Canadian Idol's Executive Producer John Brunton Sounds Off
John Brunton's enthusiasm for Canadian Idol is palpable as soon as he comes on the phone. When asked how he is, he begins to say he is fine, and the abruptly stops.
"You know, I'm pretty pissed off about the show [Tuesday] night," he laughs, "I was a big fan of Mookie's."
Despite Mookie's elimination Tuesday night, Brunton said he was happy to see a Toronto contestant get so far on Idol. This coming a year after Brunton lashed out at Torontonians for not supporting their own contestants. This year, six Torontonians made it to the Top 24, and two of them advanced to the Top 10 (Sebastian Pigott finished eighth).
"We are getting there slowly. I was pleased, I was really pleased. For Mookie, that's the furthest anybody from Toronto has ever gotten in the competition. Toronto's one of those cities that really wants to be New York in many ways. And I'm a Toronto boy, born and raised here, and I'm so proud of the city in so many ways. So yeah, I was really pleased to see someone from the city, and also someone who's so bloody good [get so far]," he said.
Brunton agreed with the ex-Idols this season who have stressed that hometown support can only get a contestant so far before they need the national support. He said he thinks that switch happens around the Top 6 or Top 5 week. And not surprisingly, Ontario has a huge influence on the voting.
"Almost like in a national election, Ontario has a huge impact on the results. And it's interesting because the most number of votes do come from this part of the country. And yet, its the least biased from a voting perspective, they'll just vote for whoever is the best singer."
Brunton agreed that there hasn't been a moment this season where the wrong person went home during any given week (unlike last season with Greg Neufeld). He used this week as an example, saying after the performance show he was chatting with Canadian Idol's vocal coach Deborah Byrd and Ed Robinson, executive vice-president of programming at CTV.
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"You know, I'm pretty pissed off about the show [Tuesday] night," he laughs, "I was a big fan of Mookie's."
Despite Mookie's elimination Tuesday night, Brunton said he was happy to see a Toronto contestant get so far on Idol. This coming a year after Brunton lashed out at Torontonians for not supporting their own contestants. This year, six Torontonians made it to the Top 24, and two of them advanced to the Top 10 (Sebastian Pigott finished eighth).
"We are getting there slowly. I was pleased, I was really pleased. For Mookie, that's the furthest anybody from Toronto has ever gotten in the competition. Toronto's one of those cities that really wants to be New York in many ways. And I'm a Toronto boy, born and raised here, and I'm so proud of the city in so many ways. So yeah, I was really pleased to see someone from the city, and also someone who's so bloody good [get so far]," he said.
Brunton agreed with the ex-Idols this season who have stressed that hometown support can only get a contestant so far before they need the national support. He said he thinks that switch happens around the Top 6 or Top 5 week. And not surprisingly, Ontario has a huge influence on the voting.
"Almost like in a national election, Ontario has a huge impact on the results. And it's interesting because the most number of votes do come from this part of the country. And yet, its the least biased from a voting perspective, they'll just vote for whoever is the best singer."
Brunton agreed that there hasn't been a moment this season where the wrong person went home during any given week (unlike last season with Greg Neufeld). He used this week as an example, saying after the performance show he was chatting with Canadian Idol's vocal coach Deborah Byrd and Ed Robinson, executive vice-president of programming at CTV.
continue...
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