The ‘Idol' phenomenon continues to produce top ratings for CTV with 2.4 million Canadians tuning in to watch the World Idol face-off on New Year's Day.
“These numbers are some of the highest we've ever had on New Year's. You'd have to go way back to some sort of sports special to see ratings like these,” said Rick Lewchuk, the network's senior vice president of program planning.
The show pitted Canadian Idol Ryan Malcolm against winners from 10 other nations. Norway's Kurt Nilsen, a former plumber, dominated the singing competition after he won in nine of the 10 countries where viewers could vote for him. He ended up with 106 out of a maximum 112 points. American Kelly Clarkson came in second with 97 points. Malcolm finished in sixth place receiving 62 points.
The third season of American Idol, which kicks off later this month, is expected to continue to rack up ratings points. Over 70,000 hopefuls showed up for auditions in Los Angeles, Atlanta, Houston, New York City, San Francisco and Honolulu. The show, which premieres with one-hour episodes on three consecutive nights, January 19, 20 and 21, will begin by showing audition out-takes – the folks who didn't make it.
CTV announced that auditions for the new season of Canadian Idol will take place in nine Canadian cities beginning in mid-February. Venues are: St. John's, Halifax, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Winnipeg, Regina, Edmonton and Vancouver.
