Canadian Idol Starts Picking Top 22

Canadian Idol began the grueling process of whittling down the 198 contestants to the Top 22. They made it part of the way through the process and left us with a cliffhanger for tomorrow’s episode.

Here are some highlights:

The episode started by showing how the contestants get from wherever they live to Toronto. Groups of them got on the same flights and were greeted by roving reporter, Dave Kerr at the airport. He got them all onto huge shuttle buses to the hotel. I loved seeing this and wished American Idol had done the same but I guess since Canada has fewer provinces than America has states, it is easier to get the contestants in groups to leave together.

The contestants sang individually, many of them giving brilliant performances accompanied by instruments (awesome!). Then they had group performances. These did not go very well. I felt sorry for Jessyka Lapierre of St. Lambert, Quebec (I lived there for many years!) because she had a hard time memorizing the English song. With there being a number of Quebecers in the competition, couldn’t they group them together to be fair about the language issue? I mean, what would have happened had Celine Dion not been able to start her career in French? We’re a bilingual country for pete’s sake!

The best solo performance, however, was Joel Martin, 22, of Russell, Ontario who sang a slow, acoustic version of “Baby Got Back.” HILARIOUS!!! Will upload when I get the video.

Tomorrow we’ll have the top 22. Come back to find out if your favorite made the cut!

Tags: Canadian Idol, Top 22, June, 2007