Canadian Idol: First 12 Of Final 24 Show Signs Of Life

By splitting up the top 24 remaining Canadian Idol contestants, the show's milking everything it can to reap television ratings for three straight nights. While this little game of trickery annoys me, I adore it at the same time. I don't have to sit through two straight hours of boring performances. That isn't to say the show doesn't have strong singers. I'm just saying it's boring.

The first night of live television seemed to make Ben Mulroney more nervous than the contestants. Besides stumbling through sentences, he couldn't keep a straight face. Either someone was behind the camera making him laugh, or he's terrible with live television.

The night's first contestant was Lindsay Barr, who chose Elvis Presley's "Burning Love." It wasn't for her. Judge Zack Werner cited her performance as an example of what not to do.

Martin Kerr was up next, but seemed more impressive during group tryouts. He did a lame version of Blue Rodeo's "Lost Together." Werner called Kerr "David Bowie light." I say he was more Barry Manilow.

Gary Morissette did a really fun version of Creedence Clearwater Revival's cover of Little Richard's "Good Golly Miss Molly." He might have been a bit too much into his performance, though. He's not a rock star yet.

Toronto's Tetiana Ostapowych told the cameras it was time for her to express her true self. Her interpretation of Morris Albert's sappy "Feelings" was more of what we've seen. Werner called it borderline cruise ship, and I agree.

Mitch McDonald emulated John Mayer a bit too much, even if he was singing Gavin DeGraw's "Follow Through." Everyone thinks he's a sweet guy, so it's harder to critique the babyface.

Paul Clifford performed Seether's "Broken." He owned the song, but there's something about him that puts me off.

If I got to choose Monday night's winner, it would have been Earl Stevenson. He did a great interpretation of "All Along The Watchtower." As pointed out, it was a cool version of Dave Matthews doing a Jimi Hendrix cover of a Bob Dylan song.

Lisa Bell probably has the most powerful voice of any of the contestants, and we haven't yet seen night two's contestants. She wanted to prove to the judges that she could do something other than blues. Well, her performance of the Doobie Brothers' "Long Train Runnin'" started out the same way as any other tune she's sung. But the jazzy feel picked up and was reinforced by a disco beat. It was a great performance. Werner said it was too showbiz-like, but the other judges sided with me.

Right now, Mookie Morris is tied with Stevenson in my books. He did the show's first-ever performance of The Beatles' "Twist And Shout." It was raw and he really got the crowd going.

Singing like Freddie Mercury ain't easy, and Drew Wright took a risk when he chose to perform David Bowie and Queen's "Under Pressure." The judges (and I) thought it was a bad song choice.

Oliver Pigott delivered the creepiest performance of the night. He has a great voice, but his hip-thrusting and dancing to Dave Edmunds' version of "I Hear You Knockin'" reminded me of something you'd see at a shady strip club.

Katherine St-Laurent stole the judges' hearts. While she's not one of my favourites, I can't deny she did a strong cover of Bonnie Tyler's "Total Eclipse Of The Heart."

Check back for tomorrow's report on the second half of the final 24 performers.