Out of curiosity, I watched some of Canadian Idol tonight. OK, the truth is I had been watching supergeniusknowledgemaschine Ken Jennings win for the 21st time on Jeopardy and it just happened to come on afterward (in the same way, I am now watching The Simple Life 2, albeit with the sound off and the Delgados blasting. I see no reason to *listen* to Nicole and Paris when I can just stare at them from time to time while playing great music).

There is no way I can go on watching Canadian Idol until the final five or six at the earliest, because I cannot sit through weeks of watching the judges smooch the asses of such unremarkable talent. It's only the round of 32, there's weeks of this hyperbole to come! And it can only get worse when the fat is trimmed away!

The way they gushed over Theresa Sokyrka, you'd think she was the finest voice to ever emerge from west of Thunder Bay (seriously, how many times did they remark at her Saskatchewan upbringing, as if she'd appeared on the stage straight from a remote, unexplored tundra). What makes this even more embarrassing is how CanIdol, in it's never-ending quest to rip off AmerIdol to the very last nuance, even featured the same SONGS that prominent contestants sang on the US show. Theresa did "Summertime", which was the song that Fantasia sang during the finale that blew everyone away, and, by slowing the momentum that Diana had built to that point in the show, essentially cinched her the title. In comparison to Fantasia's gritty and passionate performance, Theresa's version was forgettable cocktail lounge stuff (OK, I'll say it, it was whiter than Wonder bread).

We also heard "Me and Mrs. Jones" (sung by George Huff during finale pre-show) and "Open Arms" (sung at least once during the last season by one of the female belters, I think it was LaToya). All these performances were significantly inferior to those by their American counterparts, yet were praised to the heavens.

Jacob Hoggard was praised for his "star quality", or something to that effect, but the man is a clown. His mannerisms are identical to the unfortunate laughing stocks from "Superstar USA", who were trying so hard to dance and emote and emulate the stars they'd seen on TV to the point of becoming pantomime parodies of their fave crooners.

As a sleeper pick, I'd recommend Bernard Quilala, whose smooth tones recall the restrained sound of AmerIdol winner Ruben Studdard. Zach claimed he had zero charisma, which I totally disagree with. He was relaxed and confident, and there was plenty of emotion in his facial expressions. Charisma does not equal animation, which is worth remembering, particularly in the early stages of a competition like this.