I decided to watch Canadian Idol last night, despite the fact that my boy Greg Neufeld was unexpectedly - and unjustly - voted off last week. It was a big mistake. I pretty much sat through every performance, muttering, "Well, Greg was ten times better than
her", or "Holy frig, Greg would've done that wayyyy better than
him".
It would appear the judges and host Ben weren't quite over Greg, either. I've never heard them refer to a recently-voted-off contestant as they did last night. And while they never came right out and said it, it was quite obvious that they were thinking along the same lines as I was:
Greg would be blowing these kids away if he were still here.
Tara Oram was a big disappointment for me last night. She sang the Katrina & the Waves hit "Walking on Sunshine" - a lively tune, yes, but a little cheesy. I thought it was too much for Tara. She sounded like she was out of breath half the time, and it seemed to last
forever. When you're listening to someone perform and wondering when it's gonna be over - well, that's not a good sign. It was nice to see her branch out of her country comfort zone a little, but if I were her, I think I could've found another #1 Pop Hit to do it with.
Jaydee Bixby was also a huge,
huge disappointment. He chose to sing "Amazed" by Lonestar. It may be the most over-played country song in the history of the world. It's one of those songs that comes on the radio, and I switch it right away because I've just heard it too many times. But the biggest problem with Jaydee was that he didn't sing it particularly
well. He twanged too much, and it hurt my ears. In my opinion, Jaydee was the worst singer of the night and he should be going home. But Canada apparently loves him, and I'll be surprised if he's even in the bottom 2 or 3.
The first contestant to impress any of the judges was
Matt Rapley, performing a song called "Everything" - it was a sweet song, and Matt sang it quite well, but it didn't blow me away. He definitely out-performed Jaydee and Tara, but it would've been difficult to be much worse than they were. With Greg gone, Matt's probably the best vocalist left in the competition, but he hasn't yet fulfilled the promise he brought with "Whipping Post" a month or so ago. It's time he find that gritty, powerful performance that the judges are waiting for and deliver it.
Next on the docket was
Carly Rae Jepsen, who made a surprise choice by singing Melissa Etheridge's "Come to my Window". Carly Rae did it her own way, which garnered respect from the judges, but Canada seems to have a hate on for her, as she's been a frequent member of the bottom 3. Unfortunately, I don't think she did anything to win them over this week. I was once again shocked, with all the #1 Pop Hits a person could pick, why Carly Rae decided to this one.
Brian Melo has slipped into my #1 spot now that Greg is gone. He sang "Dolphin's Cry" by Live, and the judges all agreed that Brian had the only "real" performance of the night. Brian has consistently been improving all through the competition, and he knocked this one out of the park. I didn't like his tight pants, but other than that, he was impressive. So that means he's probably going home this week. Canada sucks.
Last but not least, we had
Dwight D'Eon, rocking out in both roles to Rob Thomas & Carlos Santana's hit "Smooth". Dwight had his trusty guitar with him, and he even had his own solo on-stage. He seems to have decided he sounds like Rob Thomas, as I believe this is the third song he has performed by the Matchbox 20 front-man, and I thought Dwight did a pretty good job. The judges seemed more impressed with this guitar-playing than his voice, but I thought overall, Dwight was probably the second-best performance on the night, behind Brian. Again, hated his wardrobe selections, but I guess it's not Canada's Next Top Model, so who cares.
I'm not going to predict who's going home, because apparently the rest of Canada and I are
not on the same page, but I'm hoping it's Jaydee. But don't be surprised if it's Carly Rae or Brian. They definitely don't deserve it. But then again, neither did Greg.
