Canadian Idolation
(That other show over the other side)

While everyone was sad that American Idol (AI) finally concluded with the crowning of a new idol - Carrie Underwood - I was actually glad because that means my favorite Idol franchise is about to start for the summer!

"Welcome to Canadian Idol!"

Currently on its third season, Canadian Idol boasts a few differences from its american counterpart. For one, it has four judges rather than three. Second, it only has ten finalists as opposed to AI's twelve. And it had more "firsts" than any other idol franchise in the world.

First off, the judges. There are three men and one woman, all are supposedly professionals in the music business (well their side of the world anyway). They are:

• Jake Gold - a record producer who is labeled as the flamboyant one. His critiques are sometimes mean and sometimes funny, but he's more partial to the emotion a contestant evokes during a performance rather than anything else. In season three, Jake's been sporting a rather horrendous pair of glasses.
• Farley Flex - the big black guy in the judging panel, Farley is a famous TV and radio personality in the urban scene in Canada. His critiques are always nice, never mean, more like Randy Jackson without any attitude. Of all the judges, Farley's perhaps the "coolest" one.
• Sass Jordan - the only female in the panel, Sass is, like Paula, the only recording artist amongst the judges. Unlike Paula though, she apparently still has a career in music in her home turf. Her critiques are always nice and appreciative (definitely more coherent than Paula's) but lately Sass have been dishing out sharp comments if she feels a performance was subpar.
• Zack Werner - the Simon Cowell of the group, Zack doesn't pull his punches when giving out his critiques, damn any feelings he might step on. But there is a good side to Zack, and he appreciates the effort put in by a contestant. He actually did some performing in his early years in the music business and is actually a lawyer (though non-practicing).

Now as for the host, well Ben Mulroney is no Ryan Seacrest but one could see that he's trying to be a good emcee. His eyes are rather dead and emotionless, unlike Ryan who comes off as sympathetic and caring. In season one, Ben's hosting skills are very very lacking but overtime he became more comfortable and adept.

Canadian Idol also has a roving correspondent - Jon Dore. Now Jon is more of a jester, often horse-playing with the contestants or playing a practical joke - on himself! He is quite likable - more than Ben I would think.

Season one had eleven finalists - supposedly a last minute decision during the wildcard performance - but seasons two and three have ten. The show boasted a few firsts (from what I could gather) like:

• The show was the first to do away with the red room during last season's wildcard performance. Usually, semi-finalists are sequestered in a room (painted red, hence the name) while waiting for their turn to perform; only during the results show are they all on stage seated on couches. Last year, during the wildcard show, all eight wildcard semi-finalists were on the couch so they could see and watch each other's performances upfront.
• During the sixth results show of the finals last year, the idols performed playing a musical instrument each.
• This year, the judges chose eleven eliminated semi-finalists and Canada voted eight to perform live in the wildcards show.
• In the first season, when a wildcard semi-finalist dropped out of the show, a contestant was chosen from the top 100.

The show is currently on its ninth round in the finals and so far it seems to be going strong still. This year however had no Asian finalist (well not that I could distinguish) - season one had Mikey Bustos and season two had Elena Juatco.

In the absence of CSIs, Aliases and Apprentices, Canadian Idol have been a good distraction for me - at the very least until the next American Idol season.

The CI judges: Farley Flex, Sass Jordan, Jake Gold and Zack Werner