Canadian Idol – Week One – Elimination Predictions

EDIT: The results are in. For the full details from the results show, click for Cultural Learnings’ Full Recap!

There is little question that Canadian Idol’s first week was fantastic, divine, stunning…according to CTV’s press releases. According to viewers, and really the show’s judges as well, the nights were fairly mediocre bordering on terrible at certain points. There were some standouts, but the real story is who will be going home tonight. At the end of each show I labeled four individuals as being at risk of being eliminated, and here’s how I think things might go down tonight.

The Guys

Derek Hoffman

Why He Could Go Home: Singing the All America Rejects’ “Move Along”, Hoffman showed little of the “rock star” potential Zack sees in him. It was grating, it was off-key, it was spastic, and to be honest there wasn’t a single good note in the whole song. He didn’t have the power for it, and came across as just another garage band singer.

Why He Might Not Go Home: He’s young, he could be classified as cute in teen girl land, and he at least sang something current to stick with the show’s demographics.

Andrew Austin

Why He Could Go: He performed an older song (“Freedom 90”, which I quite enjoy personally), he failed to ignite the stage, and he’s too old to draw from the show’s main fan bases while lacking charisma to draw in older viewers.

Why He Might Not Go: He received a half decent amount of coverage as part of Greg Neufeld’s well reviewed Group during Top 100, and alliterative names are always each to remember.

Justyn Wesley

Why He Could Go: A poor song choice (“Some Kind of Wonderful”) combined with a very bizarre stage presence (To the point of being quite offputting for me personally) place him in distinct jeopardy. Plus, Toronto is not strong Idol territory.

Why He Might Not Go: He wasn’t a terrible singer, and some people might really like…yeah, no, people won’t like him. They might, however, remember his Idol romance with Scarlett.

Matt Radley

Why He Could Go: I’m switching this from Brian Melo (I of little faith in the Canadian public, apparently) because, the more I think about it, the more people might latch onto the few good singers we saw. Radley sang well, but he had absolutely no charisma and was instantly forgettable (I think that’s why I didn’t include him on Monday night).

Why He Might Not Go: He’s young and that might be recognizable for viewers, and his singing was indeed technically strong. It just doesn’t seem like this stage of the competition is going to do him any favours.

Clifton Murray

Why He Could Go: He was boring, he was pageanty, and he was acting the part of a singer the entire time.

Why He Might Not Go: He’s the pretty boy, and they all know it. This label, plus the fact that he’s actually been in things teens have seen, basically makes him a lock to stay…unfortunately.

Who Should Go:

Derek Hoffman and Clifton Murray

Who Will Go:

Andrew Austin and Justyn Wesley

The Girls

Martha Joy

Why She Could Go: Aerosmith, Aerosmith, Aerosmith. The song was a total cliche, and despite singing well she brought nothing new to the song. It wasn’t as bad as it could have been, but it was personality-less.

Why She Might Not Go: Her name is recognizable, and she received a half decent coverage during the Top 22.

Naomi Joy Blackhall

Why She Could Go: She sang an obscure Whitesnake song on Canadian Idol, and was pitchy the entire time. Also, she is one of three Nova Scotians, dividing the regional support, and is also quite old/mature in her style thus eliminating the teen vote.

Why She Might Not Go: She’s still the only girl from Nova Scotia, so perhaps the regional support and coverage (There’s been a fair amount of it, from my travelings around the province) might be able to drag her through.

Kamila Miller

Why She Could Go: She didn’t receive enough attention during the audition phase of the competition, and despite being decent she didn’t really stand out. She was also the performer right before the deluge of unfortunate performances, so she might get lost in the horridness.

Why She Might Not Go: The Fro.

Maud Coussa-Jandl

Why She Could Go: She picked a song unknown to most teens, sang it in a weird fashion, and performed as if she had no idea how to perform.

Why She Might Not Go: She was, at the very least, charming throughout, and wasn’t destroyed by the judges compared to the performers who followed her.

Scarlett, Christine, Annika

Why They Could Go: All delivered performance that were heavily criticized by the judges for either trying for too much or the wrong vibe entirely.

Whey They Might Not Go: Annika is young and from the prairies (Which is better than being from central Canada), Christine had an entire injured voice arc in the audition period, and Scarlett got the attention of being added late to assist her.

Who Should Go:

Naomi Joy Blackhall and Scarlett Burke

Who Will Go:

Naomi Joy Blackhall and Martha Joy

Who will be sent packing? Cultural Learnings will have all the details as of 7pm EDT, and the show airs at 7:30 in all time zones tonight on CTV.