Canadian Idol 6, August 4: It’s Not Unusual... Oh, Wait…

This article kicks off with another trivia question. Last week, I asked who had yet to accompany themselves in a performance, and the answer was Mark Day. This week, I’m asking who of the final seven have accompanied themselves on more than one different instrument? For the purpose of this question, all forms of “guitar” count as the same instrument. So if someone has used two different acoustic guitars and three different electric models, that’s still just a count of one. Got it? Okay! The answer will appear somewhere near the end of this article.

In the audience tonight are the members of Zack’s new band, Haymaker, who are sitting right behind me and are solid fellas. Also on hand is Season 4 final 22 competitor Keith MacPherson, who co-wrote the song “Good Year” that is played when the Idols are brought on stage during the pre-show. Also in the mix is Robert Pilon, who had the title role in Phantom Of The Opera.

As usual, the show begins with a brief recap of the previous episode, and we see Sebastian’s elimination. That’s really sad, because the magic we could have beheld if he’d taken on Tom’s “Sex Bomb” and really unleashed the hounds… our loss! Why, they might have had to add one of those “content warnings” to ensure there was time to secure the kiddies in another room!

As I mull that over, series host Ben Mulroney comes on stage to welcome us to the show, announce the theme, and introduce the judges. Alas, he next asks each a PRQ (Predictable Response Question), which is one that any of the 98% of us who are regular viewers could answer ourselves. Ben first asks judge Sass Jordan which U.K. hit she’d like to cover. She lists several acts (Beatles, Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, The Who), but no songs. Ben next tries his luck with Farley Flex, asking if he can imitate a British accent. He jokes that although he was born in London, he lost his accent when he was two weeks old.

Jake Gold is asked about wanting the Idols to take risks, and he responds that it’s really that he wants to see them compete like it’s the last song they’ll ever play. Zack Werner also talks of the contestants needing to show they want to win before reaching for a joke that’s not there. Yeah, we better move on.

Ben then cues the playing of an informational video about Tom Jones. The young ones who don’t know Tom are identifiable by their wide, unblinking, unbelieving stares. The Welshman is in the audience, and receives a standing ovation from the crowd. Guess what – he has a new CD coming out in the fall! But let’s get on with the performances.

Mark Day - Age 20 - Portugal Cove, NL

Tonight, each performance is preceded by video of the Idol’s coaching experience with Sir Tom. Sir Tom doesn’t give as many pithy suggestions as some of his predecessors, but I’ll pass on the most worthy of what’s there. Sir Tom feels Mark’s voice is “very honest sounding” and that Mark is aware of his sound and knows what he can do with a song.

All season, the judges have been imploring the performers to “bleed all over the stage.” Mark will try that with Leona Lewis’ “Bleeding Love.” For those not in the know, Leona was the winner two seasons ago of X-Factor, Simon Cowell’s British show that is not dissimilar to this one. I note that Mark has again elected to go cross-gender in his selection. That’s okay, a good song is a good song, so why not? As this video plays, Mark waves to the crowd.

Mark does a decent job on this number, given that he has no hope of touching Leona’s upper register. It’s not his best job of enunciating and some words are lost. That’s not the norm for Mark, who usually enunciates as well or better than any of them. I can’t call this a home run, but Mark needs support from the other nine provinces, and maybe this will get him some.

Jake feels that although vocally he was strong, it wasn’t a winning performance. Sass agrees. So does Farley, who adds that Mark looked more comfortable performing than in the past. I’ve noticed Farley seems to be trying to feed back something positive this season, even when the first bolt of news isn’t great. Good for you, Farley.

Zack says it was Mark’s most grown-up, least pretentious performance, and adds, “Although I don’t think you’re going to win Canadian Idol, I almost performed the ‘Tom Jones salute’ and threw my panties.” Umm, ick?

After the judging, Mark implores the audience to applaud for Tom Jones again (and we do). Ben joking chides him for trying to steal his job.

Mitch MacDonald - Age 22 - Port Hope, Cape Breton, NS

Sir Tom likes Mitch’s unique voice and feels he uses it well. He feels Mitch has good pitch and diction. For his performance, Mitch chose John Lennon’s song “Jealous Guy.” For some reason, he chose to perform his variation based on American Gavin DeGraw’s version. I cannot applaud shying away from the Lennon version during U.K. Rock week.

At least the backup singers are excused from this number, as it truly ought to be performed solo. But I must admit that I do not care much for this shouty and pitchy performance at all. A point of information, the original, tender ballad is about ruing one’s own role in a lost love – we get little of that tonight. I’ll stop there. I have the original on vinyl, and I think I need to go play it now.

Sass likes Mitch’s “consistency.” Farley thinks he “pushed” it, but “the notes got away from you a couple of times.” Farley does admire that at least Mitch “tried to leave something on the stage.” Zack feels it was probably a wrong interpretation of the song and some of his vocal variations didn’t make sense.

Jake says, “Mitch: arrangement – not a fan, sorry. You took a really tender song where part of the vibe of the song is the message and the sentiment, and you took the sentiment right out of the song. I understand how you tried to go for it, but in some places, you oversang. You gotta be careful of that when you’re going for it, you still got to keep the melody.” Yes, I think Jake has hit the nail right on the head. If Mitch makes it to next week, that’s good advice.