skylarentertainment.com

By Martha Worboy, Canwest News Service, Monday, June 02, 2008

The sixth season of Canadian Idol is set to kick off with highlights from a 10 city cross country talent search that attracted almost 10,000 young hopefuls. But what qualities does a contestant need to stand out from the pack of young, determined hipsters that flock to the auditions?

From vocals and song material to stage persona, there are many building blocks needed to achieve Idolhood. We spoke with industry experts — including an Idol winner, an Idol judge and a vocal coach — to find out what it takes to become champion.

IMAGE/STAGE PERSONA — Know who you are

Do you want to be the next Bob Dylan, Justin Timberlake or Nelly Furtado? If you don’t know — and you’re an Idol hopeful — you’ve got some serious soul-searching to do.

When it comes to your stage persona, the audience wants to know exactly who you are and if you don’t the audience will be quick to dismiss you, says Diane Foy, image consultant with Skylar Entertainment.

For the initial auditions, she advises doing “anything that makes you stand out.” But, she warns “stay true to yourself.”

“You want to be you, but an improved version of you.”

But how to figure out who you are onstage?

Foy advises musicians to think about their influences and who they admire: What made you want to do this? What qualities do you relate to? And when it comes to actually expressing these qualities through hair and clothes, she suggests looking through magazines to see what is hot, consulting a hairdresser, fashionable friends or heading to a hip clothing store to seek advice.

Last season’s Canadian Idol Brian Melo says he looked at his musical inspirations Pearl Jam, Incubus and Radiohead to get ideas for style, but he didn’t try to mimic them.

“If you try to be somebody else, it will show. People don’t want another Christina Aguilera or John Mayer — it’s important to stay fresh.”

He also advises Idol upstarts to take risks with their look. “Try something different. I wore pointy boots on the show but I never did that before . . . It’s all about progressing and evolving. Stay true to yourself and see how you can grow.”

The past five Canadian Idol winners each hail from different backgrounds and favour different music styles, but when it came to how they expressed themselves, they all had one thing in common, says Idol judge Farley Flex.

“They’re all very real people in terms of how honest they are, and this really translates well into the Canadian market. Canadians love genuine people . . . the formula to be the winner has everything to do with being a genuine person. There is a definite attraction to humility and grace.”

Vocal coach Brian Farrell — who coached Season Two Idol winner Kalan Porter — reinforces this point. “You have to focus on who you are and the kinds of talents you have specifically — know who you are as a performer.”

He says the mistake many contestants make is trying to please a judge or — even worse — entering the competition aiming to be a star, which isn’t attractive to anyone.

“It shows you aren’t grounded,” he says.

MATERIAL: Find material that works for you

In a contest as competitive as Idol, where the winner is determined by popular vote and fans change favour with the flub of a line or an overzealous performance, it’s important to find songs that suit the singer, says Farrell.

“The songs you select have a lot to do with your success,” Farrell says. “If the material is great, it can carry you.”

But, he warns, it isn’t simply a great song that will determine the success of a performance. It comes down to song interpretation.

He advises reading a song like a piece of literature and trying to find parts of yourself that relate to it.

“The song has to be internalized and you’ve got to believe it — people buy into that,” Farrell says. “You are the story.”

Flex agrees material is the key to success.

“The past five winners chose songs close to their personalities. Brian Melo sang “Karma Police” (by Radiohead) — not necessarily a popular song, but it was a catalyst for him. The lyrics were right for him.”

VOCAL CHOPS: Can your voice be heard?

Even if you can’t hit the high notes, croon like Michael Buble or swoon like Celine Dion, you might still have a chance.

According to Idol executive producer John Brunton, it doesn’t matter if you have the perfect pitch. What matters is that you have something distinctive about your voice to get you noticed.

“There are a lot of people who audition who are good singers but don’t stand out,” he says.

Brunton says it’s more important to distinguish yourself from the rest of the pack, whether it’s through vocal style, lyrical phrasing or body language.

An average singer can sometimes come out ahead of a gifted singer if they’re willing to work it, Foy maintains.

“If a musician is willing to seek advice, be persistent and do whatever it takes, they will go further than a wicked singer who sits back and relies on their talent.”

Last season, Melo took a proactive approach in honing his vocal style even before he auditioned for the show. The indie rock singer/songwriter from Hamilton, Ont., had previously toured with a band, but hired a vocal coach several months before auditions.

“You can have all the raw talent but if you don’t have technical balance, you will plateau,” Melo says.

“There’s always something you can learn.”

PASSION/WORK ETHIC: How badly do you want it?

If you’re only in it to win, you’ve already lost, Farrell says.

“It’s not about one performance — you can’t think ‘this is it’ — you have to keep doing it and developing. It’s what a musician does away from the spotlight that proves who they are.”

And the results of hard work are obvious to the audience, especially on a show like Idol.

“The public likes to see performers grow — they like the rags to riches stories. The show is about feedback — performers will start to zone in on what works for them. You have to be a student, take the quality advice that is provided and hold onto it and use it as a tool,” Flex says.

Farrell advises musicians to feed their passion and motivate themselves by watching performances of artists they admire early in their career and contrast that with latter performances to see their progress.

Melo says the key is to “envision yourself winning” and “stay positive.”

“And your mental state is really important.

“If you have a negative attitude it will reflect on other people. There’s a high pressure on Canadian Idol — you’re being criticized by millions of people across the country.

“Focus on the job at hand and everything will be fine.”

WILD CARD/INTANGIBLES — Do you have “it”

And then of course there are those mysterious qualities and quirks most successful performers have — an “it” quality, whether it’s a magnetic charisma, a lovable charm or a glowing energy that captivates an audience.

Aside from a strong voice and an ability to understand music, Flex says Idol contestants also have to possess personal appeal.

“We are looking for people with intangibles — star potential, charisma. Who will the Canadian public fall in love with more and more?”