We'll Be The Judge of That! - Canadian Idol 3, June 21

It’s time for the second group in the Top 32! Will anyone blow the judges away? Could this year’s Canadian Idol come from this group? Find out what our judging staff – Brian, Yasmin, and Rob - have to say!

Dave Moffatt, “Overjoyed”

Brian: I thought that Dave made a good effort, but didn’t have the range to pull it off. I admit I’m not a fan of his voice, which is still “boy-band-y,” nor of this rushed presentation, which was average at best. With his experience I was ready for him to blow me away, but he’s done in this competition.

Yasmin: Possibly the only CI contestant to have the media chasing him before even making the Top 32, Dave Moffatt's boy-band fame precedes him. "I was in a band with my brothers"... um, way to gloss over the facts, Little Mr. Moffatt. With a performance background that included several internationally released CDs and cross-Canada tours, I think it was fair for the judges to expect a little more from him than this nasal, breathy, off-pitch performance. He was trying way too hard - the phrasing was rushed, and he was so off-key in parts that it was downright painful to listen to. Despite all of that, though, I find him oddly entertaining to watch. Maybe it's the trainwreck factor - wouldn't it be fun to watch a singer who has already had his chance have his comeback derailed in crash and burn fashion by a bunch of amateurs? I'm evil enough to think, "Hell, yeah!"

Rob: I’ve had issue with Dave being on this show from day one because he’s had his opportunity to be a recording star once already. If the record company didn’t give you a deal on your own already, chances are good there’s a reason why. This performance showed that reason. For the amount of experience that Dave has had on stage, he blew this one. He was off key, spent too much time mugging for the camera and just plain sucked. I’d give this performance 1 Idol out of 5.

Alinka Chambers, “Black Velvet”

Brian: I love this Alannah number and keep hoping some Idol will knock it out of the park, but again it gets the better of a contestant. She started very strongly, but couldn’t maintain the intensity, or the volume, or the melody. I’d say more, but I’m afraid of those fingernails. On the plus side, she looked good and seemed very comfortable on stage. But, again, I think we’ve seen the last of Alinka.

Yasmin: First of all, anyone who says that singing is their destiny immediately encourages me not to vote for them, ever. Second of all, didn't anyone bother telling Alinka that "Black Velvet" is instant death as an audition song? It didn't help that she yelled her way through most of the song and was totally out of tune. This wasn't just karaoke; it was bad karaoke.

Rob: Well, if this song isn’t the Idols kiss of death, as Yasmin said. Alinka was like black velvet, very easy to watch, commanded the stage, and had such a sexy, smoky tone to her voice. There’s a great deal of difference between tone and pitch, and Alinka didn’t get the pitch part down this week. 2 Idols out of 5.

David Mongar, “Only the Good Die Young”

Brian: I never expected David to get this far, but I was pleasantly surprised by this week’s performance. Not overwhelmed, too cheesy for me to have been loving it to death, but pleasantly surprised. David was good on stage, and this isn’t a song with a lot of range, so his limitations stayed mostly hidden. His nice words for his girlfriend Sheena will surely buy him some votes, but… he’s also done. After all, Jacob did this song last year, and Jacob’s version was far superior.

Yasmin: I laughed as Muttonchops began to sing, thinking of the hundreds of Jacob Hoggard fans across the country shrieking in displeasure at the theft of what they must think of as their Idol's song. At the same time, I cringed - first, because the mic stand antics just didn't work, dude, and his throat sounded constricted any time he went for an open note, and second because one season of Jacob Hoggard was enough, and yet the world seems determined to remind me of his presence at any given opportunity. Bah. I could see David's voice and presence being appealing with less showy stage antics and a different song, but this was a big no.

Rob: David had good tone, and stage presence. This song was well sung, albeit rushed in spots. The thing that was tough about David’s performance is the energy and performance of the last time we saw it on this stage, with Jacob Hoggard last season. Not compared to that performance, it was well done, but myself along with every other viewer (and judge) will hold him to that standard. 2.5 Idols out of 5.

Casey LeBlanc, “Bring It On Home To Me”

Brian: I liked Casey’s understated, bluesy presentation of this classic (from Sam Cooke, popularized in the ‘60s by The Animals, kids). She showed us in the second part that she can belt it as well, but overall, it might have been a little short in intensity. Easily the best we’d seen at this point (for what that’s worth), and there’s some slight hope for Casey.

Yasmin: Is it just me, or does Casey look eerily like Jewel, before she went all pop-tart with that annoying "Intuition" song? Okay, okay, I'll get back on topic. This was an unusual song choice, especially for a 17-year-old girl, but I thought that overall, she did well with it. She started out a little shaky and then got more comfortable as the performance progressed, opening up nicely near the end. She has beautiful vocal clarity - her voice just rings when she hits soaring notes - and a natural stage presence. My only problem with this performance is that this song just isn't the type of showcase a contestant needs to make the impact needed to advance to finals. I hope Casey proves to be the exception to the rule.

Rob: I don’t know what song Casey was singing, I’ve never even heard it before. This was a negative for me, but Casey has a strong voice and looked great on stage. Because I don’t know what this song should sound like I can’t judge Casey on the job she did of singing it other than to say it felt boring in places, the only highlight was the glimpses of power her voice has. 2 Idols out of 5.

Josh Palmer, “Love Having You Around”

Brian: I admit I don’t know many Stevie Wonder songs, including this one, so I can’t comment much on it. I didn’t get what he was trying to bring with it, as it didn’t showcase his talent. All that strange left-hand stuff was weird. Whatever. The judges liked it, and so far the competition had been under-whelming, so Josh may have a chance.

