Canadian Idol 6: Top Nine Week, In Review

As I mentioned last week, I was out of town for all shows this week. This article is a brief look back at those shows and also contains a few newsy tidbits. But let’s get right to the shows.

The Performances/The Results:

The theme this week was “Rock and Roll Heaven,” and could have featured any song originally performed by an artist who is no longer living. I’m stunned that no one took on Frank Zappa or did Led Zeppelin’s “Dazed And Confused”!

Here’s a list of what everyone performed and what I thought myself. I’m not repeating all the judges’ comments, though I must say how sharp Farley looked in blue silks and satins!

Theo Tams performed “No Woman, No Cry,” by Bob Marley. It was good to see Theo actually up on his feet for a change.

Mitch MacDonald's entry was “Angel Eyes,” by Jeff Healey. That was an inspired choice. Now, Mitch singing “Purple Haze” in the Results show? Ahh… no.

Earl Stevenson performed “Light My Fire” but chose to do the Jose Feliciano version. I feel he really should have stayed with Jim Morrison’s original take and perhaps shown off his lower register. Instead, we got the title line re-sung about two dozen times. I got the impression he just wanted the damn thing to end.

Sebastian Pigott took on Elvis’ “Love Me” and gave a rather poor vocal performance that prompted all the judges to dump on him heavily. I admit, he was my choice as the one going home.

Katherine St-Laurent sang Janis Joplin's “Move Over.” Not bad, not great, and maybe that was the problem. One line was very flat and I also worried she was a bit low on the intensity. When Janis sang, she sang hard, man!

Drew Wright's number was “No Rain,” by Blind Melon. An odd choice, but vocally, Drew was strong. I think he’s received the message about showing more energy and personality in his performances. His efforts in the Results show on “Purple Haze” were pretty decent, too.

Mookie Morris sang James Brown's classic “I Got You (I Feel Good).” I didn’t feel some parts of this as much as the judges did, but it I figured he was safe.

Amberly Thiessen performed “Redemption Song,” also by Bob Marley. After a couple of medium-impact efforts, Amberly needed a home run. This was a solid hit, but no homer. I’m a little surprised she slipped into third-last place, but as last woman standing at such an early stage, the message from the voters seems threatening to Amberly.

Mark Day performed “Dance With My Father” from Luther Vandross. I found it believable and laud him for a smart song choice. I don’t know if you caught that “last millisecond shot” of Mark and his mom hugging on stage as they went off the air – nice moment!

I can understand how Sebastian, Katherine, and Amberly ended up in the bottom three, but I also could have comprehended several variations on that theme. Katherine is eliminated, and I think her inexperience might have caught up with her, much as it did with province-mate Khalila at this same stage last season.

Mansion Tour:

First off, I have to apologize for not writing the promised article about the mansion tour. When I reread my notes, there just wasn’t a lot worth sharing. If you want to know a bit about the mansion, there’s no better place I can send you than CTV’s own article, accessible (after you finish reading this!) here.

There is one person I met that I’d like to tell you about, though. Do you remember Casey LeBlanc, from Season 3 of Canadian Idol? Casey looked strong in the Toronto rounds, only to stumble badly at the start of the top ten. Somehow she survived until she regained her pitch, and then went on to deliver some mighty fine performances and finished a very respectable fifth.

Well, Casey’s mom Connie has an important role in the Idol mansion. Her official title is that of mansion chaperone. She’ll be living in the mansion with the Idols all summer, and is effectively their “stand-in mom.” There’s a lot of stress involved in being an Idol, and for those whose usual response to pressure situations is a chat with mom, Connie is there.

This is a position taken very seriously by the Idols. During the mansion tour, many of the Idols took special effort to introduce Connie to their parents, all of whom took pictures of her with their offspring. It’s not easy for the majority of these Idol parents to have their children away all summer, but knowing Connie is on the job will surely help.

By the way, Connie reports that Casey is currently engaged in continuing her education at the university level. So, good luck to both LeBlancs!

Guest Coaches/Performers:

In this week’s results show, last season’s runner-up Jaydee Bixby performed his new single “Old Fashioned Girl” from his first CD, Cowboys & Cadillacs. The CD recently debuted at number 1 on the country chart, and at number 8 on the Top 100 chart.

A wee bit of information about other upcoming artists and themes has also been released. Next week, former Bush lead singer Gavin Rossdale will coach the top 8 finalists for “Unplugged” week, and also perform on the results show. Montreal’s Simple Plan will be on hand for “Canadian Rock” week. Further, icons Bryan Adams and Welshman Tom Jones (!) are also slated for the weeks ahead. The names of additional guest stars and themes have yet to be announced by CTV.

Viewer Alert: Each Performance episode will be rerun on the MuchMoreMusic station each Thursday at 8 p.m. ET/PT. The corresponding results show will follow immediately. These shows will be run again around midnight… and yet again, starting at Friday at 7 p.m. So – no excuses for missing an episode!

In Conclusion: Things get back to normal for me this week, and I’ll be here to bring you all the details.

Brian can be reached at uncle_bto@rogers.com. He’d like to hear your opinions and promises to respond to all serious email!

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