The seven remaining Canadian Idol competitors stormed the stage to begin Wednesday’s performance show. Then after Ben badgered the judges with “idle” questions, Canada got reacquainted with Lionel Richie through his music and a quick bio-video. Devoted Idol fans have said, “Toronto was itchy for Richie.”

Lionel spoke to each competitor during rehearsals…Is it possible that the idols actually hear what Lionel Richie is saying, standing next to him at the piano? Are they pinching themselves to “be real” as Zack is always suggesting?

Kalan was the first competitor to take the stage, with “Still.” Kalan’s expressiveness, and effortless pure tone set him apart from the other Idols, and made him the star of the evening. Jake told Kalan, “That was by far your best performance of the competition,” and Farley described him as “still, sex symbol, superstar, success.” Zack was last to comment, saying, “You’re an old soul, naked, honest, and wonderful.”

The second person in the Idol lineup was Theresa, singing “Hello.” Her soft voice did sound lovely at times, but seemed to lack power. Jake called it “beautiful,” and Zack told Theresa, “a little short on power, but it was such a deep, emotionally effective performance that is impossible to fault in any way, shape, or form.”

Following Theresa was British Columbia’s Shane Wiebe with “Angel.” He sounded good technically, but whether he has what it takes to win in terms of star power is still unclear. Sass told Shane, “That was the first time you left me slightly speechless,” and Farley said, “You are one of the most technically sound performers we have.”

Kaleb, or as Lionel describes him, “a quiet fire”, set the stage ablaze with “Truly.” Despite some pitchy moments, Kaleb’s performance felt true and original. Zack confessed, “That wasn’t your strongest singing, but I love you anyway.” Jake was quick to defend him, saying, “Everything you sing sounds like your song.”

Jacob followed with “Brick House”. Combining crazy dancing and a wild wardrobe, Jacob’s performance was definitely entertaining. However, it failed to impress the judges. Jake called the performance “too campy,” and Zack told Jacob, “If you want to win, put away the boyish stuff, and be real.”

Elena was next to step up with Richie’s “Fancy Dancer”. Elena sounded great, and was very energetic in her delivery of the song. Farley enjoyed her performance, telling her it was “really, really, really funky,” Sass simply told Elena she was “terrific,” and Zack, in agreement with Jake, said, “That was the first time you represented who I thought you were.”

Newfoundland native Jason Greeley ended this week’s competition with “Easy”. Jason was excellent, singing with both power and conviction. Although Farley felt Jason’s performance was “a little underwhelming,” the other judges had only positive comments. Sass said “Excellent job. It was nice to see the softer side of Jason”, and Zack added “The person with the least star power will be voted off tonight, and it ain’t you.”

On Thursday night, Lionel Richie will perform another tune likely destined to be a hit. Ben will send us to a commercial break one too many times and “hello”, it “still” “truly” won’t be “easy” for Canada to pick one “angel” to “fancy dance” from the Idol “brick house”.

Each performance had merit. No performance stood out as the weakest, making this week’s results hard to predict.






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