Last Female Standing Eliminated from CTV's Canadian Idol; Five Guys Remain

For Immediate Release (Tuesday, August 12)

-- All-Male Top 5 to perform Judges' Choices from The Beatles' songbook next week as Anne Murray rescheduled to August 25/26 --

Toronto, ON (August 12, 2008) - It's official: the next Canadian Idol will be a guy. Amberly Thiessen, the last female in the competition, was eliminated on tonight's live CTV broadcast, leaving five males to duke it out for the 2008 title. Thiessen, 19, a student from Seven Persons, AB, received the fewest of more than 3.3 million votes cast last night, up 7% compared to the same episode last season. Next week, the all-male Fab Five will perform music from the songbook of the greatest group of all time, The Beatles, as selected by Canadian Idol's four-member judging panel, Farley Flex, Jake Gold, Sass Jordan and Zack Werner. Due to a scheduling change, legendary songstress Anne Murray will now mentor and perform on Canadian Idol during Top 4 Week, August 25 and 26.

** Media Note ** - Photography and audio clips from tonight's Canadian Idol are available online at the Canadian Idol Media Centre at www.idolpix.ca.

It's the first time the Canadian Idol Top 5 has been comprised of one gender. Earlier this year, Canadian Idol made history when it announced an uneven gender split of 15 guys and 9 girls in its Top 24 semi-final round.

In last night's "Canada Rocks" themed episodes, the competitors performed all-Canadian songs as mentored by Canadian rock stars Simple Plan. Thiessen chose to perform the hit song from fellow Albertan Feist, "1, 2, 3, 4..."

In tonight's live episode, the Top 6 opened the show with "Money City Maniacs" by East Coast rockers Sloan. Later, Simple Plan rocked the Idol stage with their blockbuster single "Your Love is a Lie" from their new album Simple Plan. The first single from the same album, "When I'm Gone," is heard every Tuesday during the highlight reel for the eliminated competitor. The Montréal based group hit the road for a national tour later this month.

Thiessen was joined in tonight's Bottom Three by Earl Stevenson - who escaped elimination for the second week in a row - and Drew Wright, who made his first trip to the Bottom Three.

The Canadian Idol Top 5 performing in next week's "Judges' Choice/The Beatles' Songbook" (Monday, August 18 at 9 p.m. ET / Tuesday, August 19 at 8 p.m. ET; visit idol.ctv.ca to confirm local broadcast times).

Ranging in age from 18 to 28, the five remaining male competitors represent Alberta, Ontario and Nova Scotia:

1. Mitch MacDonald, 22, Port Hood, NS, Carpenter, Musician
2. Mookie Morris, 18, Toronto, ON, Musician
3. Earl Stevenson, 23, Lloydminster, AB, Swamper for a Backhoe Operator
4. Theo Tams, 23, Lethbridge, AB, Student
5. Drew Wright, 28, Collingwood, ON, Musician, House Painter

Highlights from each week's Canadian Idol episodes are available on demand on the CTV Video Player at CTV.ca. Encore presentations of each week's Performance and Results Episodes also air back-to-back Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET on MuchMoreMusic.

Tickets to Canadian Idol's live performance and results shows are available at all Ticketmaster outlets, online at www.ticketmaster.ca or by telephone (check local listings). Tickets go on sale at 12 noon on the Monday prior to the next week's shows and sell out quickly. Rush tickets are also available to the most enthusiastic fans showing up at the John Bassett Theatre two hours before show time. Visit idol.ctv.ca for more information.