Canadian Idol Top 4 Results

Well, with only four competitors left, it's no surprise that they didn't do a bottom three or even a bottom two. They just jumped right into the results. And I doubt those results were a surprise to anyone based on performances last night (and what we know of various fan bases): Dwight D'eon was eliminated. I think even he would agree that standards are not his style but I'm sure he'll do well with his own music when he gets back home. Rock on, Dwight!

So that means our top three are: Carly Rae Jepsen, Jaydee Bixby and Brian Melo.

You certainly couldn't ask for a more diverse bunch. Given the vast differences in their singing styles and general appeal, I think it's impossible to predict how things will go from here on in. (Because it's been so predictable up to now... er, ahem, sure...)

To quote Monica from Friends: "It just got interesting!"

Canadian Idol Top 4

1. Carly Rae Jepsen

[singing "My Heart Belongs to Daddy" written by Cole Porter for "Leave it to Me", sung by Ella Fitzgerald on Dearly Beloved, also sung by Sinead O'Connor on Am I Not Your Girl (lyrics)]

I wasn't worried about Carly Rae doing standards and I was right. But Zach was also right that it lacked the sizzle that we know this girl is capable of.

[singing "I Got it Bad and That Ain't Good" by Duke Ellington on Best of Duke Ellington (lyrics)]

I love the fact that she left herself vulnerable for this song… she actually brought tears to my eyes at the end. If that performance doesn't win over the Carly Rae doubters, then I don't know what will.


Ci5 Top4 Part4
Uploaded by igrecman
2. Jaydee Bixby

[singing "Fever" sung by Peggy Lee on Capitol Years (lyrics)]

I love the very carefully worded way that Paul Anka referred to Jaydee having a "concept of how to perform."

[singing "When You're Smiling" by Louis Armstrong on The Definitive Collection (lyrics)]

Hmm… I actually preferred Fever to this performance because this one was just plain cheesy.

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3. Brian Melo

[singing "Mack the Knife" written by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill for "The Threepenny Opera", sung by Bobby Darrin on The Very Best of Bobby Darin (lyrics)]

He started a little shaky but he found his groove and, even better, the attitude. (And I love that Zach said he was a Brecht fan! I was raised on Bertolt Brecht!)


Ci5 Top4 Part3
Uploaded by igrecman
[singing "Feeling Good" written by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley for "The Roar of the Greasepaint - The Smell of the Crowd", my favourite version is sung by Nina Simone on Gold Collection (lyrics)]

I have very high standards for this song because the Nina Simone version of it is one of my favourite songs ever (you can listen to below). But I think Brian did it justice. Good job.

4. Dwight D'eon

[singing "I Get a Kick out of You" written by Cole Porter for the musical "Anything Goes", sung by Frank Sinatra on Gold (lyrics)]

I think Dwight was even further out of his comfort zone than Jaydee, something I never thought I'd admit. But standards just aren't his thing.

[singing "Unforgettable" by Nat King Cole on Definitive Gold or Natalie Cole & Nat King Cole on Unforgettable With Love (lyrics)]

I liked this one better than his first choice. I think he was just more relaxed for it and let himself enjoy it a bit more. But I think it's safe to say that this boy will never willingly record an album of standards!

Canadian Idol Top 5 Results

Bottom two: Dwight D'eon and Matt Rapley

Well, I'm relieved that Carly Rae Jepsen wasn't in the bottom this time. And I really wish I could say that I was stunned that Jaydee wasn't in the bottom which I believe he deserved to be based on his performance, but I'm well aware of his insane fan base that doesn't care that he has yet to find his own true voice and simply mimics others instead. But enough of that rant and on to the results...

Unfortunately Matt Rapley was eliminated. But I think he's grown a lot during his Idol tenure and will continue to grow and put into practice all that he's learned. Matt was the first Idol contestant to impress me during the Top 100 and I'm quite certain that we'll be hearing from him in the future. I'm sad to see him go but I think he's got a bright future ahead of him. And what a high note to be going out on! (Pun completely unintentional.)

I'll be watching for you Matt. Remember, this isn't the end, it's just the beginning. Your career starts now!

Canadian Idol Top 5

Matt Rapley
[singing "Higher Ground" by Stevie Wonder on Innervisions and the Red Hot Chili Peppers on Mother's Milk (lyrics)]

I LOVE the fact that even though Matt is a Stevie Wonder fan, he chose to do the Chili Peppers version. It let him bring that mojo he brought to "Whipping Post" and really rock it. As Jake said… it was fierce!


