Canadian Idol season 6

The sixth and final season of Canadian Idol is the sixth and final installation of the Idol series in Canada and premiered on June 3, 2008, on the CTV Television Network. It is again hosted by Ben Mulroney, with the addition of Jully Black as a special correspondent and general mentor to the contestants. Farley Flex, Jake Gold, Sass Jordan and Zack Werner all returned as judges. This season saw a number of major and minor show format changes in an effort to keep the franchise fresh and innovative. The final episode of the season, in which the Canadian Idol was crowned, aired on September 10, 2008. The winner of the sixth season was Theo Tams. The sixth season became the final season of Canadian Idol following its cancellation in 2009.

Auditions

Auditions were held in the following cities:

Edmonton, Alberta : 1,000 Auditioned – 13 Received Gold
Calgary, Alberta : 1,000 Auditioned – 19 Received Gold
Vancouver, British Columbia : 1,000 Auditioned – 21 Received Gold
Winnipeg, Manitoba : 700 Auditioned – 24 Received Gold
Hamilton, Ontario : 1,000 Auditioned – 27 Received Gold
Ottawa, Ontario : 660 Auditioned – 20 Received Gold
Montreal, Quebec : 1,000 Auditioned – 27 Received Gold
Halifax, Nova Scotia : 450 Auditioned – 10 Received Gold
St. John's, Newfoundland : 200 Auditioned – 6 Received Gold
Toronto, Ontario : 2,000 Auditioned – 34 Received Gold

Total Auditions: 9,010
Total Gold Tickets: 201

Show Format Changes

This year of Canadian Idol promises to have a number of changes and surprises to the usual show format.

Jully Black joined the cast of Canadian Idol as the new correspondent and mentor.
As introduced last season, competitors are allowed to play instruments in their auditions and performances.
"Last Chance" Online Auditions were introduced to allow competitors who could not make it to an audition city/date, or who did not receive a gold ticket for their in-person audition, to submit a two-minute audition video on the Canadian Idol website for consideration.
This season, apparently due to the increase in extremely talented contestants, the number of semi-finalist was increased by 2, producing a Top 24. Also for the first time, the chosen semi-finalists were not evenly split between male and female performers: 15 men and 9 women made up the Top 24. Due to the uneven number of men and women, the performance groups during the semi-final rounds were also not being split according to gender. Additionally, during the semi-final elimination rounds the composition of the two performance groups varied from week to week; thus, unlike in previous years, a performer did not always compete against the same sub-group of semifinalists, or on the same performance night.
Because of the increase in the total number of semi-finalist, the last week of semifinals saw 6 competitors eliminated in order to have a Top 10.
Elimination song changed to "When [I'm Gone (Simple Plan song)|When I'm Gone]" by Simple Plan.

Broadcast Schedule

The sixth season of Canadian Idol premiered on June 3, 2008. Highlights from the initial auditions held across Canada, and the elimination rounds of "Toronto Week", were aired in 5 one-hour episodes over 3 weeks:

Episode 1 : Auditions held in Toronto, Calgary, Edmonton
Episode 2 : Auditions held in Montreal, Vancouver, Winnipeg
Episode 3 : Auditions held in Hamilton, Ottawa, St. Johns, Halifax
Episode 4 : Top 200 Initial solo performances and group performances
Episode 5 : Top 200 Final solo performances; selection of Top 24 announced

The semifinals began airing June 23 and consisted of 3 weeks of eliminations, resulting in the selection of the final Top 10 contestants. In each of the 3 semifinal weeks, the contestants were split into two groups, one group performing each evening ; and the results of the public voting are announced on Wednesday evening. The Top 10 was revealed on July 9.
The finals began airing on July 14, 2008. Performances aired on Monday evenings and the results of the public voting were announced the following evening. Encore presentations of episodes are also broadcast on the now CTV-owned MuchMoreMusic on Thursday nights. The season finale aired September 10, 2008.

Contestants

For this season, there was an unexpected format change. Because of the quality of some of the male singers, the producers and the judges decided to make a Top 24 containing the best singers, based on talent not gender. The semifinalists performed for three weeks in mixed-groups, meaning that eliminations were made regardless of gender, until the Top 10 was determined on July 9, 2008.
From a Top 24 composed of 15 males and 9 females, the Canada-wide voting during the 3 semifinal elimination rounds produced a final Top 10 comprising 8 male and 2 female contestants.

