Canadian Idol: The Best Male Lineup Any Idol Has Ever Seen?

Canadian Idol's Monday night sausage fest boasted some surprisingly strong performances. In fact, after hearing the episode's 11 male performers, professional pretty boy Ben Mulroney noted, "This is the best male lineup any Idol has ever seen."

First up, 22-year-old Jeremy Koz belted out Bryan Adams' "It's Only Love." While Koz definitely showed that he has the pipes, he could have showed a little restraint as well. I mean, it's Bryan Adams. Show a little shame, Koz! Judge Jake Gold recognized this, saying it would be "great to see the more subtle stuff as well."

On the other hand, 26-year-old Albertan Nathan Brown showed a lot of control during his rendition of Sam Cooke's "Change Is Gonna Come," he didn't really communicate Koz's emotive Whitney Houston-calling-her-dealer urgency.

But the third time's a charm, as they say, and 16-year-old Newfoundlander Craig Sharpe delivered an equally restrained and powerful version of Rascall Flatts' "What Hurts The Most." Sharpe sings like a freaking girl and, yes, that's a good thing. As Mulroney said, "You don't have a voice, you have a gift."

Understandably, Rob James seemed a little jittery before following Sharpe's performance with Al Green's "Let's Stay Together." Since day one, James has given off a nervous energy that only makes his controlled, smooth singing style and unparalleled naturalism on stage that much more charming.

Sixteen-year-old Brandon Jones, on the other hand — who had just lost his braces and gotten his license — seemed about as natural as Mulroney's tan, using awkward hip-hop hand movements to navigate through a seemingly insincere take on Kenny Rogers' "Lady."

Though Gold and Zack Werner gave the performance a thumbs down, Farley Flex and Sass Jordan seemed to enjoy it. Of course, Jordan has a tendency to dish out constant praise. In fact, chances are that she's wearing a wire and being fed comments from the performers' grandmothers.

In contrast to Jones, Winnipeg joker Keith Macpherson gave one of the night's strongest performances, prompting Werner to correctly comment, "You sing without ego." Before grabbing the mic, Macpherson said he had heard his song choice — Howie Day's "Coillide" — while driving home a girl who had made out with someone else during their date. Mulroney joked that Macpherson shouldn't have driven her home, and then thought to himself, "If I were the other guy, you wouldn't have had to because I would have been banging her."

Next was Chris Labelle, the wildcard who was cut from the top 22, only to be given another chance. Labelle sang Marc Cohn's "Walking In Memphis" (again) and threw in some goofy dancing (again) to compensate for the fact that he didn't sing it that well (again). But the dancing was pretty flavourful, and Labelle is a real charmer.

"I don't care about sharp flat," said Werner. "I'm into charisma. The dude has charisma. He's entertaining. Keep him around. Make me laugh. Make Canada smile."

Twenty-seven-year-old Sheldon Elter, on the other hand, danced kind of awkwardly. And though he sang well, he didn't sing phenomenally. Sure, Elter has a great smile and a likeable personality, but he might not have what it takes to cut it.

Unfortunately, 19-year-old Tyler Lewis is nothing to write home about, either. While his ginormous Wrath-Of-God voice is good enough, it's kind of generic.

The same can't be said for 17-year-old Chad Doucette. After Doucette's sincere and stirring rendition of Keith Urban's "Tonight I Wanna Cry," Jordan summed it up best by saying, "I could pick you out of 20 singers and know it was Chad. That was wicked sweet."

And finally, 22-year-old Greg Neufeld ended the show on a high note by singing Jason Mraz's "You And I Both" with a voice that could kick the shit out of most other voices — and steal their lunch money. It was also wicked sweet. Here's hoping the ladies are half as good as the guys.