Dwight D'eon
[singing "Bed of Roses" by Bon Jovi on Keep The Faith (lyrics)]

I think it was definitely a strong performance. I'm not sure if I agree with the judges that it was his best performance. Although, as I reflect back, perhaps they're right. But I think what came across as power in the live audience came across as shoutiness to me sitting at home. I think this guy would be cool to watch in my local bar, but I'm still not convinced that he can or should win this whole thing.

Jaydee Bixby
[singing "I Can't Stop Loving You" by Elvis Presley on Elvis as Recorded at Madison Square Garden (lyrics)]

Please vote this boy off so that he can go home and mature and find his own voice or, at the very least, as Zach said… make his Schmelvis album. Because I have only two words about this performance: Elvis Impersonator.

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Carly Rae Jepsen
[singing "Chuck E's In Love" by Rickie Lee Jones on Rickie Lee Jones (lyrics)]

I admit that, like Jake, I was nervous about Carly Rae singing this song… afraid that it would end up too cutesy because that chorus is really cutesy. But the arrangement of the song downplayed to cutesiness for me and showcased Carly Rae's voice. I still prefer seeing her vulnerable side, but a little bit of playfulness now and then isn't such a bad thing. I liked it.

Brian Melo
[singing "Karma Police" by Radiohead on OK Computer (lyrics)]

Well, I think Brian just stepped into those big shoes left empty by Greg Neufeld's departure. Great song, great voice, great performance.


Now, my only concern is that I didn't have a chance to vote last night because of my late arrival home, plus I wasn't feeling well so I just went straight to bed after posting my postponement notice last night. So I will be blaming myself if Matt, Carly Rae or Brian end up in the bottom. Okay, if it's a bottom three obviously one of them will be in that bottom unless there's some strange new math that I don't know about. But I will be royally upset if any of those three go home and I will feel terribly guilty for not having had a chance to vote.

For more Idol videos, check out Idol Stalker.

CI Review Postponed

I'm afraid my usual Canadian Idol review will be postponed until tomorrow. I just got home from picking my dad up at the airport and I haven't had a chance to watch the show yet. But I promise I'll post my comments tomorrow before the results show. G'night all.

Blue October Interview

Here's a brief interview with Justin Furstenfeld at Lollapalooza 2007 in Chicago that I found through the Blue October Canada MySpace site. Enjoy:

Carly Rae Jepsen

This is the second in my "Get to know the Idols better" series (the first one was on Greg Neufeld). As the post title makes obvious, this one is about getting to know Carly Rae Jepsen.

Stuff that you can find out over at the CTV Idol site: Carly Rae Jepsen is a 21 year old student/waitress from Mission, BC... plus more generic biographical information.

Stuff that you can find out at The Abbotsford News site: She would love to meet Bob Dylan, her first CD was a Tom Waits CD and she describes herself as creative, extreme and adventurous... plus more trivia.

At the Blue Morris 6 Swing Band site you can find out how she got the swing band gig and listen to her singing "Blues for Carly" (in their sidebar radio). Head over to YouTube to watch her perform S'Wonderful with Blue Morris 6.

You can also watch Carly Rae performing live at The Media Club in Vancouver:


For more live videos, check out SmashBass' YouTube videos.

There's also a fan tribute video of Carly Rae set to a very cool Carly Rae original song called "Dear You."

And let's not forget the video of Carly Rae singing Breathe in the Top 100.

She also has her own domain but it's currently under construction, so I'm guessing it probably won't be live until after Idol is over.

Hope you guys enjoy these links. I'll try to come up with some stuff on the rest of the remaining idols soon. (And if anyone has any links or suggestions, please let me know.)

A Twin Peaks Trance

I was on hold while calling a place of business when the dreaded muzak came on… but it wasn't muzak, it was actual music! And it was the theme from Twin Peaks, that fabulous 90's TV series by David Lynch. Do you remember that music? I loved it; it always gave me chills. The theme was composed by Angelo Badalamenti, who was once quoted as saying: "My world is a little bit dark. . . a little bit off-center. I think of it as tragically beautiful. That is how I would describe what I love best: tragically beautiful."

David Lynch then wrote lyrics to that theme (for the song "Falling" that you can listen to in the widget below) and to some other Badalamenti music and those songs were sung by Julee Cruise (who sang all of the songs used in Twin Peaks) and released on an album called Floating into the Night:

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I used to have that album but that was almost 20 years ago now, so I have no idea where it might be (it was on cassette anyway which I don't listen to anymore anyway). But I still have part of a review that was written about the Julee Cruise album way back then:

"The link between the songs is love — a kind of sick, obsessive love that's both chilling and beautiful, and pure Lynch in its graphic paranoia."
~ Kim Hughes, NOW Magazine, November 15-21, 1990.

