Canadian Idol 6! Episode 31 – Top 2 Final Performance – VIDEO

I guess I’m the only one even sort of still watching. Oh, Canadian Idol. No Mookie, no Earl, and you are one dull show.

Mitch sang Bread. If I didn’t already dislike him, that would do it. Freakin’ Bread.

I’m not watching. No Mookie and no Earl. Sawry. I kinda want Mitch to win even though Theo can sing circles around him. It would serve Canada right.

I guess we’ll see if CI is a “singing contest” this season. Maybe going first will be the curse? Either way, some great guest stars are coming up for the finale.

Mitch sings Paris. Judges seemed to like it. Very tuneless.

Theo sings Good Mother. One of my favorite songs of all time so I’m biased. Different and dramatic version from Theresa Sokyrka’s legendary rendition from season 2. Surprisingly restrained, beautiful acoustic version and should be on his album.

Round 1 to Theo.

Mitch sings “Where We Begin” the Idol single. Midtempo coronation song in the same vein as Brian Melo’s “All I Ever Wanted.” Not bad actually and suits his voice.

Theo sings “Sing” for his Idol single. A meandering piece of junk that can’t even aspire to Coldplay -lite. Tries to cover the weakness of the song with some vocal gymnastics.

Round 2 to Mitch.

Mitch sings “If” the judges’ choice. Did they give him a song completely out of his range on purpose? Harsh! He just smiled his way through it.

Theo sings “I Want to Know What Love Is” as the judges’ choice. A soaring ballad from a hair band? The judges must not want either one to win. Theo speeds it up to give it some juice but it doesn’t really work.

Round 3 Tie. Both pretty lame

I have no idea who’s going to win this thing. But I would be voting for Theo based on tonight.

I don’t think I’ll be watching. I still need time to wrap my head around the fact that Mitch is in the Final 2.

part 6 was the same as part 5, MJ – can you fix it? thanks! xox

Prime — exactly what I was thinking…again…

Neither one is my favorite so I guess it’s a draw as far as I’m concerned. I did watch however and I think what Zack said about Mitch at the end may mean that he’s been running ahead of the rest in votes for awhile. They know each week how the voting is going.

Both of them actually sang very well tonight (even the Idol wannabe coronation songs).

I doubt people will vote based solely on tonight though. I think Theo has the overall advantage and should win.

Only watched tonight because I loved Jacob back in season 2 and I love Hedley so I was excited to see them mentor…or work with the idols or whatever.

Best part of the night? The two seconds they showed of Mookie in the audience.

Theo’s not really my style, but he sang circles around Mitch. The recap made that abuuuuuuundantly clear. But that’s the story of the season, and no amount of charming, pandering comments by the judges will change that.

Le sigh.

smartcookie, no amount of trashing Mitch will change the fact that he has a singing style that does have many fans. For this competition, I favour Theo but I’ve enjoyed the performances from all of the top 6 this year, including Mitch.

Here’s a nice article about Debra Byrd:

http://tinyurl.com/5nlf7q

Debra Byrd more than a vocal coach to Idols

Every week during Canadian Idol’s live performance show, there’s someone cheering louder than anyone else from the sidelines.

It’s Debra Byrd, Idol’s vocal coach extraordinaire, and it’s a very proud moment for her to see the competitors accomplish something they’ve been working so hard on.

“There’s a lot of noise making going on and I share that with Lalama. It’s like, ‘We did it! We got him to do that thing we’ve been trying to get him to do for months!’ It’s so nice when it happens because we sit in here and sweat blood to get it to happen,” said Byrd, in reference to the music workshops her and Idol’s pianist Mark Lalama do with the competitors each week.

“There’s a lot of whooping and yelling because it’s a huge triumph when they can cross over to something they’ve held onto for so long.”

Byrd is responsible for much more than just helping the competitors work on their vocals – she helps them transform from their often shy and reserved selves into confident performers who are completely comfortable on stage.

As the vocal coach on both Canadian Idol and American Idol, Byrd helped take Carrie Underwood from a girl with her hands glued to her side to a Grammy Award-winning artist with incredible stage presence. And she helped Jennifer Hudson go from a reluctant performer who didn’t want to dance on stage to someone who danced and sang her way to an Oscar in ‘Dreamgirls.’

This year, she has also helped Canadian Idol’s Theo Tams go through his own transformation.

“Theo Tams came in; I called him Schroeder (from the Peanuts cartoon). He’s playing and he’s singing, he never looked up. I said, ‘Ok you stood in a line, you know this is a television show, nobody wants to see your forehead, that means you have to look up.’ It’s easy for me to say those two words ‘look up’ but it’s very hard for him to do. It’s very hard. Ok, so fast forward to last week’s performance not only did he look up, but he stood on the piano. That’s a huge journey for a guy like that.”

Byrd says it’s easier to take someone who is bigger than life and pull them in than take someone who’s very closed in and draw them out.

Even Tams can’t believe how far he’s come.

“I am speechless when it comes to Byrd,” said Tams. “I walked into this competition like a little Schroeder. Always, always my eyes were closed and I hated looking up and I said music is something I do for me so that’s why I’m here and she really found a way to bring out a side of me that ‘yeah music is for you and you’re doing it for you but you’re also able to share it with so many people right now.’ She was just really encouraging and very, very smart in her tactics and the way she really works with you and gets that side out of you.”

Byrd said the workshops often resemble more of a counseling session.

