August 22, 2006

Steffi D. Walks Right Out of Canadian Idol

Toronto, ON (August 22, 2006)–She had escaped elimination for four of the past five weeks after placing in the bottom group of vote-getters, but Steffi DiDomenicantonio’s dream of the Canadian Idol crown finally came to and end tonight. The 17-year-old high school student from Ottawa-Gatineau known across Canada for her trademark bows was eliminated during a live results show on CTV after receiving the fewest of a season-high 3.1 million votes cast last night. DiDomenicantonio was eliminated after performing “These Boots Are Made For Walking” during last night’s “Country Standards” episode. Now, just four remain representing the provinces of Saskatchewan, Quebec, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland as Canada’s No. 1 show builds to its impending climax in September.

** Media Note ** - Photography from tonight’s show as well as an all-new photo of the remaining four 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’s Canadian Idol episode attracted more than two million viewers for the second week in a row, BBM confirmed today, despite going head-to-head with the heavily hyped season premiere of Prison Break (1.43 million, Global/Fox) in the 8 p.m. hour. Peaking at 2.5 million viewers in the second half-hour, the episode featured highlights from last week’s trip to Nashville where the Top 5 competitors rehearsed with country superstar Martina McBride.

Tonight, McBride and the Top 5 opened the show with a live, group performance of Ray Charles’ country music classic “Can’t Stop Loving You.” Later in show, Martina McBride took to the stage with her band to perform Lynn Andersen’s “Till I Can Make it On My Own.”

Then, host Ben Mulroney that the only females remaining in the competition had received the fewest votes last night: DiDomenicantonio along with fellow Ottawa-Gatineau resident Eva Avila, 19. After Mulroney announced that Avila would return for at least one more week, DiDomenicantonio closed the show with a reprise of her Monday night performance of “These Boots Were Made for Walking.” Saskatchewan’s Tyler Lewis remains the only competitor to never place in the bottom group of performers.

Avila returns next week to perform in Canadian Idol’s “Judges’ Choice” episodes. Airing Monday, August 28 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on CTV (check local listings), the Top 4 will perform two songs each – one up-tempo and one down-tempo - as chosen by Canadian Idol’s four-member judging panel.

In addition to Avila, the remaining finalists are Chad Doucette, 18, East Chezzetcook, NS; Tyler Lewis, 20, Rockglen, SK and Craig Sharpe, 16, Upper Island Cover, NL.

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 -

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