First up, because I want to be sure as many people as possible see this one, is the Top 6 performance of Gordon Lightfoot's Canadian Railroad Trilogy. I admit, I didn't know the song before this. What's significant about it, though, is that this was the first time on any Idol show that the contestants played their own instruments. I think this performance truly showed just how talented these kids were. It may be my favourite Idol moment ever. Honestly, I found this the other day and I've already watched it several times since then. Take a few minutes and appreciate it!
I had a hard time picking my favourite performance of Jacob Hoggard's. He is, undoubtedly, the most successful artist to come out of Canadian Idol, with his band, Hedley. Honestly, I don't think the Idol franchise has ever seen an entertainer like Jacob. From his Top 32 performance of Billy Joel's Only the Good Die Young to Lifehouse's Everything and David Bowie's Space Oddity, he was never dull, that's for sure! He gets a lot of flack for his connection to Idol, but honestly, he shouldn't. Luckily I found this clip that's a mix of his Idol performances, and also includes the infamous "Wet Willy Incident".
It took me forever to find my favourite performance of Theresa Sokyrka's. Ironically, despite finishing 2nd, she chose to still go her own way, and she's still out there performing. She has a truly lovely voice. Here she's singing Lionel Richie's Hello.
In Season 1, Newfoundland's Jenny Gear really showed that Idol in Canada was going to be a completely different animal. She was unapologetically WEIRD and I loved it. Here's her take on Sarah McLaughlin's Possession.
And finally, from Season 3, the winner, Melissa O'Neil. She hasn't really been heard from since Idol, like so many others, but I do think she has a great voice, and this is probably the best Idol single ever. I may be a bit biased, since I've known the songwriter since I was five years old, but honestly, for the cheesy songs that they're usually forced to record, I think this one was a million miles above the rest. Sorry it's not a video. The videos I found weren't great quality, but enjoy the song anyway.
There have been a lot of great performances from Canadian Idol, but they're not so easy to find! Especially not in good quality. However, I hope that people will take a look at these. Idol gets a hard time, and often it's deserved. I think some really interesting artists have been discovered on that show, even if they haven't had the commercial success that's associated with their US counterparts. How very Canadian, eh? (HAHAHA...)
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