Canadian Idol

*Canadian Idol*
Canadian Idol
Created by	Simon Fuller
Directed by	Joan Tosoni
Presented by	Ben Mulroney (2003–2008); Jon Dore (2003–2005) ; Elena Juatco (2006) ; Dave Kerr (2007) ; Jully Black (2008)
Judges	Sass Jordan; Farley Flex; Zack Werner; Jake Gold
Country of origin	Canada
Original language	English
No. of seasons	6
No. of episodes	186
Production
Executive producers	John Brunton; Barbara Bowlby;
Running time	Varies
Production companies	Insight Productions; FremantleMedia North America; 19 Entertainment;
Original release
Network	CTV
Release	June 9, 2003 –; September 10, 2008
Related
	The Launch

Canadian Idol is a Canadian reality television competition show which aired on CTV, based on the British show Pop Idol. The show was a competition to find the most talented young singer in Canada, and was hosted by Ben Mulroney. Jon Dore was the "roving reporter" for the first three seasons (appearing in comedy skits throughout the show). Elena Juatco (a season 2 contestant) assumed the role for season four, Dave Kerr had the role in season five and Jully Black in season six.

The show began with a cross-Canada tour in which singers audition in front of four judges: Jake Gold of Toronto, Sass Jordan of Montreal, Quebec, Zack Werner of Winnipeg, Manitoba, and Farley Flex of Ajax, Ontario. Eventually the performers were narrowed down to 10 finalists (11 in season one due to a near-tie), with each competitor performing live. Viewers had 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 was sent home. After the final two perform, viewers had more than two hours to vote. The next day (five days later in season 4; two days later in season 6), the competitor with the most votes was declared the winner. The show was taped at the John Bassett Theatre in Toronto, Ontario.

In December 2008, CTV announced that Canadian Idol would be "suspended", not airing in the 2009 season due to "the current economic climate". At that time, the network stated that it expected the show would return in 2010.^[1] However, CTV has not made any further announcement regarding the series since that time, and the series is now generally considered to have been cancelled.^[2] Following the announcement of the show's suspension, Joel Rubinoff, television critic for the Waterloo Region Record, strongly criticized the show's direction, declaring that it had "bottomed out creatively in every possible way" and "outlived its usefulness".^[3]

Final results

In its six seasons, the winners and runners-up were:

Year	Winner	Runner-up
2003	Ryan Malcolm	Gary Beals
2004	Kalan Porter	Theresa Sokyrka
2005	Melissa O'Neil	Rex Goudie
2006	Eva Avila	Craig Sharpe
2007	Brian Melo	Jaydee Bixby
2008	Theo Tams	Mitch MacDonald

Season 1

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	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 (1)

Canadian Idol
Canadian Idol Finalists (with dates of elimination)
Season 1 (2003)
Ryan Malcolm	Winner
Gary Beals	September 16
Billy Klippert	September 9
Audrey de Montigny	September 2
Jenny Gear	August 26
Toya Alexis	August 19
Tyler Hamilton	August 12
Mikey Bustos	August 12
Karen-Lee Batten	August 5
Candida Clauseri	August 5
Richie Wilcox	August 5
Season 2 (2004)
Kalan Porter	Winner
Theresa Sokyrka	September 16
Jacob Hoggard	September 9
Jason Greeley	September 2
Shane Wiebe	August 26
Elena Juatco	August 19
Kaleb Simmonds	August 12
Joshua Seller	August 5
Manoah Hartmann	July 29
Brandy Callahan	July 22
Season 3 (2005)
Melissa O'Neil	Winner
Rex Goudie	September 14
Aaron Walpole	September 7
Suzi Rawn	August 31
Casey LeBlanc	August 24
Josh Palmer	August 17
Daryl Brunt	August 10
Amber Fleury	August 3
Ashley Leitao	July 27
Emily Vinette	July 20
Season 4 (2006)
Eva Avila	Winner
Craig Sharpe	September 17
Tyler Lewis	September 5
Chad Doucette	August 29
Steffi DiDomenicantonio	August 22
Ashley Coulter	August 15
Rob James	August 8
Brandon Jones	August 1
Sarah Loverock	July 25
Kati Durst	July 18
Season 5 (2007)
Brian Melo	Winner
Jaydee Bixby	September 11
Carly Rae Jepsen	September 4
Dwight d'Eon	August 28
Matt Rapley	August 21
Tara Oram	August 14
Greg Neufeld	August 7
Martha Joy	July 31
Khalila Glanville	July 24
Mila Miller	July 17
Season 6 (2008)
Theo Tams	Winner
Mitch MacDonald	September 10
Drew Wright	September 2
Earl Stevenson	August 26
Mookie Morris	August 19
Amberly Thiessen	August 12
Mark Day	August 5
Sebastian Pigott	July 29
Katherine St-Laurent	July 22
Adam Castelli	July 15

