The sixth and final season of Canadian Idol is the sixth and final installation of the Idol series in Canada and premiered on June 3, 2008, on the CTV Television Network. It is again hosted by Ben Mulroney, with the addition of Jully Black as a special correspondent and general mentor to the contestants. Farley Flex, Jake Gold, Sass Jordan and Zack Werner all returned as judges. This season saw a number of major and minor show format changes in an effort to keep the franchise fresh and innovative. The final episode of the season, in which the Canadian Idol was crowned, aired on September 10, 2008. The winner of the sixth season was Theo Tams. The sixth season became the final season of Canadian Idol following its cancellation in 2009.

Auditions

Auditions were held in the following cities: Total Auditions: 9,010 Total Gold Tickets: 201

Show Format Changes

This year of Canadian Idol promises to have a number of changes and surprises to the usual show format.

Broadcast Schedule

The sixth season of Canadian Idol premiered on June 3, 2008. Highlights from the initial auditions held across Canada, and the elimination rounds of "Toronto Week" (Top 200), were aired in 5 one-hour episodes over 3 weeks: The semifinals (episodes 6–14) began airing June 23 and consisted of 3 weeks of eliminations, resulting in the selection of the final Top 10 contestants. In each of the 3 semifinal weeks, the contestants were split into two groups, one group performing each evening (aired Mondays and Tuesdays); and the results of the public voting are announced on Wednesday evening. The Top 10 was revealed on July 9 (the results show of the last semifinal elimination week). The finals (episodes 15–32) began airing on July 14, 2008. Performances aired on Monday evenings and the results of the public voting were announced the following evening. Encore presentations of episodes are also broadcast on the now CTV-owned MuchMoreMusic on Thursday nights. The season finale aired September 10, 2008.

Contestants

For this season, there was an unexpected format change. Because of the quality of some of the male singers, the producers and the judges decided to make a Top 24 containing the best singers, based on talent not gender. The semifinalists performed for three weeks in mixed-groups, meaning that eliminations were made regardless of gender, until the Top 10 was determined on July 9, 2008. From a Top 24 composed of 15 males and 9 females (as selected by the judges), the Canada-wide voting during the 3 semifinal elimination rounds produced a final Top 10 comprising 8 male and 2 female contestants.

Top 10 Finalists

Semifinalists

Eliminated 2008-07-09 from the Top 16: Eliminated 2008-07-02 from the Top 20: Eliminated 2008-06-25 from the Top 24:

Regional Representation

The breakdown of the Top 24 and Top 10 according to the contestants' home province (provincial region), is as follows: Canadian Idol announced the regional representation of the Top 10 using different regional divisions than was used for the Top 24, as follows:

The Semifinals (Top 24)

The semifinals consisted of three weeks of elimination rounds to reduce the Top 24 contestants (as chosen by the judges) to the final Top 10 (as decided by public vote). This was the first round in which eliminations are the result of public voting. Performances take place in a more intimate venue with a smaller stage and audience than the finals. Multiple contestants are eliminated each week. This season, the semifinals saw a number of format changes: from the number of contestants (24, instead of 22), and an uneven gender composition (more males than females), to the performance group division (not by gender), and variation of group composition (changed from week to week). The semifinals results shows also saw some 'surprise' (unannounced) changes, including special 'showcase' performances and judge-selected 'encore' performances, and a variation in the number of contestants eliminated (6, instead of 4, in the final week).

Top 24 week

Performances: Results (2008-06-25): The first 4 contestants eliminated from the Top 24 were (in order announced): (There was no bottom 3 announced for each group.) The first results show departed from the traditional format to present a "showcase performance" from the Top 24, prior to announcing the voting results. The Top 24 performed the following songs, in groups of two to four, as follows:

Top 20 week

Performances: Results (2008-07-02): The bottom 3 contestants from each performance night were: The results show once again departed from traditional format, this time by having an encore of the judges' favorite performances from the previous two nights, prior to announcing the voting results. In order of performance, the encores were:

Top 16 week

Performances: Results (2008-07-09): In order to have a final Top 10, the bottom 3 contestants from each performance night were eliminated (resulting in a total of 6 contestants eliminated – instead of 4, as in each of the previous two weeks of semifinal eliminations). Contestants were called to the stage, four at a time (two from each performance night), and the results of the voting announced, sending successful contestants to fill the 10 stools set up on the stage for the final Top 10. The 6 eliminated contestants were (in order revealed):

The Finals (Top 10)

The Top 10 was officially announced on July 9, 2008 (the last semifinals result show). These are the finalists (in order revealed): With 8 male and 2 female contestants, the season's Top 10 was the most gender-uneven to date. Top 10 performances began July 14, 2008.

Mentors

The following were mentors for this season of Canadian Idol:

Finalists' Performances

Each week a song theme is presented to the competitors. Each competitor must base their song choice on the theme of the week.

Results Show Performances

The guests and songs performed during the results show broadcasts are listed here. "Who Do You Love" (Adam Castelli), "Down On The Corner" (Sebastian Pigott), "When Will I Be Loved" (Amberly Thiessen), "You'll Be In My Heart" (Mark Day), "Feelin' Alright" (Earl Stevenson), "Crazy On You" (Katherine St-Laurent), "Papa's Got A Brand New Bag" (Mookie Morris), "Nowhere With You" (Mitch MacDonald), "I'm Still Standing" (Theo Tams), and "Are You Gonna Go My Way" (Drew Wright)

Eliminations (Summary)

Notes:

Releases

Ratings