Canadian Idol: Six Goodbyes

I was eating cheesecake on a lovely patio last night, when I noticed someone familiar out of the corner of my eye. Since I'm being stalked by Idols of past and present, it was no surprise that it was Gary Beals (first season's runner-up). I did not say hello. Because disinterest is the new flirtation.

Back to business.

This week, we said goodbye to six contestants. And as per the trend, CTV has posted their exit interviews. Highlights are below.

Marie-Pierre Bellerose, 25, Quebec City, Que.

Q: What are some of the positive things you're going to take from this experience?

A: I've met some amazing people. I've learned a lot of things. The vocal coach, the band, all this TV crew, like learning the camera action, it's all stuff you don't really know how it's going on, so I really learned a lot about that and I'm going to take all the comments and try and do the best I can do with that. And the Idols, I'm going to bring back a lot from them.

Katelyn Dawn, 19, Winnipeg, Man.

Q: What do you think you're going to take from the experience?

A: Just more passion for music. I'm not going to go back to waitressing so I have to force myself to get income from music.

Q: You've had some success as a singer/songwriter before Idol. Is this just one more accomplishment you put on your resume?

A: For sure. I have no plans of stopping. I want to go to L.A. for a couple weeks and maybe New York. There's a painter who's painting my portrait who wants me to perform at an opening of another painting for Ralph Stanley, he's a well-known bluegrass musician, so I've got some gigs, modeling gigs, stuff like that.

Martin Kerr, 25, Edmonton, Alta.

Q: For someone who had never seen Canadian Idol before this, are you glad you decided to take part in it?

A: I had never watched it because I don't like television so it's been strange to be making television this summer and maybe my lack of understanding of how TV works has not helped me but it's been cool to meet all these people. It was when I started saying good-bye to the other competitors that I started tearing up so there was a lot of sadness, too, but I know we'll keep in touch.

I'm sure it happened for a reason, right? I do feel I've learned a lot and met some incredible people that I will have some very productive partnerships with in the future. There's some musicians I truly admire that I can't wait to buy their album and do shows together, people like Oliver. I can't believe I'm going out the same week as Oliver Pigott and Omar (Lunan), gee, these two guys gave some of the most incredible performances any Idol show has ever seen so I just feel lucky to have gotten this far ... So it's a funny game and it is a game, so I'm not going to take it personally or not let it diminish my artistic vigor but I think it will assist me a great deal in being more confident and also in people being more excited to hear from me. So often when you try to put yourself as an independent musician people are like, 'Well, who are you?' but if millions of people across the country already know who you are, then that's a good start.

Q: What are you going to do next?

A: I'll take a week to just chill out and enjoy being at home with my friends and family and start writing a new album. I put out an album last summer called "I Know You're Out There," which has been selling pretty well ... and I'm ready to write some new songs. I'll definitely be performing and now, as I say, I have this network across the whole country of not only people that have seen me on TV, but musicians I can perform with.

Omar Lunan, 29, Scarborough, Ont.

Q: Are you going to take all the great feedback you got on your performances, in particular after your rendition of "Ain't No Sunshine," and move forward with that?

A: Hell, yeah. All four of the judges have been in the industry a lot longer than I have and they've seen different sides of the industry that I haven't so their feedback in some regards, even though some of them may be blowing off steam, and that's just an opinion of mine, they are trying to give you advice for you to further yourself as an artist so for you not to take that feedback is like cutting off your nose to spite your face. It doesn't make sense.

Gary Morissette, 21, Fruitvale, B.C.

Q: How are you feeling right now?

A: I didn't expect to win. I was just here to show people who I am and get some fans and publicity. That's what my life's main goal was before, for millions of people to watch me so I accomplished that and now I can focus on some other little goals.

Q: You did a last minute audition online and made it to the Top 16. Are you proud of yourself for coming this far?

A: Yeah, you've got to be proud of yourself. If you have a negative feeling about anything you're doing in life then only negative things are going to happen to you so you've got to keep a positive attitude about whatever's going on and only good things will come, right?

Oliver Pigott, 27, Toronto, Ont.

Q: You've had a music career before the show, are you seeing this as one more thing to put on your resume?

A: Of course. It's a wonderful opportunity and I think it's important to realize that, that people are so focused on the prize of winning that they lose sight of that and I think people need to understand that it's important to appreciate it and use it as a tool to move forward. I've received a lot of messages from people, just saying how much they appreciate my performances and it resonated with them so that means a lot to me and that's what I wanted to do this for primarily anyway.

Q: How do you feel about your brother Sebastian moving on without you?

A: I'm really happy for him. I think he's taking it a lot harder than I am, to be honest. I'm just so pleased he gets to do this. He's got so much going for him, he's also an actor as well as a singer and a performer and it's just going to open up a lot of doors ... It's been great because Sebastian and I haven't had a chance to hang out together in a long time. It's been invaluable. Idol has brought us together again for sure.

Read the complete interviews here.

( Add your comments )

Recent Entries:
· Meet Your Top 10
· Canadian Idol: Six Goodbyes
· Life After Idol: The Tara Diaries

[ READER COMMENTS ]

Canadian Idol: Six Goodbyes

Add your comments...

We kindly ask that you keep your comments relevant to this blog entry. Abusive or inappropriate comments or comments that are specifically promotional in nature may be removed.