Canadian Idol (Courtesy Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

Canadian Idol is a reality television show on the Canadian television network CTV, based on the popular British show Pop Idol and its American counterpart American Idol. The show is a competition to find the most talented young singer in Canada. It is hosted by Ben Mulroney. Jon Dore was the "roving reporter" for the first three seasons (appearing in comedy skits throughout the show). Elena Juatco assumed the role for season four, and Dave Kerr has the role in season five.

The show begins with a cross-Canada tour in which singers audition in front of four judges: Jake Gold, Sass Jordan of Montreal, Quebec, Zack Werner of Winnipeg, Manitoba, and Farley Flex of Ajax, Ontario. Eventually the performers are narrowed down to 10 finalists (11 in season one due to a near-tie), with each competitor performing live. Viewers have two hours following the broadcast of the show to phone in their votes for their favourite competitor. On the following night's episode (live again), the competitor with the fewest votes is sent home. After the final two perform, viewers have more than two hours to vote. The next day (or five days later in season 4), the competitor with the most votes is declared the winner. The show is taped at the John Bassett Theatre in Toronto, Ontario.

Season one

See Canadian Idol (Season 1) for more information

In the first season, which debuted on June 9, 2003, Ryan Malcolm of Kingston, Ontario won, with Gary Beals of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia coming in second. Malcolm released his debut album entitled "Home" in October 2003, which included his first single from Canadian Idol: "Something More". In fact, eight members of the Season One Top 11 have now released their own solo albums, including Gary Beals, Billy Klippert, Audrey De Montigny, Jenny Gear, Toya Alexis, Mikey Bustos, and Karen-Lee Batten. Auditions were held in Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Ottawa, Calgary, Winnipeg, Halifax, and St. John's.

Date	Theme	Bottom Four
August 5	Canadian Hits	Richie Wilcox	Candida Clauseri	Karen-Lee Batten	Toya Alexis
		Bottom Three
August 12	Motown	Mikey Bustos	Tyler Hamilton (singer)	Billy Klippert
August 19	Summertime Hits	Toya Alexis (2)	Audrey De Montigny	Gary Beals
		Bottom Two
August 26	Elton John	Jenny Gear	Ryan Malcolm
September 2	Love Songs	Audrey de Montigny (2)	Gary Beals (2)
September 9	Judges' Choice	Billy Klippert (2)
September 16	Final Two	Gary Beals (3)	Ryan Malcolm

Season two

See Canadian Idol (Season 2) for more information

The second season of Canadian Idol debuted on June 1, 2004, and became the most watched show in Canada, drawing in over 3 million viewers each week.

Auditions were held in Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Ottawa, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Halifax, Regina, and St. John's. The season provided an Idol first when the final six contestants played their own instruments during a group performance of the Gordon Lightfoot classic "Canadian Railroad Trilogy". No other Idol show in the world had done that before, and the performance is generally considered the best group number ever to appear on Idol worldwide.

Kalan Porter of Medicine Hat, Alberta won the series, and Theresa Sokyrka of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan was the runner-up. His single, Awake in a Dream became the highest selling single in Canadian history. In November 2004, merely two months after the competition, Porter released his debut album entitled 219 Days - the number days spanning from his first audition to the release of his CD. It was certified double platinum within two months and he received three Juno nominations. Porter also won Fan Favourite Canadian Artist at the MuchMusic Video Awards. Other Competitors from Season Two's Top 10 who have released albums include: Sokyrka, Jacob Hoggard (an album with his band Hedley), Jason Greeley, Shane Wiebe, and Joshua Seller. Porter is the first CI winner to have a second cd released by Sony BMG ('Wake Up Living' launches August 28, 2007). Jacob Hoggard to release his sophmore CD (Universal) with his band HEDLEY. The first single She's So Sorry was released to radio August 20th, 2007.