Now I don't know about you, but I think that's a pretty damn cool review!

Canadian Idol Top 6 Results

Bottom three: Carly Rae Jepsen, Dwight D'eon and Tara Oram

First thought: Carly Rae again? Are you kidding me?

Second thought: Thank god Brian Melo's safe.

Third thought: Are the judges right that Canada can't appreciate Carly Rae? If so, I think that's a pretty sad statement about this country.

But fortunately, Carly Rae didn't go home this week. It was Tara instead. While I do think it's past time for her to leave, I am worried that the Jaydee Bixby contingent might grow even larger now that he's the only country singer on the show. Please don't let this young and twangy Elvis impersonator win the whole show, otherwise he'll never mature out of those bad habits or learn how to truly connect with a song.

Final thought: I don't think I've yet recovered from Greg Neufeld leaving last week. I find that I lack the enthusiasm for the show right now. Brian, Carly Rae and Matt better kick some serious ass next week!

Magni's Version of The Dolphin's Cry

In my Canadian Idol post last night, I mentioned Magni's version of "The Dolphin's Cry" from Rock Star: Supernova. So I thought I would share it with you here:

Canadian Idol Top 6

Pop/Rock week… I'm still not convinced that those two genres have truly merged. I think it just represents Pop music with a Rock influence. Real Rock is something else entirely, but I digress.

1. Tara Oram
[singing "Walking on Sunshine" by Katrina and the Waves on Greatest Hits (lyrics)]

This was probably one of my favourite performances of Tara's because there was barely a twang in sight. Although I could have done without those little yips and she was kind of pitchy in the chorus, but I'm just happy it wasn't country!

2. Jaydee Bixby
[singing "Amazed" by Lonestar on Lonely Grill (lyrics)]

I don't know why I bother reviewing Jaydee. My opinion of him hasn't changed since last week except to be a little tinged by bitterness that he's still here and Greg isn't.

3. Matt Rapley
[singing "Everything" by Michael Bublé on Call Me Irresponsible (lyrics)]

It was nice to see Matt at the piano. And nice performance technique when he later stood up from the piano. I think his performance ability is finally starting to catch up with his vocal ability. Good job.

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4. Carly Rae Jepsen
[singing "Come To My Window" by Melissa Etheridge on Yes I Am (lyrics)]

I don't think it was the best song choice for Carly Rae. The first verse was really good, the first chorus was magic, but the bridge and second chorus were a little shouty for my tastes. But she ended it as pure Carly Rae, so the scale tipped in her favour and I mostly liked it.

5. Brian Melo
[singing "The Dolphin's Cry" by Live on The Distance to Here (lyrics)]

Funny, I was just listening to Magni's version of this song from Rock Star: Supernova on my minidisk player today. While I think that Brian connected to the emotion of the song, I couldn't help but compare it to Magni who just killed it. So while I don't think Brian sang it as well as Magni, I still think it was the best performance of the night. Way to go, Brian.


Brian Melo - The Dolphin's Cry
Uploaded by igrecman
6. Dwight D'eon
[singing "Smooth" by Santana and Rob Thomas on Supernatural (lyrics)]

Well, this performance did help remind me that I actually liked this guy in the Top 22. However, I think his guitar playing trumped his singing. But not bad overall.

Hmm… did everyone else find this week a little disappointing or is it just that I'm not in the right mood because Greg wasn't there?

Another Dance Segue

Another dance segue here on this music blog of mine…

The top four finalists were announced for "So You Think You Can Dance." And three of my four favourites made it: Danny, Lacey and Sabra. Unfortunately, Pasha lost out to Neil (damn his blonde hair, surfer boy good looks… and his amazing acrobatics). One of the things I love about Pasha is not just his incredible dance technique and his obvious passion for dance (or his charming Russian accent)… I love the fact that Pasha is always the consummate gentleman. And I really hope that he takes Debbie Allen's advice and takes some acting classes because I would LOVE to see him in the movies.

As my farewell to Pasha Kovalev, here's one of his dance solos that I just loved:


Pasha Solo Week 7
Uploaded by mickeymcc
And I'll be back after I've finished watching Canadian Idol with my usual reviews of that show.

Greg Neufeld

I thought it might be time to get to know each of the Idols a little better. I'm starting with Greg Neufeld even though he's already been eliminated, because I think there are a lot of people (including me) who believe Canada messed up and Greg should really still be on the show. I'll do similar posts on the remaining Idols over the next couple of weeks.

Stuff that you can find out over at the CTV Idol site: Greg Neufeld is a 23 year old singer/songwriter and house framer from Abbotsford, BC... plus more generic biographical information.