Top 10 Finalists

Theo Tams, 23, Lethbridge, AB, Student - WINNER, Canadian Idol, Season 6
Mitch MacDonald, 22, Port Hood, NS, Carpenter, Musician '
Drew Wright, 28, Collingwood, ON, Musician, House Painter '
Earl Stevenson, 23, Lloydminster, AB, Swamper for a Backhoe Operator '
Mookie Morris, 18, Toronto, ON, Musician '
Amberly Thiessen, 19, Seven Persons, AB, Student '
Mark Day, 20, Portugal Cove, NL, Student, Respite Care Worker '
Sebastian Pigott, 25, Toronto, ON, Actor, Writer '
Katherine St-Laurent, 17, Otterburn Park, QC, Student '
Adam Castelli, 26, Hamilton, ON, Carpenter, Singer/Songwriter

Semifinalists

Eliminated 2008-07-09 from the Top 16:

Marie-Pierre Bellerose, 25, Quebec City, QC, Bartender
Katelyn Dawn, 19, Winnipeg, MB, Singer/Songwriter
Martin Kerr, 25, Edmonton, AB, Independent Singer/Songwriter
Omar Lunan, 29, Scarborough, ON, Registered Massage Therapist
Gary Morissette, 21, Fruitvale, BC, Musician, Construction Worker
Oliver Pigott, 27, Toronto, ON, Singer/Songwriter

Eliminated 2008-07-02 from the Top 20:

Lisa Bell, 27, Winnipeg, MB, Coffee Shop Manager
Paul Clifford, 26, Port Moody, BC, Bartender
Jesse Cottam, 23, Calgary, AB, Music Teacher, Musician
Jessica Sheppard, 22, Toronto, ON, Visual Manager

Eliminated 2008-06-25 from the Top 24:

Lindsay Barr, 26, Halifax, NS, Singer, Writer, Art Student
Shaun Francisco, 25, Vancouver, BC, Coffee Shop Barista
Tetiana Ostapowych, 25, Toronto, ON, Session Singer/Songwriter/Server
Lindsay Robins, 21, Montreal, QC, Singer/Songwriter

Regional Representation

The breakdown of the Top 24 and Top 10 according to the contestants' home province, is as follows:

Region	Top 24	Top 10
BC	3	–
Prairies	7	3
Ontario	8	4
Quebec	3	1
Atlantic	3	2

Canadian Idol announced the regional representation of the Top 10 using different regional divisions than was used for the Top 24, as follows:

West: 3
East: 5
Atlantic: 2

The Semifinals (Top 24)

The semifinals consisted of three weeks of elimination rounds to reduce the Top 24 contestants to the final Top 10. This was the first round in which eliminations are the result of public voting. Performances take place in a more intimate venue with a smaller stage and audience than the finals. Multiple contestants are eliminated each week.
This season, the semifinals saw a number of format changes: from the number of contestants, and an uneven gender composition, to the performance group division, and variation of group composition. The semifinals results shows also saw some 'surprise' changes, including special 'showcase' performances and judge-selected 'encore' performances, and a variation in the number of contestants eliminated.

Top 24 week

Performances:
Results :
The first 4 contestants eliminated from the Top 24 were :
The first results show departed from the traditional format to present a "showcase performance" from the Top 24, prior to announcing the voting results. The Top 24 performed the following songs, in groups of two to four, as follows:

Top 20 week

Performances:
Results :
The bottom 3 contestants from each performance night were:
The results show once again departed from traditional format, this time by having an encore of the judges' favorite performances from the previous two nights, prior to announcing the voting results. In order of performance, the encores were:

Top 16 week

Performances:
Results :
In order to have a final Top 10, the bottom 3 contestants from each performance night were eliminated.
Contestants were called to the stage, four at a time, and the results of the voting announced, sending successful contestants to fill the 10 stools set up on the stage for the final Top 10.
The 6 eliminated contestants were :

The Finals (Top 10)

The Top 10 was officially announced on July 9, 2008. These are the finalists :
With 8 male and 2 female contestants, the season's Top 10 was the most gender-uneven to date. Top 10 performances began July 14, 2008.

Mentors

The following were mentors for this season of Canadian Idol:

Finalists' Performances

Each week a song theme is presented to the competitors. Each competitor must base their song choice on the theme of the week.

Results Show Performances

The guests and songs performed during the results show broadcasts are listed here.
"Who Do You Love", "Down On The Corner", "When Will I Be Loved", "You'll Be In My Heart", "Feelin' Alright", "Crazy On You", "Papa's Got A Brand New Bag", "Nowhere With You", "I'm Still Standing", and "Are You Gonna Go My Way"

Eliminations (Summary)

Notes:

With the exception of the Top 9, Canadian Idol did not reveal which of the bottom three contestants received the third and second lowest number of votes; only the eliminated contestants were announced.
Of the two female contestants that made it into the Top 10, as of the Top 8, there was only one female contestant remaining in the competition. As of the Top 5, there were no female contestants remaining in the competition; no other Idol competition became single-gender at such early stage of the competition.
Katherine St-Laurent was the only contestant in the Top 10 to not have been in the bottom three before her elimination. Mitch MacDonald was the only contestant to have never been in the bottom three.

Releases

Theo Tams – Give It All Away
Earl Stevenson – Ghost
Jesse Cottam – Virtues
Mookie Morris- Mookie and the Loyalists