Date	Theme	Bottom Three
July 22	Canadian Hits	Brandy Callahan	Manoah Hartmann	Joshua Seller
July 29	British Invasion	Manoah Hartmann (2)	Shane Wiebe	Kaleb Simmonds
August 5	Rock & Roll	Joshua Seller (2)	Shane Wiebe (2)	Elena Juatco
August 12	Lionel Richie	Kaleb Simmonds (2)	Elena Juatco (2)	Shane Wiebe (3)
August 19	Gordon Lightfoot	Elena Juatco (3)	Jacob Hoggard	Shane Wiebe (4)
		Bottom Two
August 26	Summertime Hits	Shane Wiebe (5)	Jason Greeley
September 2	Standards	Jason Greeley (2)	Theresa Sokyrka
September 9	Judges' Choice	Jacob Hoggard (2)
September 16	Final Two	Theresa Sokyrka (2)	Kalan Porter

Season three

See Canadian Idol (Season 3) for more information

In December 2004, CTV announced that they would be producing a third season of Canadian Idol in 2005. Auditions began in February and finished in April 2005 and the show debuted May 30, just days after the conclusion of the fourth season of American Idol but did not follow suit yet on the new change to that show.

Auditions were held in Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Ottawa, Calgary, Winnipeg, London, Sudbury, Saskatoon, St. John's, Moncton, Charlottetown, Sydney, and Whitehorse.

This season introduced a twist in the Wildcard semi-final round. On the group 4 results show, after the results were revealed, 11 previous competitors were brought out. (CTV had advertised the broadcast as having 12 competitors, but one dropped out at the last minute.) The judges expressed how they felt about each competitor, and each competitor had a chance to show why they should sing in the Wildcard, whether it be through song or a plea. Then, the public had a chance to vote which would decide which of the 11 competitors would sing in the Wildcard.

After the closest final vote of the 3 up to that point, Melissa O'Neil of Calgary, Alberta was crowned the winner; with Rex Goudie of Burlington, Newfoundland and Labrador the runner-up. Melissa O'Neil, Rex Goudie, Aaron Walpole, and Suzi Rawn have released albums; while Casey LeBlanc, Ashley Leitao and Amber Fleury have released an album as a group called Braided. Josh Palmer is also working on an album release.

Date	Theme	Bottom Three
July 19	Canadian Hits	Emily Vinette	Daryl Brunt	Melissa O'Neil
July 26	Stevie Wonder	Ashley Leitao	Melissa O'Neil (2)	Josh Palmer
August 3	The 1980s	Amber Fleury	Suzi Rawn	Josh Palmer (2)
August 10	Big Band	Daryl Brunt (2)	Aaron Walpole	Casey LeBlanc
August 17	Classic Rock	Josh Palmer (3)	Suzi Rawn (2)	Rex Goudie
		Bottom Two
August 24	The Guess Who	Casey LeBlanc (2)	Suzi Rawn (3)
August 31	Elvis Presley	Suzi Rawn (4)
September 7	The Barenaked Ladies	Aaron Walpole (2)
September 14	Final Two	Rex Goudie (2)	Melissa O'Neil

Season four

See Canadian Idol (Season 4) for more information

In January 2006, CTV announced their plans for a fourth season of Canadian Idol. An 11-week audition tour took place in February, March and April 2006. Auditions were held in Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Ottawa, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Kitchener-Waterloo, Halifax, Regina, St. John's, and Yellowknife. Season two competitor Elena Juatco joined the show as the roving reporter, while Jon Dore did not return for the fourth season. The season premiered on May 29, five days after the finale of American Idol Season 5. The season finale of Canadian Idol took place on Sunday, September 17, 2006. The finale, originally scheduled for Tuesday, September 12, was moved to help resolve a conflict with ABC's 'Dancing with the Stars', which CTV also carried and which ABC announced would debut September 12. Eva Avila took the title in the closest final vote of the 4 to date; CTV announced that 3.3% -- which amounted to 131,000 votes -- separated her from Newfoundland's Craig Sharpe.

On Saturday, September 16, 2006, a day prior to the public announcement of the Idol results, Sony BMG Music Entertainment began offering Avila's version of the first single, Meant to Fly, for sale on the website EvaAvila.com. Although the page was subsequently blanked, the artwork for the single can currently be located within the image files of the webpage. This occurrence led to the creation of many rumours regarding the winner of the competition.

Both Avila's and Sharpe's singles were made available for pre-order for the September 26, 2006 release date on Amazon.com. As of June 2007, Avila ('Somewhere Else'), Sharpe ('I Am') and Brandon Jones ['All for You'] had all launched debut CDs.

