Andrew Doyle makes Idol cut...

[cbisle]

April 10 - 2005

In an effort to reach more cities and find new talent, Canadian Idol arrived in Sydney for the first time on Saturday, and 146 hopefuls were on hand to try out.

After almost 11 hours, 13 young singers (nine girls, four boys) impressed the producers enough to win a coveted "blue ticket" that will get them to Moncton, where they will come face-to-face with Idol judges - Jake Gold, Zack Werner, Sass Jordon and Farley Flex - and sing for the ultimate prize, a trip to Toronto and a chance at the third Idol title.

Some of the contestants heading to the next round in Moncton are Sydney's Mark Marsman (who also made it to Toronto in Idol's first season auditions), popular Sydney Mines singer-songwriter Andrew Doyle, Sydney's Stephanie LeBlanc and Holley Muise and Halifax's Josh Smith.

"The producers wanted to say that they had done the most extensive tour of the country that any Idol show had ever done," the show's host Ben Mulroney to The Chronicle Herald earlier this week.

In addition to seeing fresh faces, idol producers have seemed to get a lift from straying off the beaten path into the so-called advance cities.

"That's what's great for me, as someone who's done the tour before," Mulroney said. "We hit Sydney, we hit Moncton, we hit Charlottetown, we hit London, Ont., we hit Sudbury - all places we've never been before. It's like doing it for the first time."

Mulroney and Idol sidekick Jon Dore were in Cape Breton checking out the scene at the Sydney Marine Terminal and filming segments for the show.

There were two rounds of auditions on Saturday. Contestants successful in the first round were given a yellow ticket to the second round, where they sang for the coveted blue ticket and the trip to Moncton for the regional call on April 17.

More Nova Scotians are expected at Moncton's preliminary auditions on Friday.

Halifax was the audition city for the Maritimes when the Idol judges arrived in town for the first two seasons.

[IAMCAPER]

I'd like to make a few comments on this years Idol competition. First, it is good to see that Idol has made an effort to come to Sydney but I think it's a real shame that the contestants who did make the cut in Sydney have to travel to Moncton to face the "real" judges of Canadian Idol. One reason for the low turn-out was in part due to a supposed rumour that the contestants were going to be forced to wait outside while awaiting their turn where in actuality they were allowing as many people indoors as possible, it was only the overflow, if any, that would have had to wait outside.

Finally, I've known Mark Marsman for a few years now and I must say, he's extremily talented and a really nice guy and I hope he does well this year. IMO, I think the only reason he didn't get further than he did last year was due to the fact he had to do a duet with Gary Beals and perhaps maybe Gary overshadowed Mark. Let's cheer on the Cape Breton hopefuls and throw our support behind them!