| Idol hopeful wins second � and final � shot at stardom By Sarah Crosbie Wednesday, July 23, 2003 - 07:00 Local News - Right now, Ryan Malcolm is hoping and praying that he�s the Clay Aiken of Canadian Idol. Last night, Malcolm had his hopes of making the Canadian Idol Top 10 dashed � for about two minutes. In a live broadcast from Toronto, CTV announced three of the final four spots in the Canadian Idol Top 10. Malcolm�s name wasn�t called. For a while, it seemed like the singer�s shot at stardom had all but slipped away � until the show announced next week�s wild card contestants. Next Monday night, eight wild card competitors will vie for the 10th and final spot on the show. Malcolm is one of them. �I�m freaking out,� Malcolm, 23, told The Whig-Standard in an interview just moments after he learned the bad � and the good news. This past Monday night, dressed in black pants, a black shirt and a tie, Malcolm performed U2�s song, One. He told The Whig that he�s going to go for a more casual look next week and is thinking about singing a different tune. Hey, a makeover worked for Aiken last season on American Idol. Aiken didn�t advance in his group of 10 � but he won the wild-card show and was eventually the runnerup to Ruben Studdard after he changed his duds and dropped the dud song selections. Some fans of the Canadian show have said Malcolm is Canada�s Aiken and the organizers of an Aiken Web site, www. liftupclay.net, have said they�re keeping their eyes on the Kingston boy. Last night, Malcolm�s supporters gathered at his parents� Amherstview restaurant, Nostalgia Station. Minutes before the wild-card announcement, Malcolm�s stepmother, Deb, whispered to her family that maybe making the wild-card show wouldn�t be the best thing for Malcolm. �I don�t want him to get his heart broken again,� she said. Last night�s group was obviously packed with Idol favourites. Viewers cast 700,000 votes for their favourites after the first live show, and 750,000 after the second. Malcolm�s group received 1.1 million votes � a 32-per-cent increase. Many people are voting hundreds of times for the contestants they love � one woman bragged on the CTV.ca message board that she voted 636 times for Malcolm. �I�m one of those psychotic middle-aged moms. Yikes! I loved Ryan. There�s just something about his performance that made me want to see more, so I got in 636 votes for him,� she wrote. John Malcolm is hoping more people will vote for his son if he chooses a different song. John and his sons Ryan and Reagan sing together in A Bit of Nostalgia. Last night, John and Reagan were hoping that Ryan could zip down to Kingston for a day to pick a new song � one that will make Canadians fall in love with him. It looks like Malcolm is only going to be able to get advice over the phone. He starts rehearsing today at 9 a.m. �I feel good and I�m not disappointed,� he said. �Hey, I get to be on TV for another week,� he said with a laugh. This spring, 15,000 Canadians auditioned for the show. Judges whittled 15,000 hopefuls down to 143, then 30, and now just one spot remains in the Top 10. Malcolm will sing Monday at 8 p.m. on CTV. During his performance, a phone number will appear on the screen. At the end of the show, Canadians have two hours to call in and vote. ID- 38501 |