Season THREE
Canadian Idol Season 3
In 2005 four star judges Jake Gold, Sass Jordan, Zack Werner, Farley Flex and the host extraordinaire Ben Mulroney gathered together once again to select the best young singer of the year — the Canadian Idol. Auditions to the show began in February and in May the TV round began with the Top 22. This year there was a major novation: there was a wildcard tour where each competitor had a chance to sing or convince the audience, why he or she should sing in the wildcard. After that public’s votes had to decide which of 11 competitors would advance to the next round.
The Top 10 this year were:
Emily Vinette from Ottawa was 16 when she auditioned for the Canadian Idol in Montreal, QC.
She was an eleventh grade student at the Notre Dame High School and worked part time as a sales clerk at the Rideau Centre. Emily is also a figure skater and ballet dancer. Being so artistic she won the youth category at the Canadian Open Country Singing Contest and took part in the Sixtieth Anniversary of D-Day impressing all the veterans with her old-fashioned performance of Vera Lynn’s classic song. Before she came to the Canadian Idol Emily dreamed to become a doctor and after placing tenth she enrolled to the University of Ottawa to study biomedical science, but she still performs on different events and wants to keep on singing.
Ashley Leitao, an 18 years old sales associate from Burnaby, BC began singing when she was four.
She says her idol is Celine Dion and Ashley tries to build her career on her idol’s example. After becoming Top 9 of 2005 Ashley and other two competitors, Amber Fleury and Casey LeBlanc have formed a group named “Braided” and released their album “Casey, Ashley, & Amber” on August 1, 2006. It was second group to come out of the Idol series in the world. Ashly also recorded a duet with Elvis Stojko, a figure skater who tries himself in music.
Amber Fleury was 26 when she auditioned in her hometown of Calgary, AB.
She sings since childhood and even already appeared on TV — when she was ten Amber has got on The Tommy Hunter Show. At the age of 13 she won a singing competition and recorded an album. But when she went to collage she dropped music and became a paralegal. During the competition Amber was very good in singing ballads and country music, but her performance of Cher’s “Just Like Jesse James” gave her the lowest number of votes and she was eliminated at Top 8. With other two finalists Amber released an album named “Casey, Ashley, & Amber” in 2006.
Daryl Brunt was one of youngest finalists this year at the age of 16.
He is a Voice and Drama student from Sudbury, ON. As many other this year competitors Daryll began to sing very early. His mother began to teach him music when he was only three and at the age of five he won his first competition. Daryl is very proud of his Vibrato voice and says it defines his own style. After voting off at the Top 7 he had a warm welcoming in his hometown of Sudbury and was called by two local newspapers a newsmaker of the year.
Josh Palmer, a 22 years old musician and songwriter has accidentally got into audition for Canadian Idol — his friend convinced him at the last minute saying what an amazing opportunity it would be.
Josh plays guitar since 11 and released his first independent album at the age of 13. Since then he toured across Western Canada a lot with his blues band. Also he worked at a music store. He was one of two contestants who made it to the Top 10 from a wildcard round. Josh was the first contestant who accompanied himself on an instrument, which even led to a rules change one season later. After becoming Top 6 he opened a recording studio in Saskatoon and formed a rock trio named “The Rebellion” which released debut album “Time” on September, 2008.
Casey LeBlanc, 17 years old high school student from Nackawic, NB.
She began to sing when she was four. There has always been music in her house, from Mozart to Ozzy Osbourne. Casey also plays a number of musical instruments. She says she went to the Canadian Idol to cheer up her hometown community after dismission of 400 people due to closure of its only industry. After Casey placed Top 5 of the Canadian Idol 2005 Nackawicians named a street after her. She released an album with two other this year finalists, Ashley Leitao and Amber Fleury. Casey performed in different concerts and even went to Afghanistan to entertain troops stationed there.
Suzi Rawn at the age of 23 was already a successful singer and songwriter and mother of two years old daughter Jolie when she auditioned for the Canadian Idol in Vancouver, BC.
She has always been musical and organized her first talent show when she was 11. Since that time she began writing music despite the fact she has no formal music education. Suzi performed with her band on different Vancouver venues and recorded one solo album and three CDs as a lead singer of “King Size Suzi”. During the competition Suzi surprised viewers and judges with her rock singing style and outfit. After becoming a Top 4 Canadian Idol of the 2005 she released her first major-label solo album named “Naked” in 2006, but her numerous fans were disappointed it hasn’t got much promotion.
Aaron Walpole from St. Thomas was 26 when he auditioned for the Canadian Idol in London, ON.
By that time he has already been an experienced singer and played the guitar and drums. He also was a lead singer of a local band. Aaron always liked to sing and when he discovered, he can do this for a living, he was astonished. He also likes Shakespeare very much and even performed as an actor at the Stratford Shakespearean Festival. At the Canadian Idol wildcard round helped Aaron to get to the Top 10 because his attempt at the Top 32 wasn’t successful. After the show Aaron performed at the number of concerts with his band and released his self-titled solo album on August 8th, 2006. Now he owns a music store and a studio in partnership with his brother. Aaron says he wants something more stable than a constant life out of the suitcase of a rock star. He has a constant girlfriend and says he is madly in love with her and wants to settle down.
Rex Goudie, a 19 years old student from Burlington, NL.
He began to sing when he was three. Every day he sang Sunday school songs and a bit of folk to his grandmother. At the age of 16 Rex formed a band with his friends. He is a great cars fan — he enrolled at Memorial University to study mechanical engineering and works in his father’s truck company on summer. Before the Canadian Idol Rex had only local performances but his self-confidence, great voice and cool looks helped him to make it to the Top 2. By the December of 2005 Rex has already released his first solo album “Under the Lights” which was called platinum by the Canadian Recording Industry Association in January 2006. His second album “Look Closer” was released on December, 2006. Rex is also active in a charity foundation raising money for medical equipment in his hometown.
Melissa O’Neil was only 17 when she auditioned for the Canadian Idol in Calgary.
She says that it were Spice Girls who inspired her to sing. She is a great fan of musical theater and wants to see Les Miserables most of all. She works as a daycare worker in a health club and learns to play acoustic guitar. During the show Melissa impressed the judges very much although she forgot the words of her song in the top 100 round. Melissa became the second youngest Idol in the world and the first female Canadian Idol. After the show she signed a contract with Sony BMG and released her self-titled solo album. The first single from the album, “Angel”, placed number one on the Canadian singles chart and held this position for four weeks. In 2007, when she was nominated for Juno Awards’ Best New Artist, Melissa stated she is working on her new album.