Canadian Idol Shocker: Greg Neufeld Bites The Dust

In a stunning turn of events, Canadian Idol's resident pin-up boy Greg Neufeld was sent packing.

Canadian Idol started off rather ordinarily. Ben looked pretty and sported a suit and a pocket square. Zack Werner carelessly tossed his feet onto the judging panel's table. Jake Gold appeared sweaty and sullen. The studio audience (made up mostly of teen girls and their mums) cheered and screeched. There was a video flashback of the previous night's performance and a pre-recorded segment featuring the Top 7 rocking "The Show Must Go On" with Brian May on guitar and Roger Taylor on drums. All was well with the world. Then there was a commercial break. See? All pretty standard stuff so far!

The Idols then did a group number to Queen's "You're My Best Friend," which segued into "We Will Rock You," featuring the musical We Will Rock You's Yvan Pedneault. Who was introduced by Greg Neufeld. Hmmm. (Any particular reason why Neufeld was chosen to give that introduction? Eh, Canadian Idol production team?)

The singing on the group number was strong, but the choreography was pretty lacklustre. I know they only have a short time to prep this shit, but with their arm-pumping and half-hearted bouncing around, I had flashbacks to my eighth grade air band competition. I'm kind of bitter because I was 99 per cent certain that Brian May and Roger Taylor would make a special surprise appearance in the John Bassett Theatre. They did not. It was tragic. And it foreshadowed the tragedy to come.

During the eliminations, Dwight d'Eon was the first to be declared safe. Swell! Carly Rae Jepsen was then named one of the bottom three. Whaaaaaah? After yesterday's cute dress? Tara Oram was safe. Brian Melo was deservedly bottom three. Matt Rapley and Jaydee Bixby were both safe as the final member of the bottom three was announced to be crowd favourite Greg Neufeld. Craziness!

"That's absolutely ridiculous!" cried Farley Flex. "Those three, in my mind, were the top three from last night," said Jake Gold. During the commercial break, d'Eon kept mouthing the word "wow" in disbelief. At this point, I wrote in my notepad "Melo is going home 2nite, obvs." But I was dead wrong. It was Greg Neufeld who was eliminated. Jaw. Meet. Floor.

"Canada got this wrong," said a visibly upset Ben Mulroney. "I don't care if I'm not supposed to say that, Canada got this wrong." He then went on to praise Neufeld's talent, letting him know that his "future is absolutely limitless."

The contestants look flabbergasted. The judges looked pissed off. Members of the audience shook their heads in disbelief and dabbed at their eyes. It was craziness.

Here's a snippet from the Canadian Idol update I wrote yesterday: "But people love that song. And people love Neufeld. So the way he sang it doesn't really matter. There's no way the kid is going home this week. Or next week. Or the week after."

How could I have been so wrong? More importantly, how could Canada have been so wrong? This guy should have made top four. As the hopefuls onstage fought back tears, Neufeld did a very dignified and composed version of "We Are The Champions" to huge cheers and an extended standing ovation. Werner held up Neufeld's arm, like the champ that he is. Next week: Much less maudlin mush, I swear!