Canadian Idol: Competitors Cover Canadian Songs

On Monday's special "Canada Rocks" episode of Canadian Idol, the show's 10 remaining competitors got to cover our country's finest songwriters. Of course, most of them didn't — opting for tunes by the Philosopher Kings, Nickelback and Wave instead — but that's beside the point.

In fitting with the show's focus on Canadian songwriters, the bird-like Nelly Furtado met with each singer to promote her new album — or rather, prepare them for their performances. If there's one thing Furtado has proven lately, it's that sex (and Timbaland) sells.

With this in mind, the star urged Sarah Loverock to slut it out a bit and show the country just how she wound up with two kids. Wisely heeding this advice, Loverock seductively gyrated through Tom Cochrane's "Life Is A Highway." While judges Jake Gold and Farley Flex were correct in noting that Loverock's first verse failed to set off fireworks, the singer still gave one of the night's best performances, leading judge Zack Werner to say, "I thought you stepped up on a serious level."

The unusually positive panel also saved a few compliments for Rob James, who threw in some smooth dance moves during his rendition of the Philosopher Kings' "It Hurts To Love You." While James seemed uncharacteristically relaxed, Werner worried that he might still need a massage or something: "You've just got to chill a little bit so it feels genuine."

Steffi D, on the other hand, couldn't have been more relaxed. She launched into David Usher's "Alone In The Universe" while sprawled out on the stage with her eyes closed. Like Loverock, D sexed it up a little, commandingly prowling around the stage in little fuck-me heels and prompting Flex to joke, "Little Bo Peep has found her sheep."

Next, Tyler Lewis delivered Nickelback's "Too Bad" in front of a giant digital fireplace while jumping up and down and punching the air as if beating up the concept of "rhythmic dancing" as we know it. Nevertheless, for the most part, the judges seemed impressed.

Gold said the song was perfect for Lewis' voice. Apparently, that was a compliment. Werner, on the other hand, called the generic performance imitative, but added, "That's what you are: meat and potatoes."

In contrast to Lewis, Kati Durst picked one of the night's stronger songs: The Band's "It Makes No Difference." Instead of employing her usual look-at-me tonsil rattling, Durst delivered a relatively understated — if slightly unmemorable — performance. While Gold and Flex gave lukewarm reviews, Werner said that it was the singer's most sincere delivery yet.

While singing Wave's "California," Brandon Jones also seemed relatively natural and honest. Judge Sass Jordan summed up Jones' charm by saying, "You're like this great big puppy that we all want to snuggle."

Of course, no one wants to listen to a puppy on the radio. Sure, Jones is cute and it would be lovely to snuggle and rub his belly all day, but hopefully we can listen to Craig Sharpe sing while we do that.

After the angelic-voiced Sharpe delivered a competent version of Avril Lavigne's "Losing Grip," Jordan said she loved the performance and called the singer a drama queen. That's most likely a huge compliment for a 16-year-old boy from a tiny-ass town in Newfoundland. Werner happily commended Sharpe on his song choice, saying, "I thought you were going to stick me in *NSYNC purgatory all season."

Ashley Coulter's song was a little more questionable. After continually covering tunes long past their best before date, Coulter strutted out to sing The Guess Who's "American Woman." Luckily, the performer actually pulled it off thanks to her commanding stage presence and natural dance moves.

While Chad Doucette picked a slightly better song — Sloan's "The Other Man" — he didn't give his best performance. Still, Doucette's longing glances and nasal emoting earned rave reviews from the judges. Flex joked that Doucette isn't the other man, he is the man.

Closing the show on a high note was Furtado superfan Eva Avila, who giggled, "I could smell her hair. She's so cool," before launching into the singer's hit, "Powerless." Like most of the night's performances, the judges ate it up. As Werner said, "I think the rest of this competition is going to be about who can chase Eva."