Date	Theme	Bottom Three
July 17	Canadian Hits	Kati Durst	Ashley Coulter	Steffi D
July 24	Rolling Stones	Sarah Loverock	Ashley Coulter (2)	Steffi D (2)
July 31	The 1980s	Brandon Jones	Chad Doucette	Eva Avila
		Bottom Two
August 7	Classic Rock	Rob James	Steffi D (3)
		Bottom Three
August 14	Unplugged	Ashley Coulter (3)	Craig Sharpe	Steffi D (4)
		Bottom Two
August 21	Country Standards	Steffi D (5)	Eva Avila (2)
August 28	Judges' Choice	Chad Doucette (2)	Tyler Lewis
September 4	Standards	Tyler Lewis (2)
September 11	Final Two	Craig Sharpe (2)	Eva Avila

Season five

See Canadian Idol (Season 5) for more information In December 2006, CTV announced the plans for the fifth season of Canadian Idol. It started off in Vancouver on February 3, and visited nine more cities across Canada in a 10-week trip. This year, the network announced that the auditioners can play along with their instrument in their audition. The network also indicated that Dave Kerr will replace Elena Juatco in the co-hosting role for Season Five. Season Five premiered on June 5th, 2007. On July 112007 Canadian Idol voters picked their top ten.

The Boys are:

• Jaydee Bixby
• Dwight d'Eon - Voted off on August 28
• Greg Neufeld - Voted off on August 7
• Matt Rapley - Voted off on August 21
• Brian Melo

The Girls are:

• Carly Rae Jepsen - Voted off on September 4
• Martha Joy - Voted off on July 31
• Mila Miller - Voted off on July 17
• Tara Oram - Voted off on August 14
• Khalila Glanville - Voted off on July 24

Date	Theme	Bottom Three
July 17	#1 Hits	Mila Miller	Carly Rae Jepsen	Khalila Glanville
July 23	The 1960s	Khalila Glanville (2)	Brian Melo	Martha Joy
		Bottom Two
July 30	Unplugged	Martha Joy (2)	Matt Rapley
		Bottom Three
August 6	Queen	Greg Neufeld	Brian Melo (2)	Carly Rae Jepsen (2)
August 13	Pop-Rock	Tara Oram	Carly Rae Jepsen (3)	Dwight d'Eon
		Bottom Two
August 20	My Own Idol	Matt Rapley (2)	Dwight d'Eon (2)
August 27	Standards	Dwight d'Eon (3)
September 3	Judges'/Peoples' Choice	Carly Rae Jepsen (4)
September 10	Final Two

