Canadian Idol

The second season of Canadian Idol debuted on June 1, 2004, and became the most watched show in Canada, drawing in over 3 million viewers each week. Auditions were held in Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Ottawa, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Halifax, Regina, and St. John's. The season provided an Idol first when the final six contestants played their own instruments during a group performance of the Gordon Lightfoot classic "Canadian Railroad Trilogy". This was the first time that contestants on any Idol series had performed with instruments; the effort is still widely regarded as one of the finest group numbers ever to appear on the show. Kalan Porter of Medicine Hat, Alberta won the series, and Theresa Sokyrka of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan was the runner-up. In November 2004, merely two months after the competition, Porter released his debut album entitled 219 Days – the number days spanning from his first audition to the release of his CD. Other Season Two finalists who released albums include Sokyrka, Jacob Hoggard, Jason Greeley, Shane Wiebe, and Joshua Seller.