Kalan Porter Is Your Canadian Idol

After an excruciatingly boring two-hour show that gave the soon-to-be-forgotten Top 10 finalists one last chance to let their mediocrity shine, 18-year-old Kalan Porter was crowned the second Canadian Idol on last night's CI finale.

Porter beat out 23-year old Theresa Sokyrka from Saskatoon, Sask. Porter's win came to a surprise to absolutely no one — with the exception of his own self. After host Ben Mulroney read the final results of Wednesday night's vote, Sokyrka enthusiastically threw her arms around Porter in a graceful acceptance of defeat.

Porter himself appeared to be either completely stunned or nonplussed. I'm reading it as the former — characteristically shy to the end, his hands were visibly shaking as he took the mic to sing on the show one last time.

Porter won't have time to gently contemplate his victory for long. As we speak, he's likely in the midst of an endless battery of interviews and he's scheduled to hit the studio next week to begin work on his debut album, which will hit stores by the end of the fall.

Minutes after Porter signed a record deal with BMG Canada president Lisa Zbitnew, his first single, "Awake In A Dream" was digitally serviced to radio stations across Canada. Go ahead, turn on your local lite rock station — it's probably playing right now.

While Porter's win doesn't seem as hyped as Ryan Malcolm's inaugural victory last year, this season of Canadian Idol was actually more popular than the last. On Wednesday night viewers cast 3.6 million votes, bringing the season vote total to over 32 million — a 57 per cent increase over last year (although, some of that likely has to do with fanatics twigging on to the fact that it's easy to vote 500 times, provided your dialing fingers have the stamina).

Last night a reported 3.3. million viewers tuned in to see Porter's win, making it the most-watched episode of either Canadian Idol season.