I was thinking that the top 5 were really good and it was one of the best shows of the year if not the best.

Taking them one by one:

Earl was the best, IMO, both watching and not watching. He does do better when he tones down his energy and *weirdness* a bit. The Quasimodo remark made earlier does fit his strange moves, but I don’t think anyone can deny that his performance of Cocker’s arrangement this week was super.

Mookie: Walking away from the computer…not that good…mumbles a bit and maybe not the greatest voice….but watch him and his body is almost another instrument…it pounds out the rhythm and his performance skills are untopped by anybody. I feared for him…for some reason Toronto boys are having it tough, but I still can’t say his voice is great. He IS a star, but his voice is not the best. JMO.

Theo: a bit disappointed by his arrangement of The Long and Winding Road. I wasn’t particularly thrilled by his phrasing and liked the original and other arrangements better. I was slowly won over by TCO slowly until this week. I didn’t hear any glory notes, just a lot of self *indulgence* Not his best. As for “Let it Be” it seems most with a decent voice can sit behind a piano (see Brooke White) and make that song sound good. BTW, IMO, Brooke did it better and she doesn’t have the strongest voice in the world, altho a very good coffee house, folk singer, much like her male counterpart Jason (who did have two great performances, Hallelujah and SOTR

Mitch: I have nothing to say. VFTW chose him correctly after the Mark Day left. His voice is definitely on helium and I just am not enamoured of him. Sass seems to love him and with Mookie (her other fav. M&M) gone, she will talk him up, no doubt. I do believe *My Life* was a good choice for him, but I still just don’t like the quality of his voice and probably never will. He should be done, gone, verboten. If he lasts beyond this week, I will be surprised. AGAIN, LOL.

Drew: the favorite whipping boy of the judges. I have to agree with the singing lady. He does have the best voice IMO and so many of the judges’ comments about him have hypnotized everyone into thinking he has no sound or emotion of his own. I don’t agree. In retrospect, although I did enjoy his performance a lot this week, I have to wonder why the judges picked the most obscure song of all for him. To bury him? Maybe.

As for the Cookie comparison, who was my favorite from the beginning, even before Hello, yes, there are some similarities in looks, built, voice, but the Eleanor Rigby thing as said by some was the choice of TPTB, not Drew’s. They all are puppets of the all seeing powers and have to dance as the strings are pulled. Voice wise, I thought Theo and Drew were the best, but Theo didn’t do it with The Road and I don’t know the song they gave Drew, so I have no comparison, although I thought he sang it very well and with emotion. Even Zach stood up and applauded (I truly believe Zach hated him before then and took every chance to rip him apart, concentrating on his *glory note* but non identification with the lyrics) Maybe? But I don’t see it.

With all the good things that I said about Drew, I still think Earl had the best performance this week.

I would like Mitch gone this week. No doubts there, and then Theo, but I think Theo is TCO and will probably win with Earl second.

I’m not complaining. Thanks, MJ for a great summer filler. I never watched a whole show on the computer before and it was really enjoyable.

He obviously has a following and has some good taste in music. I still fail to see the magic. He’s cute and I do believe he’s talented. That’s about it.

Mitch has grown on me quite a bit. I’d like to see Earl, Theo and Mitch in the top 3, but I don’t really care who wins.

I expect that the judges will turn on Mitch soon, American Idol style. (Remember Elliot Yamin…. Melinda DooLittle…)

Canadian Idol is over for me this season.

Earl has grown on me and I thought his performance this week was stellar! I couldn’t stand Mitch’s voice at first, but I like him more now too. His personality really comes through on TV, and people seem to be voting for him based on that and probably also for regional pride. That’s no different than AI – the best musician does NOT usually win, and it is definitely a personality contest!

What I have liked about CI compared with AI is the judges. For most of the show, the judges (especially Jake Gold) have really given CONSTRUCTIVE criticisms. Not this week, though as it seemed to just be a love fest for all 5 contestants.

People seem to be really focusing on whether or not Drew was trying to mock David Cook, but for me, it was stranger than that. Since AI had a “Beatles” night just a few months ago, it was hard not to compare all these idols with their American counterparts. I agree that Drew was no where near as good as DC on Elanor Rigby, but I didn’t think Theo performance of Let it be was as good as Brooke White’s either, even though Theo is a better overall musician.

THANKS AGAIN, MJ, for posting these videos. I’ve really enjoyed “watching” CI each week onmy computer!

Drew doing Eleanor Rigby just was the last straw for me, lol. I wish he would choose things that are unique to *him*.

Eleanor Rigby was part of a *group sing*. I doubt that Drew had much say in the matter as to what song he sang or the arrangement. He got handed his part by TPTB and was told to sing it.

I don’t think singing a Big Wreck song is a big deal either They are a Canadian band–last week was Canadian rock night.

Drew lacks an artistic identity, but I see him channeling the artists he covers, rather than David Cook. Who knows if he’s even seen American Idol…

Where is Earl from? Do people vote there? It shouldnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t matter, but I guess it does in Canada.

Earl is from a town called Lloydminister, which is on the Alberta- Saskatchewan border. I graduated from high school there, it’s a very nice place. Alberta tends to claim it as it’s own, and Saskatchewan tends to let them. It’s safe to say that he has both provinces voting for him ( Theo is also from Alberta, and so was Amberly. Albertans vote in droves every year.)

I know that some of you don’t get the regionalism in Canadian voting, and I wish I could explain it better. It’s not only about CI voting, it permeates all aspects of Canadian life. All I can say is, when someone asks me where I’m from, I always say ” Alberta.” Not ” Canada”. I just realized this while going through some posts on another site. Nationalistic fervor is not the same in Canada. It seems to be more regional, more local.

I also know I get slammed all the time for being a Toronto Maple Leafs fan instead of a Calgary flames fan, and there is nothing more heinous in Alberta than cheering for a Toronto team.

But what’s more important – I had no idea who any of them was when I watched the performance clips, so I really had a clean slate. Genuinely, Mookie was the only one who really impressed me, so I was sort of shocked to find out that he was the guy going home (I had no names to connect with any of their faces until the elimination started).

Sort of happy I didn’t get into CI. That would’ve been very disappointing if I was emotionally invested.
Maybe I’ve been spoiled by AI, but the talent level doesn’t seem to even be close, then again I am judging based on just part of a results show, which is probably not fair.
Oh well.