Trio of 'Tobans survive Idol cuts

Hey, hey, my, my, three 'Peg singers have yet to die.

It ain't rock 'n' roll, but Barrett Peitsch, Cher Maendel and Dave Moffatt are doing a fine job representing River City in the third Canadian Idol competition. The trio were picked from 93 remaining contestants to move to the Top-32 round after last night's show.

"Every year I make it a bit further. I guess the third time's a charm," says 25-year-old nightclub host Maendel, who has competed in all three Idol series.

"It felt really good to break through that barrier," says 23-year-old Peitsch, an Earl's bartender who also nearly made the list at last year's Idol.

Manitoba was shut out of last year's Top-32 -- in fact Maendel and Peitsch were the last locals sent home -- but locals are making up for it this year. And they're getting plenty of face time, partly by hamming it up for the camera.

Moffatt joked with his female partner after their duet on Day 3 of the four-day elimination process, saying, "We looked into each other's eyes, and it was pretty much sex on stage."

The 21-year-old former keyboardist with boy band The Moffatts lived in Winnipeg when he auditioned here this spring but moved to Calgary mid-March. He knows he can make it in a group, but Canadian Idol is his first shot at going it alone as a singer.

"I've never pursued anything solo before," he says. "I'd really like to see if my voice can make it to the Top-10."

Maendel also had a chunk of the spotlight on last night's show, especially when her duet partner forgot most of the words during their performance of Cyndi Lauper's Time After Time.

"That was a disaster," says the singer formerly known as Cheryl -- she recently dropped the last two letters from her first name. "I don't want to pin all the blame on my partner, but if you were to talk to him he would agree that he was the one who messed things up."

On Day 4 of the initial Toronto round, 48 remaining contestants hit the stage solo for an a cappella performance. Then, they were divided into three groups, one of which was told to pack their bags.

Maendel returns to Canadian Idol to compete for a Top-10 spot next Tuesday, on CKY Ch. 5 at 7 p.m. Moffatt is up June 21, and Peitsch is scheduled to sing on the June 28 show.

The audience will cast votes after the show each Tuesday night, and the results will be divulged in live episodes every Wednesday, when two singers will advance. The Top-10 will make their first appearance in a live episode July 19.

Props to all of Manitoba's Canadian Idol contestants. Competitors who did not advance from the Top-187 round are Jessie HighEagle, 24; Matt Cairns, 21; Amanda Prystupa, 16; Heather Thomas, 18; Paul Figsby, 17; Brittan Jones, 21; Brette McKay, 22; Tim Banfield, 18; Crystal Main, 18; Dexter Barcellano, 21; Elsa Mutya, 17; Robert Perrier, 24; Stephanie Champagne, 23; Tara Martel, 22 and Sarah Kendrick, 18.