Canadian Idol

Well, I bit the bullet on Saturday and headed down to the St. Laurent Centre (yes, that’s right, it’s St. Patty’s Day and I didn’t head to a bar) for…you guessed it.

The Canadian Idol competition.

Alright, now, I haven’t really spoken about it here before but the idea was planted in my head by some British woman who kept calling me to convince me to go to the auditions. She said that she had contacted all my friends and they agreed.

At first, I thought ‘Hogwash!’ but it was too late. The idea was planted that, the Palmer, might actually be decent in the singing category.

So I headed down to the mall with nothing more than my iPod, my guitar, my study notes (mid-term on Wednesday coming up!) and some lemon water for my voice. Hey, I’m no professional here but I read lemon water does the trick. This actually makes sense as I don’t really sing that well after drinking beer all day, but throw a rye and ginger into the mix and WHAMMO, I am the next Alice Cooper.

The line-up was HUGE and I was not too impressed. Many times I thought that I should just bow out so I can go home and enjoy the day. Also, they don’t allow old-timers like me after this year, so this was the last year I could potentially go to it.

Time passes by and I gaze at the number of teeny-boppers and they are practicing like mad and I’m thinking “Holy crap, some of these girls sound awful, but some of them have the sweet angel’s voice.” This reminded me of Vero’s cousin back at Christmas who was going to try out for Canadian Idol this year. I wonder if she was trying out in Ottawa?

I had arrived there around 8am (opening time) and was allowed in around 11:15. Alright, it’s showtime! I summoned the Gods of Rock to help me out and I went into a room and there was a table with 5 people around it. I don’t really watch these Idol shows but I don’t think there are usually 5 judges. Anyhow, they just asked me a few questions like where I was from and what I do nowadays and what kind of music do I play.

So then they say they have something different happening and are wondering if I would mind singing along with someone. You can’t say no at a point like this and so they bring out TOM COCHRANE! Awesomeness! That was totally random! So he turns out to be a decent guy and just wants to sing along to a tune so I tell him the only tune of his that I can play on guitar is Life is a Highway (natch) and I didn’t bother telling him that I don’t really know any of his other songs. That would just insult the guy. I would like to think that they brought him out considering I was probably one of the few older gents there with a guitar in hand.

I have no idea why Tom Cochrane was there to begin with. They were filming it so I’m assuming the audition tapes make it onto the show? Does anyone out there actually watch the show? It was pretty amazing to sing along with Tom on his song and then he asked if I had any songs so instead of playing the regularly scheduled Mr. Jones, I decided, heck, this is a moment of a lifetime on its own, why not pull out a Palmer original in the form of my biography of Stompin’ Tom? So I explain to him that I had been reading Stompin’ Tom’s biography and was inspired to write this song that kinda sounds like a Stompin’ Tom tune in its own right. So I pull out The Stomper, play it for everyone and I don’t know if he was just being nice but he said he thought it was pretty good.

I thanked everyone for the opportunity, shook hands with Mr. Cochrane again and headed home. Flippin’ unbelievable! Pretty awesome day I must say. I don’t even care if I make it onto the show as I have never watched it. Playing with an awesome musician is good enough!