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:
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.
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.
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.
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.
Farley Flex, a judge for Canadian Idol
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.
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.
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.
The CTV Television Network, commonly known as CTV, is a Canadian English-language terrestrial television network. Launched in 1961 and acquired by BCE Inc. in 2000, CTV is Canada's largest privately owned television network and is now a division of the Bell Media subsidiary of BCE. It is Canada's largest privately or commercially owned network consisting of 22 owned-and-operated stations nationwide and two privately owned affiliates, and has consistently been placed as Canada's top-rated network in total viewers and in key demographics since 2002, after several years trailing the rival Global Television Network in key markets.
Citytv is a Canadian television network owned by the Rogers Sports & Media subsidiary of Rogers Communications. The network consists of six owned-and-operated (O&O) television stations located in the metropolitan areas of Toronto, Montreal, Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton, and Vancouver, a cable-only service that serves the province of Saskatchewan, and three independently owned affiliates serving smaller cities in Alberta and British Columbia. There is also one station using the brand name serving Bogotá, Colombia.
Richard Kalan Porter is a Canadian former singer-songwriter from Medicine Hat, Alberta, and the winner of the reality television series Canadian Idol in 2004. He started to sing at an early age and is classically trained, playing several instruments, most notably, the violin and viola. He writes and arranges violin solos for many of his songs. Porter's first single "Awake in a Dream" is the best selling debut single for a Canadian artist to date and has been certified 8× Platinum by the Canadian Recording Industry Association. He is also the highest selling solo Canadian Idol singer. In 2013, he was a graduate student in business at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
Melissa O'Neil is a Canadian actress and singer. In 2005, O'Neil won the third season of Canadian Idol. As an actress, she is known for her roles as Two / Rebecca / Portia Lin in the science fiction series Dark Matter and as Officer Lucy Chen in the police procedural drama series The Rookie.
The fourth season of Canadian Idol began in February 2006 ran until September 2006. Zack Werner, Jake Gold, Sass Jordan, and Farley Flex returned to judge, and Ben Mulroney returned to host, with Elena Juatco as the new roving reporter. The season premiered on May 29, five days after the finale of American Idol Season 5. The Canadian Idol title was awarded to competitor Eva Avila on September 17, 2006.
The first season of Canadian Idol debuted on June 9, 2003. Ryan Malcolm of Kingston, Ontario was the eventual winner. On July 15, 2003, CTV and INSINC announced that broadband video of the program would be available over the Internet.
Eva Avila is a Canadian singer, songwriter and actress. She won the fourth season of the CTV reality show Canadian Idol in 2006.
The fifth season of Canadian Idol is the fifth installation of the Idol series in Canada. It was again hosted by Ben Mulroney, with Farley Flex, Jake Gold, Sass Jordan and Zack Werner all returning as judges. The show premiered on June 5, 2007, with a 90-minute episode. Voting began during the fourth week. New events introduced that season included the Help Idols build a house and the Kraft Confidential with David Kerr. The elimination song for this year was Walk on Home by Kalan Porter. The final episode of the season was broadcast on September 11, 2007, when Brian Melo was crowned Canadian Idol.
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.
Jaydee Bixby is a Canadian country musician who was the runner-up on the fifth season of Canadian Idol. In 2008 he signed with Her Royal Majesty's Records and went on to release his debut album Cowboys and Cadillacs. Moving on to On Ramp Records in 2010, he released his second album Easy to Love.
So You Think You Can Dance Canada is a dance competition and reality show that aired on CTV.
The sixth and final season of Canadian Idol is the sixth and final installation of the Idol series in Canada and premiered on June 3, 2008, on the CTV Television Network. It is again hosted by Ben Mulroney, with the addition of Jully Black as a special correspondent and general mentor to the contestants. Farley Flex, Jake Gold, Sass Jordan and Zack Werner all returned as judges. This season saw a number of major and minor show format changes in an effort to keep the franchise fresh and innovative. The final episode of the season, in which the Canadian Idol was crowned, aired on September 10, 2008. The winner of the sixth season was Theo Tams. The sixth season became the final season of Canadian Idol following its cancellation in 2009.
Theo Tams is a Canadian singer and the winner of the sixth season of the CTV reality show Canadian Idol. His debut album, Give It All Away, was released on 19 May 2009 by Sony Music Canada.
Karaoke Star Jr. is a reality television show for children that airs on YTV and CMT. This show is just like the show Karaoke Star, except it features kids instead of adults. It is hosted by Paul McGuire (CMT) and Phil Guerrero (YTV). The purpose of the show is to discover Canada's first ever Karaoke Star Jr. The show premiered on YTV and CMT on March 16, 2009 at 7pm ET. New episodes of the show now air every Monday on these stations. Jamiee is the winner from the first season.
Global News is the news and current affairs division of the Canadian Global Television Network. The network is owned by Corus Entertainment, which oversees all of the network's national news programming as well as local news on its 21 owned-and-operated stations.
Canada's Got Talent (CGT) is a Canadian television reality talent show, which debuted on the Citytv network on March 4, 2012. It is part of the global Got Talent franchise.
The first season of Canada's Got Talent, a reality television series, premiered on City in 2012. Unlike America's Got Talent, the show only had the audition round, Top 37, semi-finals and a finale. The premiere episode aired on March 4, 2012. It had a viewership of 2 million on average, throughout the night, which was a record for Citytv. The season ended on May 14, 2012.
Canada's a Drag is a Canadian documentary series that premiered on CBC Gem on March 7, 2018. The show was created by Peter Knegt and Mercedes Grundy. Each episode focuses on a drag performer from a different Canadian city, inclusive of drag queens, drag kings and transgender or non-binary performers. It is produced by CBC Arts.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