“We talk about family. It does become counseling. It becomes getting inside their head because we have to be inside their heart as well. That’s why I always thank them for trusting me because it’s hard. And I love Drew (Wright’s) response to that. I say, ‘Thank you for trusting me.’ He’s like, ‘I’d be stupid not to.’ It’s the first time I’ve ever had that response and it made me laugh,” said Byrd.

Byrd likes to refer to the process as ‘The Push.’

“Every season, every show, these people who really are pushed out of their comfort zone, and they all are pushed out of their comfort zone, to varying degrees,” said Byrd.

“I mentioned Jennifer Hudson. I mentioned Carrie Underwood. I mentioned Theo. For Amberly, it was huge for her to stand up. Amberly Thiessen has never stood up and performed a song in her life until she got here. That’s huge. Mitch MacDonald still holds on to his guitar. Every week he’ll say, ‘Ok I’m going to let it go’ but he doesn’t. David Archuleta on the other side would do the opposite. David Archuleta would say ‘I’m going to play the piano this week’ and then say ‘No, I’m not going to play.’ So it’s in varying degrees and it becomes a psychological thing. My whole thing is I want you as comfortable as you can be. If you need to hold onto that guitar, by all means, hold onto it.”

She said each person’s journey is very different and sometimes competitors just can’t let go of something, so she backs off.

“I always say, ‘I’m not Mommy. I’m the police.’ That means I will give you the tools you need to do what you’re supposed to do and if you want to stop I have no problem with that.”

Read more at the article link.

Like them or not, these are the top two, and even though my favorites are gone, it’s still interesting to see what’s going on, at least for me. Plus it’s a slice of Canadiana as I’m living far from home now.
I have to say, as much as I’m not a Mitch fan, I liked his Idol single. Or maybe I just liked the Idol single? It suited him. I wonder how it would’ve sounded on Theo… it woulda been great from Earl (not so much Mookie I’d wager).
Earl for the win! :clap_tb:

I’m going on the record as unapologetically enjoying this finale. Sure, I like Earl and Mookie and even Sebastian. But I’ve loved Theo from the beginning. I like his vulnerability and how his voice holds so much power and beauty, that I just soar on the music that he creates. I agree with one of the judge’s comments that he’s like a prism taking a song and transforming it into all kinds of shapes, colors and feelings. Theo FTW!!!

Why isn’t the finale until Wednesday?

I have to say I must be more open minded than I thought, because I actually enjoyed the first two songs (the finalist’s picks)

IMO, it was all down hill after that. The coronation songs were bad.

The Judges picked two beautiful songs for the contestants and they both sang them out of pitch. Mitch started so high, there was nowhere to go when he had to go higher, so the goaty sound reared its ugly horns once again.

OTOH, Theo started so low that, it actually sounded *pitchy* and his lower register was the weakest I had ever heard it.

I also hate to make this comment about Debra Byrd because she did do a wonderful job with Jennifer Hudson and Carrie Underwood, *BUT* I couldn’t see from tonight how or where Theo moved forward even a smidge.

He hid behind his piano for all three songs. Where was the improvement in his performance? Not there for me, at all.

As some have said, I miss the personalities of Mookie and Earl and the best voice in the contest, again IMO, Drew Wright, who left last week.

Mookie, Earl, and Drew were the final three for me, but I knew that Theo was always TCO and they would leave one of the worst singers standing next to him, so even those who were not Theo fans would say, “Hey, he’s not so bad.” But, shockingly, even next to Mitch, Theo was not that good, either.

I did enjoy the show and I want to thank MJ for keeping us up to date with the videos. It was great Sweet N Low for Sugar (even if it also had that aftertaste)

Wow, those were some seriously shitty songs they were given to sing for the last two numbers. I guess I got my expectations up because CI has encouraged more contemporary songs and performances this season.

I personally think Theo slaughtered Mitch. Mitch’s taste in music is actually more my own than Theo’s, but Mitch’s voice makes me want to hit the FF button. And I like unconventional voices, but his does pretty much nothing for me. That being said, if the judges’ comments are any indication, he must have this thing totally wrapped up.

I so hope Theo gets a recording contract, too, because I’d love to buy whatever he’s selling.

That was a pretty good final performance show. They both did what they’ve been doing all season which obviously works since they are the final 2…personally I hope Theo wins but Mitch sounded better than usual to me….I think I’m getting used to his, um, unusual, tone.

it was fun seeing Mookie and Earl in the audience! I can’t wait to see them perform again on Wednesday!

Could the CI audience be any more enthusiastic? They looked bored and why did half of the the audience stand up and the other would sit down?? It’s the freakin finale and they could care less about the the top two. The show seriously SUCKED! Its was definitely no Cookie/Archie finale. What the hell was that. All the songs were slow as hell. I like one song from each of them. The judges choice for Mitch and Theo’s personal choice. The rest of the show was just awful. I love Theo on the piano, but why all 3 songs???? Why did the judges pick that TERRIBLE song for Theo, WHY??

Where is Theo’s energy tonight? I miss his “Collide” and “Sweet One” performance energy. I would think they would pick stronger songs to make them stand out more. Mitch was cute as heck tonight though and his twin sisters were really beautiful too. Theo was kind of just laid back. I was really disappointed in the show and now I think Mitch may just win CI. LOL….Well I hope Theo wins but who knows?

I have only watched one CI video before watching these, and it was with Theo Tam. I think it was Top 8 week. I thought he was really good and could win. I think he will win. He is an Elliott/Archuleta type of vocalist.