Speaking of contests
I’m not usually much of a fan of Canadian Idol, and even less so of American Idol, but I’ve been really taken by Canadian Idol this season. They’ve had a ton of great contestants and it’s now down to the final two. One of the things I enjoyed about this season is that most of the finalists are also musicians and that we’ve seen lots of the contestants this year playing their instruments. Canadian Idol doesn’t really have much, if any, of the cheesy showmanship we find on its American counterpart. The band is also much more front and centre than we see in the US show which, as a musician, I love to see.
My favourites this year have included Mookie Morris (check him out doing Valerie and Magic Carpet Ride), Earl Stevenson (who did a completely memorable version of With a Little Help from my Friends), Amberly Thiessen (she got voted out too early, but did a beautiful version of Redemption Song that stuck with me for days, as did her vesion of Everything I Own), and Theo Tams (he’s had very few performances that didn’t work, but his best include Collide, Heaven, and You Had Me, when he surprised everyone by finally stepping away from the piano).
Stevenson, Thiessen, and Tams are all from Alberta (go Alberta!) and so I think that split the vote a bit among the Alberta voters and gave Thiessen in particular an earlier exit than she deserved. In any case, I think we’ll be seeing a lot more to come from at least two or three of these people. As for the final result goes, I don’t see how it can’t be Theo who wins. He’s been great.
2 comments
I can’t believe you are so into Canadian Idol. The auditions were behind my building and it was atrocious.
More importantly, I was at the announcement of the shortlist for the Toronto Book Award today. What do you think of the nominees?
Okay, I admit that I do cringe at thinking of myself as being “so into Canadian Idol,” or, worse, of having other people thinking of me as such! Seriously, though, I usually can’t bear to be subjected to shows like this. This year, though, I have to say that they found people who I could think of as being artists more than just great (or not so great) singers. That’s something you rarely see on those shows.
Book awards are indeed more important, at least to this reader’s mind! I’d missed the announcement of those today (Booker shortlist came out as well), but it’s an interesting list. I like the idea of awards like this that are connected to a place or region, where fiction, poetry, and nonfiction are considered together. I’ve not read any of these yet, but as I write this Soucoyant is just beyond arm’s reach. I’ve really been wanting to read that since it came out and will hopefully do so very soon.