I have to say that this is the best season of Canadian Idol in terms of results shows. I think that the reasons for this are two-fold. I have already gone on the record as saying that this was the best Top 10 in the history of the show. As a result, the eliminations are nail-biting every Tuesday. In addition, I believe that the show has really become a mainstream fixture in pop culture today. The caliber of the guest stars that Idol has managed to attract this season is simply astounding. It started with Rihanna. Yesterday it was announced that the original American Idol, Kelly Clarkson would be workshopping with the Top 5 Idols. We already knew that Avril Lavigne will perform on the finale And did I mention that Enrique Iglesias would be performing at tonight’s results show?
First, let’s get the honesty portion of the article out of the way. My musical tastes are quite varied. Most of you know that I am the biggest Backstreet Boys fan on the planet and have been in the front row for many of their Canadian gigs. What many of you don’t know is that I am also a big Enrique Iglesias fan. I don’t think he has ever released a bad song, and I love the fact that Mike Boogie appears in his latest music video.
So to say that I was pumped for the performance would be an understatement.
The warm-up at the John Bassett theatre started at 6:49 PM on Tuesday. Sue Brophy introduced the judges, Ben Mulroney and the top eight.
My pre-show prediction was that the bottom 3 would include Matt Rapley, Martha Joy and Brian Melo with Martha probably taking the fall.
Right before the show started, the Idols took the stage for their group performance and Greg and Dwight had dueling guitars.
The show began with the Idols covering “These Are The Days” by 10,000 Maniacs and also covered by Natalie Merchant.
I wasn’t the biggest fan of the performance and I especially didn’t like it when I rewatched it on TV. I guess we can blame it on them being excited about the live Enrique performance as well.
An interesting point to note is the big pop that Greg got from the crowd when he started singing.
After the song, Ben Mulroney said that tonight the eight artists would become a “group of seven,” (he’s probably been waiting to use that line all season) and went on to introduce the judges.
Ben then intro’d a highlight package of Monday’s performances. While this was played, the stage was reconfigured for the Enrique Iglesias performance.
Commercial.
Enrique came out and took his place on stage before the break was over and waved to the crowd. The show resumed and Ben said that Iglesias had sold over 40 million records, before making way for the his first performance, “Somebody’s Me.”
The song was definitely low-key and I was happy about this because it meant that his next song would definitely be something fast and would totally rock the place.
After he was finished, Enrique said that he loved Toronto and Ben asked him about recording his first CD here. This provided a particularly amusing moment because the singer said that he dropped out of college to do it. Ben (obviously not wanting to ruffle any feathers) could said that the motto of the story was to stay in school, and Enrique agreed begrudgingly… saying that if a door opened up, chase it.
It was then time for performance #2…
In my head, I was saying “sing Be With You… sing Be With You… Sing Be With You…” Sure enough, it was “Be With You!”
I was elated. The performance was electric. Especially when Iglesias jumped onto the judges desk (I found out later that he did not do this in dress rehearsal). Also, near the end of the song, Enrique ran around the audience and he brushed right be me. I was tempted to give him a high five but when I watched the show back on TV, I thought it was a good decision not to. I definitely did not want to look like the people that did give him a high five. Haha.
It was a very good performance. Some have asked me if it was the best guest performance on Idol and I think that while it was very good, nothing will top Cyndi Lauper from last year.
Commercial.
After the break, a quick promo with the Idols and Pantene Pro-V was shown.
Time for the results!
The red couches came out.
Front couch (from left to right): Matt, Carly, Dwight, Martha.
Back couch (from left to right): Tara, Greg, Brian, Jaydee.
I figured it would be Matt and Martha from the front row and Brian from the back. Ben said that 2.8 million votes were cast on Monday night.
TARA: SAFE
GREG: SAFE
MATT: BOTTOM 2
CARLY: SAFE… phew.
BRIAN: SAFE???
JAYDEE: SAFE
DWIGHT: SAFE
MARTHA: BOTTOM 2
Other than getting rid of the bottom 3 format, there was really no surprise as Rapley and Joy were the obvious choices.
Ben then asked the judges for their thoughts. Zack said that the best people were on the couch (meaning that he agreed with Canada’s choices). Jake once again offered the same tired advice when he told the contestants to make next week’s songs their own instead of trying to be the next Freddie Mercury, referring to next week’s “We Will Rock You: The Music Of Queen” theme.
Commercial.
Time for the results.
Matt stays.
MARTHA JOY IS ELIMINATED
Thanks for voting Toronto.
I think it is amazing that three girls have been eliminated in a row. Is Idol really dominated by teen girl voters? The same ones who voted in droves for Kaylan Porter and who will seemingly take Greg and Jaydee to the top? Does this mean that Carly Rae is a lock to go to the finals (since it is very possible that she will be the last female standing)?
What I do know is that I will be back LIVE from the Canon Theatre where the top seven Idols will be making an impromptu appearance.
Talk to you then.