Canadian Idol Series Facts

• Two out of four of the Canadian Idol winners have been from Alberta: Kalan Porter (Season 2; Medicine Hat) and Melissa O'Neil (Season 3; Calgary).
• Two contestants from Newfoundland finished second, Rex Goudie (Season 3) and Craig Sharpe (Season 4).
• Kalan Porter, Season 2 winner, had the biggest selling single in Canadian history with Awake in a Dream.
• Newfoundland is one of few provinces to have a contestant in the top 6 in every Canadian Idol season to date (Jenny Gear (5), Jason Greeley (4), Rex Goudie (2), Craig Sharpe (2) and Tara Oram (6).
• Kalan Porter's first cd, 219 Days, was certified double platinum two months after it was released. Season 1 winner, Ryan Malcolm had his first cd go platinum. Melissa O'Neil's album went Platinum after more than a year and Eva Avila's album has gone gold but is still selling.
• Ryan Malcolm holds the record for most weeks at #1 among all Canadian Idol winners. His coronation single, "Something More", spent 14 weeks at the top of the SoundScan singles chart
• Only 3 Quebecers have made it to the Top 10: Eva Avila, the winner of the fourth series, Audrey DeMontigny, a season 1 contestant and Khalila Glanville from season 5. It is assumed that many Quebecers don't even tune into the series since it is not televised in French, although auditions have been held in Montreal in each season. One CTV executive stated that there are more people in Newfoundland watching Idol than in Quebec, even though Quebec has 7 million more people.
• Season 4 had the closest deciding vote in Canadian Idol finale history. 3.3 percent separated the winner, Eva Avila, from runner-up Craig Sharpe.
• Shane Wiebe from Season 2 and Steffi D from season 4 are the only contestants to have been in the bottom three or two five times, with each bowing out in 5th place.
• Kalan Porter is the first winner to have a second album released by Sony BMG. The CD was recorded in Los Angeles and produced by Capital Records VP Brian Malouf who has previously produced CD's for Michael Jackson and Madonna. It is scheduled to be released August 28, 2007.
• Judge Sass Jordan and vocal coach Debra Byrd (also seen in American Idol) performed in the finale of Season 3, becoming two of the few Idol judges to perform on any Idol stage (the New Zealand Idol judges performed at both the Season 1 and 2 Grand Finals, the first of which occurred prior to the Grand Final of Canadian Idol 3). That was also Byrd's first performance on an Idol show.
• Only three women (Theresa Sokyrka, Eva Avila and Melissa O'Neil) have made it to the finale. Seasons 1 and 5 had no women in the finale.
• Canadian Idol Season 2 finalist Jacob Hoggard and his band Hedley is the only contestant in Canadian Idol to sign with an American label, Capitol Records. Their self-titled debut album was released in the United States in September 2006.
• Kalan Porter had the most successful concert tour of any Idol winner or finalist. He sold out 65 dates across Canada and had crowds upwards of 15,000 at some of his summer festival concerts.
• The record for the highest vote total is 4.3 million., during the Top 4/Top 3 results show in Season 4.
• TV ratings for Canadian Idol peaked for Season 2 averaging over 3 million viewers. The audiences for Seasons 3 & 4 declined each year.
• Five contestants have received a standing ovation from all the judges: Jacob Hoggard, in season 2 during his encore performance of I Want You to Want Me, Amber Fleury, in season 3, during the top 32 round, Eva Avila on the Season 4 performance finale, Greg Neufeld during his elimination in Season 5 and Brian Melo during the My Own Idol perfomance, singing Karma Police during Season 5.
• Kalan Porter, Season 2's winner, is the only Canadian Idol winner that had never been in the bottom 2 or 3.
• American Idol Winner Ruben Studdard performed his hit single "Flying Without Wings" on the Canadian Idol first season finale; Many other American Idol finalists have also appeared on the show, like Carrie Underwood and Kimberley Locke. Kelly Clarkson is set to appear on the Top 5 shows of season 5. The only Canadian Idol to appear on American Idol is Ryan Malcolm, who appeared twice (once on An American Idol Christmas which was edited out of the US broadcast; the other time in the audience)
• Abbotsford, British Columbia is the hometown of 4 Top 10 competitors: Karen Lee-Batten in season 1, Jacob Hoggard and Shane Weibe in season 2, and Greg Neufeld in season 4 & 5.
• Rob James (of McMaster and James) was the first representative of Manitoba in the Top 10. He made top 7 in season 4. James is still the only person from Manitoba to be in the Top 10 even though they have had auditons every season in Winnipeg (Manitoba's Capital).
• The first contestants to release their second album are Billy Klippert, Theresa Sokyrka and Rex Goudie; Klippert placed 3rd in Season One, while Sokyrka was the runner-up of Season Two. Rex Goudie released his second album (Look Closer) in December of 2006. Canadian Idol Ryan Malcolm released his second album in 2007. Canadian Idols Kalan Porter and Melissa O'Neil will release their second albums later this year (2007). Hedley will also be releasing their 2nd album in October of 2007.
• For 4 consecutive seasons, females are the first one to be eliminated in the top 10. Brandy Callahan, Emily Vinette, Kati Durst and Mila Miller have all been eliminated the first week. Likewise, the second person eliminated in the top 10 are all female from season 2-5, Manoah Hartmann, Ashley Leitao, Sarah Loverock and Khalila Glanville.
• Host Ben Mulroney disagreed after the elimination of Greg Neufeld in season 5, and sparked controversy for doing so: some felt he should have remained neutral, while others cheered his remarks.
• Greg Neufeld, Season 5, is so far the only contestant to make it to Top 22 two years. Season 4 placing in Top 16, and Season 5 placing 7th. Current (2007) Canadian Idol rules allow a contestant who doesn't make it to Top 10 in one year to re-apply in subsequent years. Valerie Jalbert was also in the semi-finals twice. She made the top 32 in season 2, and in the top 22 in season 4.
• Dwight d'Eon, Season 5, is the second consecutive Nova Scotian to finish in fourth place. The first being Chad Doucette in Season 4
• Carly Rae Jepsen is the first woman to be eliminated at Top 3.

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