Canadian Idol Tour concert review
Reviewed in The Calgary Herald on Feb. 25, 2006
Melissa O’Neil and Rex Goudie at the Jubilee Auditorium Saturday night.
Attendance: 2,236 (sellout).
Nick Lewis
Calgary Herald
Just when it was looking like they’d be all “Kelly and Justin,” it seems
they’re a bit more “Rueben and Clay.”
When Melissa O’Neil beat out Rex Goudie to win Canadian Idol in October, there
were brief rumours they were dating, and for a minute, we (okay, me) likened it
to Kelly Clarkson and Justin Guarini on American Idol. But instead of
disappearing like Guarini, Goudie, like Clay Aiken, is outselling his victor.
He’s also up for two major Juno Awards (artist, album) in April, while O’Neil
was shut out.
O’Neil may be the Idol, but so far, it looks like Goudie’s the real winner.
The handsome 19-year-old from Newfoundland & Labrador is the choice of seven
out of 10 hausfrous (a stat made up by me), and easily got more ear-piercing
shrieks from the teen-girl set dominating the audience. This, in his
co-headliner’s hometown.
Goudie was first on, and opened with Break The Silence off his Under The Lights
album. For the next hour, when the girls weren’t screaming like a truck had ran
over their collective feet, they shouted “I love you Rex!,” “You’re so hot!,”
“You’re awesome!,” and derivatives of the same.
For his part, a black-hatted Goudie was pretty decent when his voice wasn’t
strained, playing soft rock ballads made for the Bon Jovi demographic. Backed
by a four-piece “rock” outfit, he strapped on acoustic and electric guitars
throughout the set, and I’m pretty sure he actually played them.
The highlight was his Run single, the catchiest thing to come out of Camp Idol
since Kelly Clarkson’s Since U Been Gone, and 2,000 people sang along to the
“take a bus, take a plane, take a train” chorus.
O’Neil had the hometown advantage, but maybe because her self-titled album is
mellower, her set lacked the energy Goudie’s had. Sure, she’s a better singer,
and proved it on songs such as Alive, Let It Go and an assortment of covers
made famous on Canadian Idol, but the overall effect wasn’t the same.
The 18-year-old Calgary singer was backed by the same band that played with
Goudie (although they changed outfits), and didn’t look nervous as she
performed for a crowd that included family, friends and fans who phoned in
votes last fall. But, as with Goudie, I couldn’t stop thinking that the most
talented people on stage were the unnamed backing musicians.
As for Melissa, the Paula in me thinks she’s sooooo cute and relatable and is
just one well-written single away from her own Juno. The Randy in me, dawg,
thinks she brought it tonight, you know, and showed a lot of love to her
hometown crowd. The Simon part of me thought that while it was okay, there was
nothing special, nothing unique about it.
And the overwhelming “Nick” part of me just really needs a Tylenol from all the
screaming.
