Drew.
Ben announced the results.
After 3.7 million votes, Earl was going home.
And so was Murtz after finishing my behind-the-scenes Canadian Idol mission.
What did I learn from the exercise?
I think the biggest lesson was the idea that Idol is definitely a well-oiled machine. There was never any confusion when I was backstage and everything ran very smoothly. Similarly, I think that I also took away with me the fact that the Idols are quite close this year and I am not sure if that is because they all share the same gender or because they just have been through a lot together. Finally, I think the biggest thing that I took away from behind-the-scenes at Canadian Idol was just how exclusive the entire experience was. It was an honor to be allowed to see the show from a perspective that no one else had before and it makes this job worth it to be able to share what I saw with people who love Idol just as much as I do.
Don’t worry… the extravaganza isn’t over yet. Next up are my interviews with the final four!
