AaronsGirl
15th Apr 2007, 19:43
Eva on the cover of the Toronto Sun
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a48/KewLLady/torsuncoverl.jpg
Article: http://torontosun.com/News/Columnists/Mandel_Michele/2007/04/15/4023641-sun.html
Michele Mandel
Sun, April 15, 2007
My idle attempt at Idol
Noble effort flat as judges give thumbs down
Safe to say, I won't be quitting my day job just yet.
Just like thousands of other Canadian Idol wannabes, I, too, took to the stage yesterday in a bid for fame and fortune.
So much for both.
But first, let us set the reality TV scene, shall we? Kindly editor comes by office door late last week with an offer I was not supposed to refuse: "How would you like to audition for the Toronto Media Idol Competition?"
Or rather, how would I like to learn what it feels like to make a fool of myself in front of the acerbic Canadian Idol judges?
Next to having a laser poke holes through both my eyes -- been there, done that last week -- it sounded like great fun. The winner even gets $1,000 for the charity of their choice.
Sign me up.
Did I mention that I don't sing? Not even in a karaoke bar in deepest Indonesia when former Sun photographer David Lucas assured me that no one would ever have to know. Too shy, I told him.
Yet in a moment of unfathomable delirium, I had just agreed to join a dozen other media celebrities on stage at Yonge-Dundas Square and perform in front of thousands of Canadian Idol hopefuls waiting for their turn to audition.
Those drops I'm taking for my eyes must have leaked into my brain.
What to sing, what to sing? I discover quickly that my voice doesn't suit too many of today's hits. I decide to try I Can See Clearly Now, the song my sister and I used to warble as kids.
And as back-up, I have my killer boots.
I figure my black thigh-highs are the only things going for me. They look like singer boots. Diva boots, even. If I'm lucky, they may even take the judges' attention away from my voice.
At the Hard Rock Cafe before yesterday's competition, I meet last year's Canadian Idol winner Eva Avilia and pump her for advice. "You get to see how we feel," she says, nibbling on a muffin. "But we, as performers, this is our element. You guys are not in your element. It would be like me taking part in dance competition -- I know I'd be making a fool of myself because I don't know how to dance. Just have fun with it."
Fun, right.
Judge Farley Flex says Media Idol is all about feeling what the contestants are experiencing.
Do they feel as if they're going to toss their cookies, too?
Flex seems like a nice guy. "You'll be kind, won't you?" I beg.
"I'll be real," he replies.
It just dawns on me -- too late, I know -- that I've just signed up for some real humiliation.
At 12:30 p.m., we're taken across the street to the crowded square, where thousands of hopefuls between 16 and 28 have been lined up in the cold since 8 a.m. for their chance to get on the show's fifth season. This weekend here is the second last stop on the show's cross-country audition tour that ends Tuesday and Wednesday in Oshawa.
"Everybody wants to be a Canadian Idol," explains number 8469, 17-year-old Krista Cole. "You've just got to give it your best shot. If not, you can try again next year."
Not this contestant, sweetheart.
For 24-year-old Brenda Noel of Brampton, a shot on Canadian Idol would be the answer to her dreams. "I want to try and make something of my life," says the mother of two who works in a meat factory. "I want to have a future."
How does she know that she has what it takes, I ask.
"Every karaoke bar I sing in, people give me good compliments. I think I can do it. And it doesn't hurt to try."
Unfortunately, it's showtime. Dapper host Ben Mulroney is there in the tanned flesh and so are Idol's four celebrity judges. As the competition gets going, it turns out some of my colleagues can really sing -- Ashley Greco of Z103.5 and Tricky Moreira of Flow 93.5 will end up being co-winners.
As for me, there is a reason I've always chosen to hide behind my notebook.
Man, there are a lot of people out there. As I launch into my song -- which had sounded so much better in the shower yesterday morning -- my scared-stiff stance is so wooden that Flex jumps out of his seat and wrestles my hands out of my pockets.
A few verses in and I'm sure there's someone howling in the background. Ah yes, that would be judge Zack Werner doing his best imitation of a wounded dog on an electric fence.
I take that as a sign to stop.
"I thought it was a cry for help," he explains later. "When one wolf howls, the others howl in response. I was just joining your pack."
Ouch.
Mulroney takes pity on me. "Look at this -- she's a writer; she came out, for charity."
To which Werner responds: "Some people come for the abuse and stay for the fun."
But what about the boots, guys?
Werner thinks I look like I just came from working Jarvis St. around the corner. So much for that strategy.
This diva is taking her boots and limping home. As for all you Idol hopefuls still out there, best of luck. I so feel your pain.
