Canadian Idol 3, The Finale: Ben, The Envelope Please!

First of all, before I start this, I want to say the largest thank you on the face of the earth to CTV for holding my seat for me because I was helplessly stuck in traffic! Why? Oh, because of a stupid car pulled over right at my exit! It was backed up for an hour because of that. I hate idiot drivers who must gawk at nothing. But I love CTV! It's the best station anywhere in the entire world! An extra special thank you to Scott Henderson and his assistant Jody (who waited for me to arrive). You have no idea how much I appreciate it! And to Brian Towers for arranging it all for me and covering the first ten minutes that I missed due to said idiot who ran out of gas on the highway.

So, on the with the show!

The show opens with some audience members, we have a fun group tonight! Mila Mulroney is there (that's Ben's mom). And numerous CRTC executives are in the house as well. Hi guys! Then the stage opens with a full choir in robes with smoke all around them singing "You Can't Always Get What You Want." But, of course, you get what you need. Right?

The Top 10 joins them with Josh coming out first. Then Daryl joins him with "Ruby Tuesday." Emily and Ashely share "To Sir With Love" and do an excellent job. Amber uses her amazing voice to do "Imagine" justice and Casey finishes it up for her. Melissa and Rex sing "Somebody to Love" and Aaron and Suzi cover "Satisfaction." The choir starts up again and all of the Top 10 sing "You Can't Always Get What You Want" along with them.

Ben lets us know that overall there were 38 million votes this year! Quickly moving to the judges, Jake thinks that after starting in Vancouver, it really doesn't seem all that long ago. Farley says that Rex uses a lot of sports metaphors. Sass thinks if the Top 10 went on tour that Canadians could relate to them. And Zack doesn't want to compare this group to last year's group. He believes both of the finalists will have careers in music.

After a break, and after I make my way into the theatre, Ben pops on stage with the final two Idols. Rex didn't think he would ever make the Top 100. We go now to Cornerbrook where we see Rex's family and friends gathered at the arena. They don't have "words to explain how proud they are of him."

While we watch a video clip of the Top 2 and their time with The Barenaked Ladies, Brian and I notice the stage is being set up for a band. The Barenaked Ladies take to the stage and entertain us with "One Week." How fun to see them up on the Canadian Idol stage! They're awesome of course and when they finish, their advice to Rex and Melissa is, "It's not too late to back out now!" Big laughs ensue.

A few notable members of the audience are Danny Williams (again) – the Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador, and we see Vicki Gabereau as well. Zack gets caught short at a commercial break and has to stand at the side of the stage until it's clear for him to run to his seat. He's in black leather pants so I had to note that. I'm all about the black leather pants!

We head to Calgary now to see Melissa's crowd gathered for the events. She talks a bit about forgetting her words when she was in the Top 100. She says what she thought was, "I can't just stand here and be speechless." So she sang something completely different and wowed the judges anyway. Her mom, Alison, says, "I'm so proud! She hasn't changed one bit. She has done her whole entire family proud." The mayor of Calgary chants, "Go, Melissa, Go!"

It's time for another group number! The into clip shows us the "High Notes" CD – in stores now – and out comes Emily singing "Don't Cry Out Loud." She does a really good job. Ashley is next with "Colours of the Wind" and it's still clear she left too soon. Amber is amazing with "Can't Make You Love Me." Little Daryl Brunt comes out and does "When You Believe," he's still far too adorable for words.

Josh gives his rendition of "Fooled Around and Fell in Love" and Casey is extremely impressive with "Bring It On Home To Me." Suzi fires up the stage with "Fortunate Son" and Aaron rounds it out with "Drift Away." All the Idols join in at the end and it's awesome! If that doesn't get you to run out and get the CD, I don't know what will.

It's really loud in this building so I'm missing most of what Ben is saying although I'm assuming it has to do with Sass because she's talking on the giant screen. Indeed, Sass iss going to sing "All is Fair in Love." She gives a heartfelt thank you to all of the thousands and thousands of young Canadians who auditioned. "At least you tried, at least you gave it a shot." I have to say, I'm not a huge fan of her song. Brian likes it though.

Next up is a thank you to Debra Byrd. Suzi calls her a "life coach" not just a vocal coach. It's a nice clip where all of the Idols thank her for being her and helping them so much over the summer. Now for the first time on any Idol stage ever, Debra Byrd will take to the stage and sing "I Know I'll Never Love This Way Again." She gets a standing ovation while she's still performing the song. She is an amazing singer.

When the performance is coming to the end, Farley is ready to pounce on the stage – he's waiting at the bottom of one stairway. He literally leaps to hug her when she's done. All the Idols run up as well. She's clearly overwhelmed but thrilled. The Idols sing for her now. They do "Dedicated To The One I Love." It's a great performance. I always like these thank yous to her.

We're at commercial break again and it looks like they're setting up for Kalan Porter. This place will just explode when he takes the stage! And, as at all Idol breaks, someone always sings "O Canada." So, here I stand, singing and writing. The things I do for you, my wonderful readers, I swear!

I see Kalan getting ready now. He's in jeans, a black jacket, and a red shirt. His hair is SO long now, it's unbelievable. People jump up right away so I have to stand in order to see. Kalan performs his latest single. He's really good, as usual. When he's finished (and the crowd is finished screaming), Ben presents Kalan with his double platinum record. Kalan's advice for this year's Top 2 is "run!" He's kidding, he says, "Have fun with it. It's a crazy experience, enjoy it."