Stuff that you can find out at The Abbotsford News site: He would love to meet Dave Matthews, his first CD was "Eye of the Tiger" by Survivor and he describes himself as weird, spontaneous, chill.... plus more trivia.

Watch Greg's first audition for Canadian Idol in 2006.

Check out Di Marco, Greg's band, on the Di Marco site or their MySpace site. And speaking of MySpace, there's a site just for Greg, too.

And if you want to try to help Di Marco get the attention of a record company, there's a petition that you can sign at: http://www.petitiononline.com/recorddm/petition.html

Hope you guys enjoy these links. I'll try to come up with some stuff on the remaining idols soon. (And if anyone has any links or suggestions, please let me know.)

Updates: For those of you that don't read the comments, you can find a collection of Greg's Idol performances and a few mp3 downloads at gregneufeld.blogspot.com. Thanks to the anonymous commenter who left that link! I've now uploaded one of those mp3s to My Music Box in the sidebar for your listening pleasure: "False Accusatins" by Di Marco.

Also, there's a good article about Greg's reaction to the elimination posted over at Idol Stalker.

Canadian Idol Top 7 Results

Bottom three: Carly Rae Jepsen, Brian Melo and Greg Neufeld

What the frack is going on here?!?! The top three singers were in the bottom three? Was everyone too complacent to vote last night? Were the fans who loyally vote for their favourites regardless of performance the only people voting? This is so, so, so wrong. For god's sake people, don't assume... VOTE!!! These three should NOT have been in the bottom.

And Greg Neufeld should NOT have gone home. No way. No how. For once I agree with Ben, Canada got this wrong!

And since I didn't post his video of "We Are The Champions" last night (because I thought there would be many weeks to come where I would have the opportunity to post videos of Greg's songs), here it is:


Greg Neufeld
Uploaded by JeanneDupuis

Canadian Idol Top 7

The music of Queen week!

I was stunned when Jake threw out 1986 as the year that Queen became huge. Are you kidding me? That band shaped my musical tastes when I was but a child in the 70's. So 1986 seems far too recent to me. But I would love to see "We Will Rock You"… and I would have loved to have seen it in London when MiG Ayesa from Rock Star: INXS was performing. But that's not the music show we're talking about tonight, so let me get back to business.

1. Brian Melo
[singing "Too Much Love Will Kill You" by Queen on Made In Heaven (lyrics)]

Smart song choice. First of all, it was good for his voice and he connected to it. Secondly, it was not one of the iconic Queen songs that many of us know note by note, inflection by inflection. Well done.


Brian Melo
Uploaded by JeanneDupuis
2. Greg Neufeld
[singing "We Are the Champions" by Queen on News of the World (lyrics)]

I'm impressed that he managed to sing it in a way that made it different enough from the original that it didn't sound like a karaoke performance. I haven't heard the cover by Gavin DeGraw on Killer Queen: A Tribute to Queen, though, so maybe it wasn't Greg's arrangement… but it was still a smart choice on his part.

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3. Carly Rae Jepsen
[singing "Killer Queen" by Queen on Sheer Heart Attack (lyrics)]

Good song choice from one of Queen's more cabaret style of songs. Although she did that growl thing again to make up for her lack of power. But it was waaay better than I anticipated for this week. Good job, grrl!


Carly Rae Jepsen
Uploaded by JeanneDupuis
4. Matt Rapley
[singing "Under Pressure" by Queen with David Bowie on Hot Space (lyrics)]

I wish he'd chosen a different song, because I don't think he was able to make that song his own. Disappointing because he has so much potential. I have to admit that I'm worried for him this week.

5. Dwight D'eon
[singing "Tie Your Mother Down" by Queen on A Day At The Races (lyrics)]

I did not enjoy Dwight's performance tonight. I didn't mind how he sang the verses but he just shouted the chorus in the most non-melodic way that screamed mediocre cover band to me. Which leaves me wondering: Could the judges not hear him properly?

6. Tara Oram
[singing "Headlong" by Queen on Innuendo (lyrics)]

Tara chose well in picking a song that lends itself to a country rock styling. But there were parts of her performance that also sounded a little shouty to me. But I'll freely admit I'm not a fan, so feel free to disagree with me.

7. Jaydee Bixby
[singing "I Want To Break Free" by Queen on The Works (lyrics)]

I wish he'd lose the twang! I can't take him seriously. For me, he's like a twangy Elvis impersonator singing karaoke. But I highly doubt we'll see him in the bottom because his fan base is ridiculously loyal regardless of his performance. I'm done giving him kudos for "staying true to himself"… I'm ready for him to go home now.

To watch videos of all of the idol performances, head over to Idol Stalker.