Season 2

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 franchise first when the final six contestants played their own instruments during a group performance of the Gordon Lightfoot classic "Canadian Railroad Trilogy".

Kalan Porter of Medicine Hat, Alberta won the series, and Theresa Sokyrka of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan was the runner-up. In November 2004, merely two months after the competition, Porter released his debut album entitled 219 Days – the number of 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 (four albums 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 launched August 28, 2007). Jacob Hoggard released his second album (Universal) with his band, Hedley; the album's first single, "She's So Sorry", was released to radio August 20, 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 3

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 final, 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 20	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	Barenaked Ladies	Aaron Walpole (2)
September 14	Final Two	Rex Goudie (2)	Melissa O'Neil (2)

Season 4

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 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.^[4] 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 2009, Eva Avila ('Somewhere Else' and 'Give Me the Music'), Craig Sharpe ('I Am'), Chad Doucette ('Hit It'), Tyler Lewis ('I'm Coming Home'), and Brandon Jones ('All for You') had all launched debut CDs.

Date	Theme	Bottom Three
July 17	Canadian Hits	Kati Durst	Ashley Coulter (2)	Steffi D (2)
July 24	Rolling Stones	Sarah Loverock	Ashley Coulter (3)	Steffi D (3)
July 31	The 1980s	Brandon Jones	Chad Doucette	Eva Avila
		Bottom Two
August 7	Classic Rock	Rob James	Steffi D (4)
		Bottom Three
August 14	Unplugged	Ashley Coulter (4)	Craig Sharpe	Steffi D (5)
		Bottom Two
August 21	Country Standards	Steffi D (6)	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 (2)

Season 5

In December 2006, CTV announced the plans for the fifth season of Canadian Idol. The audition tour began 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 5, 2007. On July 11, 2007 Canadian Idol voters picked their top ten. On September 4, 2007 these were narrowed down to the final two, Jaydee Bixby and Brian Melo. On September 11, 2007, Brian Melo was voted the winner. Placing 3rd was Carly Rae Jepsen, globally the best selling Canadian Idol alum to-date.

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

Season 6

In January 2008, CTV announced the plans for the sixth season of Canadian Idol. The sixth season held auditions in Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver, Winnipeg, Hamilton, Ottawa, Montreal, Halifax, St. John's, and Toronto. In addition to the auditions, contestants who failed to advance to the next round or were unable to make it to an audition on the scheduled date were able to audition via cyberspace by uploading their 2-minute audition to the show's website. This was the first season to feature a top 24 instead of top 22 along with an uneven number of men and women in the cast. The Canadian voters selected their Top 10 on July 9, 2008, and chose Theo Tams as the winner in the finale, which aired September 10.

Date	Theme	Bottom Three
July 14	David Bowie	Adam Castelli (2)	Sebastian Pigott	Mookie Morris
July 21	Rock and Roll Heaven	Katherine St-Laurent	Sebastian Pigott (2)	Amberly Thiessen
July 28	Unplugged	Sebastian Pigott (3)	Mookie Morris (2)	Mark Day
August 4	Top 10 UK Hits	Mark Day (2)	Earl Stevenson	Theo Tams
August 11	Canadian Rock	Amberly Thiessen (2)	Earl Stevenson (2)	Drew Wright
		Bottom Two
August 18	Judges Choice of Beatles songs	Mookie Morris (3)	Drew Wright (2)
August 25	Anne Murray + Free choice	Earl Stevenson (3)
September 1	Bryan Adams	Drew Wright (3)
September 8	Final Two	Mitch MacDonald	Theo Tams (1)