TV Series
Canadian Idol
6.02003 · 6 seasons60 min / episode
Overview
Canadian Idol was 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. Elena Juatco 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, 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, 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, the competitor with the most votes was declared the winner. The show was taped at the John Bassett Theatre in Toronto, Ontario.
Status
Status
Ended
Latest episode aired Sep 10, 2008
Season 6
~32 episodes
Total episodes
Seasons
Season 1
26 episodesAired 2003
The first season of Canadian Idol debuted on June 9, 2003. Ryan Malcolm of Kingston, Ontario was the eventual winner.
Season 2
34 episodesAired 2004
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. Auditions were held in Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Ottawa, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Halifax, Regina, and St. John's. The season provided an Idol first when the final six contestants played their own instruments during a group performance of the Gordon Lightfoot classic "Canadian Railroad Trilogy". This was the first time that contestants on any Idol series had performed with instruments; the effort is still widely regarded as one of the finest group numbers ever to appear on the show. 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 days spanning from his first audition to the release of his CD. Other Season Two finalists who released albums include Sokyrka, Jacob Hoggard, Jason Greeley, Shane Wiebe, and Joshua Seller.
Season 3
33 episodesAired 2005
Melissa O'Neil won the title of the first female Canadian Idol and the youngest Idol ever in North America in 2005, beating runner-up Rex Goudie.