Yasmin: Okay, what the hell was that?! Who does this guy think he is, Maroon 5 or something? I have nothing to say about Josh's performance except that it was hella annoying and I can't believe the judges gushed all over it, considering that whatever he considered "singing" was what I would consider mumbled, nasal, sharp screeching. Of course, this probably means that if he doesn't make it through tomorrow night, they will promptly usher him into the Wild Card round, where he will make it through to the Top 10 just because I find him so irritating.

Rob: I don’t know what the judges were watching, but it didn’t come across to me on television. This song was overwrought with the sound of Josh’s lisp, and I just didn’t get what he was going for. 1 Idol out of 5.

Julie Tellier, “Dirty Man”

Brian: Julie brought us “blues done right” and performed it well. Big notes, high notes, low notes, long notes – Julie served up them all. Sass told us she was out of tune, but I didn’t notice it so much, because this kind of song is more about performance. I didn’t understand Zack and Jake’s comments about “not giving her all.” To my mind, a possible finalist.

Yasmin: Despite some minor enunciation issues - I wanted to tell her to open her mouth during parts of the song - and some off-key moments, I thought Julie gave a decent performance. I like the tone of her voice and her understated delivery, but I find her lacking in any kind of distinct personality or stage presence.

Rob: Yet another song I didn’t know and didn’t understand. Big pattern tonight. Either I’m out of touch, or these Idols have had their heads buried in the sand for a while. This performance made me feel nothing but indifference. 1 Idol out of 5.

Vince Benenatti, “What A Wonderful World”

Brian: At last! A singing performance! Crooner Vince sang emotionally, mostly on tune, and he put enough “Vince” in there to stand out. On the down side, I didn’t want to be hearing all that inhaling and exhaling. I’d say more, but I’m confident I’ll be commenting about Vince again in future weeks. I expect he’ll get through or be a Wildcard.

Yasmin: Vince seems to have a pretty avid fanbase online, but he slipped completely under my radar in the audition and Top 100 episodes. Having seen this performance, I'm not entirely sure where all the fans came from, because his hoarse, raspy voice and total lack of breath control just don't do it for me. The breathiness was pretty blatant and I'm surprised none of the judges called him on it. Also, dude, every word doesn't have to be made polysyllabic, okay?

Rob: In the context of the performances tonight, one word describes this performance and that is wow. The first few notes of this song made me feel like Daryl’s last note of “When You Believe” last week did. Vince was easy to watch and looked comfortable on stage. 3 Idols out of 5.

Emily Vinette, “Don't Cry Out Loud”

Brian: Emily started with a clunker, but when she got going, our Carrie look-alike brought out impressive, powerful money-notes and stayed pretty much on tune. Jeepers, even some of her mannerisms are “Carrie-like!” She has about the same stage presence as Carrie, too… and that’s not a lot. But in this group – she was killer-good. Best of the night!

Yasmin: Emily undoubtedly has one of the better technical voices in the group, with good power and breath control, but before Zack even made his comment about Miss Teen Canada, I was thinking the performance came off as something one might see in a beauty pageant talent competition. This kind of singer is a dime a dozen - does Canada really need our own Diana DeGarmo? I'm coming down firmly on the NO side of that question.

Rob: The first note of this song was very, very flat. The arrangement and the piano were boring, but Emily has a stellar voice, and that carried this performance. I’d say this was a bit textbook, but Emily has star potential and deserves another chance to show what she has. 3 Idols out of 5.

Final Thoughts

Brian: I didn’t think it was possible to be this disappointed two weeks running, but I really did not like much of what I’ve heard this year. Are there are better things ahead? Please! Again, most of this group could not come close to touching last year’s Top Five and I’m missing Bobbi, Bree, and Erica more every week. Anyway, let’s get to the nitty-gritty for those contestants who are here. I’ll pick Emily for sure, plus Vince and Julie to be the final three, with Julie returning to the couch. Other wildcards from this group seem unlikely, though maybe Casey will get another shot.

Yasmin: This group was disappointing - not because they were any worse, overall, than Group One, but because from what we'd seen of this crowd in the earlier rounds, I was expecting them to be a heck of a lot better. I think the judges were on a bitch trip tonight to make up for the criticism that they were too nice to Group One, but most of their comments were warranted, anyhow.

If I had to choose two people to make it through on merit alone, I'd go with Casey and Julie, although if I could drop merit from the equation, I'd go with Casey and Dave Moffatt (insert evil laughter here). However, I think voters will think differently, so a top three is hard to call. I'm going to predict that Vince, Dave, and one of either Casey or Emily will be in the Top Three, with Dave and Casey/Emily going through to the Top 10. Josh Palmer will make the Wild Card round, as will at least one of the girls from this group.

Rob: If I had to pick two people to go through this week, they would be two singers from last week. That’s not really an option though. Taking a look at the performances tonight, this show was a severe let down. By my rankings I have Emily and Vince moving in to the Top 10, but again I think there are more deserving in the Top 32. David Mongar will be the third chair, and look for him to return on the Wildcard.

Conclusion:

Well, the judges certainly were underwhelmed again this week! It looks like the final three on Wednesday will be Emily, Vince, and Casey, with Emily and Vince moving on to the Top 10.

Are they right? Tune in to the next episode of Canadian Idol 3 to find out, and then keep your browser fixed on RealityNewsOnline and FoxesOnIdol for all the latest CI news!