Canadian Idol 6, July 28: Eight Is Enough

This article kicks off with a trivia question: Of the remaining eight competitors, how many (and who) have never accompanied themselves in their performance? Cast your mind back to the start of the Trinity rounds, when the top 24 performances began and take it up to this week. Any ideas? The answer will appear somewhere near the end of the article!

Tonight, the theater has been tricked up to resemble the way they decorated the MTV studio (nee The Rockpile) for the same theme two seasons ago. The floor is covered with rugs and there are several sofas holding fans located on stage. The backdrop is softened with curtains, and the neon is turned down on some of the side displays.

The band is split with Mark Lalame’s piano and Davide’s striped-down drum kit set up to my left, with the guitars and backup singers to my right. The drum kit is reduced to congas, bongos, and other toys played by hand – no drumsticks are in evidence. All the guitars are acoustic. Everyone is seated on a stool, leaving no one standing except, optionally, the Idol.

Alas, I’m not on stage, but I am in the first row, front and center – of the balcony! Me, with vertigo issues, sitting zero rows away from a forty foot drop! My feet were so tightly wrapped around the safety rail that I think I pulled a hamstring. One thing I can confirm, though, is that the house is 99.9% full. Maybe the Nielsen households of Toronto aren’t watching this show on TV, but the populace does come out in person!

The episode kicks of with series host Ben Mulroney welcoming the judges and asking each one of the usual IDPQs (Incredibly Deep Probing Questions) that I hate so much. “Make a strong song choice that represents yourself as an artist and don’t hold back…” we GOT IT, already!

Ben first asks judge Jake Gold about what “Unplugged” week might bring us. He says the performers will have “a chance to show vulnerability, to show compassion, and to really emote a lyric.” I might have guessed something similar to that response beforehand.

Noting that she has often played acoustic sets, Ben asks Sass Jordan what’s exciting about this musical format. She saucily tells us it’s a chance to see our favourite artist totally naked! Okay, THAT one I didn’t see coming!

Outfitted in what looks like a plum lame suit, judge Farley Flex realizes his question beckons the same answer Jake gave, and Zack Werner ignores his question to direct attention to his own garish suit, which looks like something he stole it from the closet of senior producer Sue Brophy. Yeah, we better move on.

Ben cues the airing of the informational package about Gavin Rossdale, this week’s guest coach. He was the lead singer of the group Bush, and is now launching a solo career. And you know what – he has a CD coming out soon! What a wonderful coincidence for him! There’s no real indication that his new work is acoustic, but who would let that get in the way of a free plug? Gavin’s in the audience, looking a little cleaned up from how I remember him in the Bush years.

There’s probably a lot of us eager the Bush years are ending so things can get cleaned up, but I’m not going to start in on American politics at this point…

Also in the audience tonight are former contestants Mikey Bustos, who finished in eighth place in Season 1, and Carly Rae Jepsen, third place finisher from last season. So are CTV news personalities Lisa LaFlamme and Seamus O’Regan, and Craig Olejnik and Ennis Esmer, who are two stars from CTV’s new show The Listener. A bunch of Ben’s noisy relatives from Montréal are also here.

Sebastian Pigott - Age 25 - Toronto, ON

Tonight, each performance is preceded by video of the Idol’s coaching experience with Gavin. I’ll be commenting on some of Gavin’s advice for each Idol. Gavin tells Sebastian he needs to show more pain and less bravado in order to show his vulnerable side. Gavin also feels that seeing Sebastian the Showman’s masks peeled back a little would be more entertaining.

Sebastian is singing Little Richard’s “Lucille.” Furthering what Gavin said, I don’t love that decision. This theme is an opportunity to show one’s softer side, which for the most part Sebastian has not done. That opportunity was lost. However, compared to most of his earlier efforts, he did a much better job vocally.

The return of his harmonica was welcome, and not just because it kept him from singing more. Still, the poses were more designed to elicit tweener screams that anything else, and I’m wondering if this might be the end for Sebastian. I guess it’s a bit early to make that call.

Jake thinks he did a good job, and Sass thinks it’s the best he’s done in a while. She likes the Zydeco feel of it, including his closing pose. Farley welcomes Sebastian back to the music business after the last couple of weeks, and he like this performance, too.

However, there’s a fourth judge. Zack says, “I agree that it was much – well, it’s not hard – much better than in the last couple of weeks, and with any luck, you’ll be able to go home tomorrow night and we can get on with finding the next Canadian Idol.” Sebastian flings his hat at Zack in mock (I think) anger, but from where I am, I have no idea where the toss went. The hat is returned to Sebastian, though.

Earl Stevenson - Age 23 - Lloydminster, AB

Gavin likes Earl’s unique vibe and encourages his natural instincts. He also tells Earl it’s important to convey emotion in his songs. It could be hard to do that while bouncing all over the stage like a lopsided basketball, so I appreciate that tonight, Earl takes a stool and plays it straight.