August 15, 2006

Five Remain as Ashley Coulter is Eliminated from Canadian Idol

-- Biggest audience this season watches first-ever “Unplugged” Episode --
-- Top 5 head to Nashville tomorrow to work with country superstar Martina McBride --

Toronto, ON (August 15, 2006) – After performing “Crying” on last night’s performance episode, Ashley Coulter shed tears tonight after being eliminated from Canadian Idol live on CTV. The 23-year-old cashier from Emeryville, ON became the fifth finalist to be eliminated after receiving the fewest votes out of a record 3 million cast following last night’s first-ever “Unplugged” episode. Now, three men and two women remain, representing Saskatchewan, Ottawa-Gatineau, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland.

** Media Note ** - Photography from tonight’s show as well as an all-new photo of the remaining five Canadian Idol finalists can be found online at the Canadian Idol Media Centre at www.idolpix.ca. Additionally, audio clips from tonight’s show can be downloaded at www.idolpix.ca.

Last night, more viewers than ever plugged into the world’s first Idol “Unplugged” episode when a record 2.25 million viewers watched the Top 6 perform live from CTV’s legendary Masonic Temple Concert Hall. Peaking at a whopping 2.6 million, the episode was the most-watched so far this season. Up 11 per cent compared to last week among the key A18-49 demo, Canadian Idol remains the most-watched program currently on Canadian television among all major demos.*

Tonight, backed by the Top 6, special guest Chantal Kreviazuk opened the show with a live performance of her hit song “In This Life.” Later in the show, Kreviazuk presented the world television premiere of her new single “All I Can Do” from her upcoming CD Ghost Stories.

Host Ben Mulroney then revealed the names of the three competitors who had received the fewest votes last night: Coulter, along with Steffi DiDomenicantonio, 17, from Ottawa-Gatineau and Craig Sharpe, 16, from Upper Island Cove, NL. After DiDomenicantonio was spared for the second week in a row, Mulroney announced that Coulter’s Canadian Idol dream had ended and that Sharpe would return to perform again. Saskatchewan’s Tyler Lewis remains the only finalist to never place in the Bottom Three. Coulter closed the show with a reprise of her Monday night performance of Roy Orbison’s “Crying.”

Sharpe returns next week to perform in Canadian Idol’s first-ever country-themed episode, featuring special guest star Martina McBride. The country superstar will play host to the competitors this week in Nashville, Tennessee, appearing in taped segments on Monday, August 21 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on CTV (check local listings). Then, on Tuesday, August 22 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on CTV, McBride performs live from the Canadian Idol stage.

In addition to Sharpe, the remaining finalists are: Eva Avila, 19, Gatineau, QC; Steffi DiDomenicantonio, 17, Ottawa-Gatineau; Chad Doucette, 18, East Chezzetcook, NS; and Tyler Lewis, 20, Rockglen, SK.

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 Tuesday 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.

Canadian Idol was created by Simon Fuller and is produced in association with CTV by Insight Productions. John Brunton and Barbara Bowlby are Executive Producers. Mark Lysakowski is Supervising Producer. Senior Producer is Sue Brophey. Mary Sexton is Regional Producer. Jane Rimer is Executive Consultant for FremantleMedia. Rick Lewchuk is CTV’s Senior Vice-President, Program Planning and Promotion. Ed Robinson is CTV’s Senior Vice-President, Comedy, Variety and Talk. Susanne Boyce is CTV President of Programming and Chair of the CTV Media Group.

FremantleMedia is one of the largest international creators and producers of programme brands in the world, with leading prime time drama, serial drama, entertainment and factual entertainment programming in over 40 territories. FremantleMedia has production offices in over 20 countries worldwide, providing local sales and production support for its international TV brands such as Idols and the world’s longest running game show, The Price is Right.

The company’s licensing operation, FremantleMedia Licensing Worldwide, exploits FremantleMedia’s many strong brands across multiple off-screen platforms including merchandising campaigns, interactive and wireless support, home entertainment and music publishing. Fremantle International Distribution, the company’s international distribution division licenses over 19,000 hours of programming to 150 countries worldwide. FremantleMedia is the content arm of the RTL Group, Europe's largest television and radio broadcast company. For further information please see FremantleMedia’s website www.fremantlemedia.com.

CTV, Canada's largest private broadcaster, offers a wide range of quality news, sports, information, and entertainment programming. It has the number-one national newscast, CTV National News With Lloyd Robertson, and is the number-one choice for prime-time viewing. CTV owns 21 conventional television stations across Canada and has interests in 16 specialty channels, including the number-one Canadian specialty channel, TSN. CTV is owned by CTVglobemedia, Canada's premier multi-media company. More information about CTV may be found on the company website at www.ctv.ca.

- CTV -

*Source: BBM (June 5 – August 13, 2006)

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