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a48/KewLLady/torsuncoverl.jpg
Article: http://torontosun.com/News/Columnists/Mandel_Michele/2007/04/15/4023641-sun.html
Michele Mandel
Sun, April 15, 2007
My idle attempt at Idol
Noble effort flat as judges give thumbs down
Safe to say, I won't be quitting my day job just yet.
Just like thousands of other Canadian Idol wannabes, I, too, took to the stage yesterday in a bid for fame and fortune.
So much for both.
But first, let us set the reality TV scene, shall we? Kindly editor comes by office door late last week with an offer I was not supposed to refuse: "How would you like to audition for the Toronto Media Idol Competition?"
Or rather, how would I like to learn what it feels like to make a fool of myself in front of the acerbic Canadian Idol judges?
Next to having a laser poke holes through both my eyes -- been there, done that last week -- it sounded like great fun. The winner even gets $1,000 for the charity of their choice.
Sign me up.
Did I mention that I don't sing? Not even in a karaoke bar in deepest Indonesia when former Sun photographer David Lucas assured me that no one would ever have to know. Too shy, I told him.
Yet in a moment of unfathomable delirium, I had just agreed to join a dozen other media celebrities on stage at Yonge-Dundas Square and perform in front of thousands of Canadian Idol hopefuls waiting for their turn to audition.
Those drops I'm taking for my eyes must have leaked into my brain.
What to sing, what to sing? I discover quickly that my voice doesn't suit too many of today's hits. I decide to try I Can See Clearly Now, the song my sister and I used to warble as kids.
And as back-up, I have my killer boots.
I figure my black thigh-highs are the only things going for me. They look like singer boots. Diva boots, even. If I'm lucky, they may even take the judges' attention away from my voice.
At the Hard Rock Cafe before yesterday's competition, I meet last year's Canadian Idol winner Eva Avilia and pump her for advice. "You get to see how we feel," she says, nibbling on a muffin. "But we, as performers, this is our element. You guys are not in your element. It would be like me taking part in dance competition -- I know I'd be making a fool of myself because I don't know how to dance. Just have fun with it."
Fun, right.
Judge Farley Flex says Media Idol is all about feeling what the contestants are experiencing.
Do they feel as if they're going to toss their cookies, too?
Flex seems like a nice guy. "You'll be kind, won't you?" I beg.
"I'll be real," he replies.
It just dawns on me -- too late, I know -- that I've just signed up for some real humiliation.
At 12:30 p.m., we're taken across the street to the crowded square, where thousands of hopefuls between 16 and 28 have been lined up in the cold since 8 a.m. for their chance to get on the show's fifth season. This weekend here is the second last stop on the show's cross-country audition tour that ends Tuesday and Wednesday in Oshawa.
"Everybody wants to be a Canadian Idol," explains number 8469, 17-year-old Krista Cole. "You've just got to give it your best shot. If not, you can try again next year."
Not this contestant, sweetheart.
For 24-year-old Brenda Noel of Brampton, a shot on Canadian Idol would be the answer to her dreams. "I want to try and make something of my life," says the mother of two who works in a meat factory. "I want to have a future."
How does she know that she has what it takes, I ask.
"Every karaoke bar I sing in, people give me good compliments. I think I can do it. And it doesn't hurt to try."
Unfortunately, it's showtime. Dapper host Ben Mulroney is there in the tanned flesh and so are Idol's four celebrity judges. As the competition gets going, it turns out some of my colleagues can really sing -- Ashley Greco of Z103.5 and Tricky Moreira of Flow 93.5 will end up being co-winners.
As for me, there is a reason I've always chosen to hide behind my notebook.
Man, there are a lot of people out there. As I launch into my song -- which had sounded so much better in the shower yesterday morning -- my scared-stiff stance is so wooden that Flex jumps out of his seat and wrestles my hands out of my pockets.
A few verses in and I'm sure there's someone howling in the background. Ah yes, that would be judge Zack Werner doing his best imitation of a wounded dog on an electric fence.
I take that as a sign to stop.
"I thought it was a cry for help," he explains later. "When one wolf howls, the others howl in response. I was just joining your pack."
Ouch.
Mulroney takes pity on me. "Look at this -- she's a writer; she came out, for charity."
To which Werner responds: "Some people come for the abuse and stay for the fun."
But what about the boots, guys?
Werner thinks I look like I just came from working Jarvis St. around the corner. So much for that strategy.
This diva is taking her boots and limping home. As for all you Idol hopefuls still out there, best of luck. I so feel your pain.