| Malcolm wows crowd, judges in live Canadian Idol debut By Sarah Crosbie Tuesday, August 05, 2003 - 07:00 Local News - Last night, Canada was watching every move he made. In front of a live studio audience in Toronto�s John Bassett Theatre, King-ston�s Ryan Malcolm, 23, gave it his best try at the Canadian Idol�s finals. The theme of the show was Canadian Hits. No, Malcolm didn�t sing anything from local stars such as the Tragically Hip or Avril Lavigne. Instead, Malcolm chose Blue Rodeo�s ballad, Try. From the second he strutted onto the stage, it was obvious that Malcolm didn�t have to try too hard. From nailing the high falsetto notes to rocking out as he sang to his young and old fans, �I�m falling in love, night after night,� Malcolm dazzled the 1,300-plus crowd. At first, Malcolm�s family was worried that there wasn�t enough Malcolm support in the studio because it seemed that everyone was there to see the Toronto contestants � but it turned out the Malcolm family was quite wrong. Halfway through his song, a young blond fan from the balcony screamed, �I love you Ryan. I love you!� Malcolm got the audience clapping and, by the end, the rest of the crowd was screaming for the Kingston kid who learned how to sing in his family�s trio, A Bit of Nostalgia. After the 11 contestants performed last night, the Canadian Idols lined up outside the theatre to sign autographs for their hundreds of fans. Lara Olanick, 13, of Toronto stood in line for just one autograph. �Ryan is definitely my favourite. He�s so original and unique and he�s not your typical popstar. He�ll make the top three for sure,� she said, gripping a card that read, �Enjoy the next show. Ryan Malcolm.� It seems Malcolm has even got his celebrity signature down pat � on Olanick�s card Malcolm turned the �c� in his name into a heart. While Malcolm was in a loving mood, Canadian Idol judges seemed to be loving some � but not all of the performers. A few performances before Malcolm�s own shot at stardom, the judges shot down another contestant�s performance of Blue Rodeo�s Bulletproof. Were the judges not in a Jim Cuddy and friends type of mood? As it turns out, yes, yes, they were. Concert promoter Farley Flex told Malcolm he was bang on: �That�s real hot, man,� he said. Singer Sass Jordan said Kingston�s crooner was all that: �Great pitch, great rhythm,� she said with a smile. Jake Gold, who manages Gord Downie�s solo career, said he knew at the Ottawa auditions that Malcolm had something special: �At the Ottawa auditions, I said �this guy�s got it.� Thank you for making me look good.� Zack Werner, the Simon Cowell of the group who loves to hate the contestants, said Malcolm picked the right song. �That song was made for you.� As of last night, Malcolm is banned from speaking with media but he told The Whig-Standard during a visit home last week that even if he�s booted off the show this week, he�s still thrilled with his Idol experience. He�s lived in a mansion, made new friends and hey, how many people do you know who have Clay Aiken�s cellphone number? That�s right � the American Idol runner-up and platinum recording artist gave Malcolm his digits after he met him on the Canadian Idol set. �I�m having the time of my life,� Malcolm told The Whig. �We�re all nervous but we�re not oh-my-God-what-if-I-don�t-make-it nervous because we�ve all made it this far. It has been amazing.� Last night before the 7:30 p.m. kick off, The Whig had a backstage tour of the theatre. Some contestants, such as British Columbia�s Karen-Lee Batten and Ajax�s Toya Alexis, chose to have a dance party to chill out. Alberta�s Billy Klippert was found wandering the halls practising his tune. None of the contestants were talking to the counsellor who sits backstage ready to talk to the young hopefuls if they need a pep talk or some kind words. And where was Mr. Malcolm? He was nowhere to be found but whatever he did to prepare, it worked. Ryan�s older brother, Sean, was flown in from Calgary to surprise his baby brother. �He was the best and I�m not just saying that because he�s my brother,� he said. �The other guys just didn�t do anything for me. Ryan will be back next week.� Ryan Malcolm wasn�t willing to bet that he�d be back next week when he spoke with The Whig. He was just happy he got to sing for a live audience. �To make it this far, it�s a dream come true and I owe it to the people in Kingston and this area who have supported me,� he said. Malcolm tried out for Canadian Idol this spring with 15,000 other young hopefuls. During a series of auditions, 15,000 was whittled down to 143 and then just 30. Once the competition was trimmed down to the best 30 singers in the land, Canadian Idol viewers then voted for their Top 11 favourites. Tonight, three contestants will be kicked off the show. Every week throughout August and the beginning of September, contestants perform on Monday nights and the results air the following evening. A winner will be crowned in mid-September and will win a recording contract with BMG. Despite what happens tonight, Malcolm will still be a recording artist thanks to this gig. The Canadian idol Greatest Moments CD that features performances by the Top 11 will be in stores on Aug. 26. The results of last night�s performance will air on CTV, channel 6 in Kingston, at 7:30 p.m. tonight. ID- 39623 |