It just occurred to me that even the Canadian contest may not be as fair as we might want to think it is. I was thinking back to the wild card contest and how they surprised everyone by selecting an 11th contestant without any prior mention that this may be a possibility. I was thinking maybe Ryan was indeed the one with the highest votes for the wild card and that Toya was included because she was the judge's choice. I'm not saying this is because I don't think Toya is a good singer. On the contrary. It's just surprising that she ended up in the bottom three in all weeks (except the Motown week). Maybe the fan base was never really there. I keep thinking about the rigging of American Idol 2 and how Ruben got the title because the producers thought he would be more marketable. "In all fairness", they decided to release both Ruben and Clay's singles at the same time. Why? Because they felt bad rigging the contest in Ruben's favor. The numbers prove Clay was and should've been the true winner (selling twice as much as Ruben). Rigging contests like these are self-defeating. Why bother with the concept if the producers will go with their own "favorites" in the end?

• RE: Canadian Idol - Opinions,spinningwords, 09:46 PM, 08-23-03
• RE: Canadian Idol - Opinions,strid333, 11:47 PM, 08-23-03
  • RE: Canadian Idol - Judges,Lumster, 10:20 PM, 08-24-03
    • RE: Canadian Idol - Judges,strid333, 10:32 PM, 08-24-03

You could very well be right. Even American Juniors which should have been clean was not. There is very clear evidence that Chauncey was brought into the group; not as the judges choice but apparently as the producers choice. There are many rumors flying around but the one that seems the most plausible is that viewers who THOUGHT they were voting for Lucy that night were actually voting for Chauncey - (via a classic switcheroo) - if you were watching that particular night you may recall that Debbie Gibson's comments on Lucy were to the effect America would be foolish not to vote Lucy into the group. Of course Lucy went on to win the next week with her brillian version of Call Me but Chauncey should never have been inducted in.... Anyhow, off my soapbox on THAT particular topic.

There appears to be other ways to slant the publics votes. I was thinking about the final performances for American Juniors today and did a bit of research on the songs each child sang.. I'm not sure if the kids were allowed to choose their own music for the final show but they definately did not have their own choice of music for the other episodes - so I'm assuming the music was picked for them for the final as well. This would be an excellent way for the producers to slant the voting in favor of a particular contestant if they so desired. Danielle never once made it into the top 3. Why not? Could it be she never had a decent song that showcased her voice for the people that did the voting? (teenagers and young adults?) By giving her a song that was catchy and upbeat AND suitable for her voice she was in all likelihood going to win the competition.

Chantel probably never really stood a chance and all the suspence was just for show. I suspect Danielle won by thousands of votes. Chantelle's performances had not been consistent for weeks and her performance of Sundown in particular did not suit her voice. The producers made a smart choice and did not give her a ballad which would complement her and made sure that she had to sing in a lot of different ranges. She wasn't up to the challenge.

Maybe this is why in American Idol the producers gave them 3 songs to sing.... Judges Choice, Artists Choice and Random choice out of a bowl. I would suggest that this should probably be done for Canadian Idol as well.

I agree with the rigging feeling with AI and CI. (Though I never watched AJ because BB was always on at the same time and I'm not as interested in young teenagers and pre-teens). I think one thing that they (producers) could do is actually say the number of votes. For example, Audrey you got 3000 votes. Toya you got 2000 votes. I'm sorry Toya . . .

Three is the perfect number.

Another thing that has been bugging me is the objectivity of the judges has been going downhill since the final 11 took the stage in their new home. The comments are becoming less and less meaningful - Sass and Jake in particular. It's like more about bashing the other judges, especially Zach, then it is about critiquing the performances of the contestants.

I agree. At first, I thought that our judges were better than the American counterparts because ours were offering constructive critism and suggestions, etc. Now they are becoming the American judges. Zach is Simon - awful, dreadful, etc. Sass is Paula - you are such a star and I love you, etc. And Farley and Jake are Randy - kinda in the middle without all the Dawgs and Wudups.

Three is the perfect number.