American Idol 4 figured out how to do it right. Not sure what I’m talking about? Remember how the ratings of the show lagged in the middle part of the show when it went from the “worst of the worst” to the “best of the best”? It was something to do with having eight people and only two making it through. Then American Idol 4 decided to make the show like the finals but spread over three nights – a guys, a girls, and a results show. It worked much better. You would think that the Canadian Idol producers would have learned from this lesson. But they didn’t, and as a result, the second Top 32 week left an overwhelming YAWN.

For example, with this kind of format, we get a forgettable Dave Moffat (despite the fact that he was a member of the group The Moffats). He sang, not well, and gave himself a 6. Hey, good job on the honesty. That should be worth a couple of votes – NOT. Jake Gold and Farley Flex (think of these two as the American Idol version of Randy without as many dawgs and yeah yeahs) were under whelmed. Sass Jordan, who in the first season of Canadian Idol gushed and said nothing useful like Paula, actually has turned on her criticism button and said that the song was out of key. Zack Werner, aka the Canadian Simon, simply said “Bye Dave.”

So, did you realize that with this format of show, only 25% of the competitors on each show get through? So if you got stuck in a week with lots of awesome competitors, it can be really hard to reach to the top. But if you are stuck in a week with mediocrity, you just need to be reasonably good to have a good chance to get through. So how do you rank a person like Alinka Chambers? She sang “Black Velvet” and looked great and had great star appeal according to Jake and Farley (these two might as well be joined at the hip) but still said the singing sucked and there were sharp notes. Sass said the song was out of key. OMH, she is being critical again; she’s changed, not that I’m complaining. Zack said the song was awful.

Ok, so I’m sure that if you’ve watched the earlier rounds, you would remember that boyfriend and girlfriend couple who both made it to Toronto and they got to perform a duet together but she was eliminated. He, David Monger, made it. Ben Mulroney, the host who got the job because his dad was Prime Minister, even asked if she was there to watch the show, but she was singing at an Elvis competition (no comment) but still hoping for him and they love each other, etc. So IMHO, I believe that with the American Idol 4 setup, he would’ve lasted a little while (even just one week) just on the story. But with the obsolete format, would he get into the top 25%? With “Only the Good Die Young”, Sass said that it was nice and had some vitality but he wasn’t the best singer ever. Wow, I like this new Sass. I wonder if she is trying to distant herself from being associated with Paula Abdul just because of the scandals brewing around Paula. Zack said that Canadian Idol should not be this. Jake said that David rushed the song but was interesting to watch. Farley said that so far, everybody has been making it easy for the people still sitting on the couch waiting to sing.

Hmmmmm, Casey LeBlanc is next and sang a blues song. Zack said she was not ready tonight. Jake said it was a risk for a younger person to sing an older more mature blues song. And Farley (I said they were attached at the hip) agreed with Jake and said it was also a challenge. Sass thought that Casey should’ve sung the song in a higher key. So how does an ok performance stand against other ok performances when only two people are going through? It sure makes predicting hard and seems hardly worthwhile for a person to call in repeatedly to the point of fingers falling off or, worse, spending a mini fortune on text messaging if the person has almost no chance of making it through.

Hmmmm, so I understand that with a simplistic setup (remember they only have a piano accompanying the singers in this round of competition) but only eight people singing a short song in the hour long show, the producers needed to add some filler. It seems like the perfect time (halfway through the program) to show the competitors shopping for L’Oreal (one of the sponsors) products. Oooooh, like I care what colour hair dye one of the male competitors is going to buy. Not only am I getting bored by this but it is showing how this round of competition has so many people that makes it hard to remember their names. Yeah, I’m really going to waste time voting for someone who I don’t even remember. It is the Survivor-who-were-those-earlier-competitors-in-Vanuatu-and-Palau Syndrome. Remember how it was so easy to remember all 16 competitors but it became very difficult when they went to 18 and 20? I’ll bet that you won’t remember who gets through in this round from this week when the Top 10 shows start.

Ok, we get back to actual competitors singing and stuff now. Josh Palmer (from my province) was actually friends with Theresa Sokyrka (runner-up in last year’s competition). She reassured him that everybody tries to make the competitors feel comfortable and are really nice. Jake said that he is a real artist and the real deal. Farley said he could feel Josh’s real essence. Sass said that it had a real rock star feeling. Zack said that it also felt like the real deal. Oooooh, so with star power and compliments from the judges that should mean that he is through . . . in the American Idol 4 system. But this system, who knows?

Hmmm, three people are left. Julie Tellier sang and Farley described her as a diamond in the rough (but it sounded like he was questioning himself with that comment). Sass said that she hates it when people sing out of tune. So do I! I think I’m starting to really like Sass as a judge. Zack said it didn’t feel like it was in the moment and that it was short on guts. Jake also felt that she wasn’t giving it her all. So how does a performance with poor but not horrible reviews rank with the viewers?

Ok, it is time for the last male singer. Vince Benenati sang “What a Wonderful World.” He’s no Louis, I must say. Sass felt that the lower notes were shaky but the higher notes were nice. Zack said that Vince choked. Jake felt it was a safe song and felt that he crooned through it. Farley repeated what Jake said.

Finally it was the last performance of the night. Emily Vinette sang and Zach said that there were some bad notes but there were enough “Star Search” moments to put her through. Jake said that she hit the big notes and was impressed by the key change. (Ok, mini rant here. Key change . . . ooooh so impressive and so hard . . . NOT. Any musician should be able to handle a semitone key change, especially on a simpler song – I call it simpler because there was a piano, a percussive instrument, and fairly simplistic accompaniment and harmonization. I wasn’t impressed. Mini rant done.) Farley thought that the “Star Search” moments were also good. Sass noticed missed notes but felt she was the best singer of the night.

Ok, so the results show was the next day. Filler, filler, filler, judges reintroduced, filler, filler, filler, Jon Dore, ugh, he is so not funny. Canadians are known for their singers and their comedians. This week of shows contradicted that. Jon took this week’s competitors to the Wonderland Amusement Park. They showed a giant Spongebob. I think he’s scary. Jon came back with gifts – giant sunglasses for Jake, caramel corn for Farley, a giant lollipop for Sass, and a cute teddy bear for Zack (which Zack started hugging). Ben asked what his present was so Jon ripped the teddy from Zack and threw it over to Ben. (Dripping with sarcasm) Yeah, really funny. Ha, ha. Filler, filler, filler, do we care what the judges’ opinions are? Filler, filler, filler. Finally some results. Casey, Vince, and Emily are in the top 3 but only 2 get through. Filler, filler, filler. Hmmm, I don’t think I predicted these 3 to be here but then again, it isn’t the easiest thing to predict. Filler, filler, filler. Casey was the top vote getter in Canada and sings her song. Filler, filler, filler. Emily was the second top vote getter and sings her song as credits role. I’m just happy that Ben doesn’t have a dumb catchphrase like “Seacrest out”. Overall, this was boring and quite pointless. Please, if there is a Canadian Idol 4, consider the American Idol 4 format. It is much better and I was able to write a better summary because I was given more to work with.

Three is the perfect number.