Dwight in white – goodnight?

By Tina Comeau

THE YARMOUTH VANGUARD

NovaNewsNow.com

Dwight d’Eon supporters in the area are not happy about last night.

Not so much about his performance – although he did look out of his element singing the standards – but because many say their attempts to vote for the Canadian Idol finalist were largely thwarted by the phones. “I think you better get your Kleenex out for tonight,” suggested one fan on Facebook’s d’Eon Nation, which has more than 3,000 members. “I know I will.”

In postings on Facebook d’Eon fans, most from southwestern Nova Scotia, but others from elsewhere on the East Coast, said for the most part they could not break through the busy signals. “I voted the whole two hours and got maybe 20 votes in,” said one person from Halifax. “Sixty-five minutes and not one call through,” said another. “Grrr…my phone is about ready to fly out the window…four votes in almost two hours….either busy, dead line or “this call cannot be completed as dialed.”

Another person finally got her first vote through after calling for an hour and 21 minutes.

Many people said it wasn’t until there were only 15 minutes left in the two-hour voting window that they were finally able to start getting votes through.

Conversely, supporters of Brian Melo – considered by the judges to be the strongest of the remaining four competitors on the show and the one that should win the Idol title – had a different story on their voting process according to postings on Facebook, with individuals saying they were able to get in 784, 751, 461 votes each.

Melo supporters were also concerned by busy signals, specifically the lack of them. “No busy signal in 30 minutes,” said one fan. “All my votes are going through, about 20 every three to four minutes,” said another.

But not all Melo fans could get through as easily. One living in Yarmouth ¬– a.k.a. ‘Dwight territory’ – could only get in 10 votes for the Hamilton singer in one hour and 25 minutes.

Meanwhile, not all d’Eon supporters stuck around in Yarmouth last night for the performance show. A group of 32 traveled to Halifax to vote where they said they were able to get in more than 42,000 votes.

There is no restriction on how many times a person can vote for a competitor in this competition, which is often as much a popularity contest and it is a singing contest.

On Monday night the Idol competitors sang the standards, getting some help along the way from music icon Paul Anka.

The judges acknowledged it wasn’t d’Eon’s type of music, but they gave him kudos for trying. “I don’t think you’ll be making records like this and it’s not your world,” said judge Jake Gold. “Valiant effort, but it’s not your thing.”

D’Eon’s good-natured humour came through as he laughed out loud to comments made by judge Zack Werner when he told him, “I can see you in a Vietnam movie in a cut-off shirt holding a machine gun, but I can’t necessarily see you as a crooner doing that tuner.”

The Idol contestants each sang two songs. D’Eon’s first was Frank Sinatra’s I Get a Kick out of You. Judge Farley Flex thought d’Eon performed the song with two 40-pound weights on each shoulder, when really he should have let loose and had more fun with it.

For his second song selection d’Eon picked Nat King Cole’s Unforgettable.

The judges thought the white suit the West Pubnico singer sported would be more memorable than his performance, although Werner’s comments weren’t completely negative. “You know Rambo, you kind of reached out and touched me in your little way there,” he said.

Again, Gold called it a valiant effort. “I just find it hard to believe you doing that kind of stuff. I just don’t know if you’re going to be here next week.”

But he looked amazing the judges said. “I say singing, shminging, you look wonderful,” said judge Sass Jordan.

When asked by host Ben Mulroney whether he had fun with the theme, d’Eon said he actually had a blast. And to top it off he was wearing a white suit. “Look at me,” he said laughing, to which Mulroney asked if the rocker ever saw himself standing on a stage singing Nat King Cole’s Unforgettable. “Not in this lifetime,” said d’Eon.

Melo got the best reviews from the judges for his performances, which included a version of Mack the Knife. The judges predict Melo will – or at least should – make it to the finale. Carly Rae Jepsen also got positive comments from the judges, who thought the theme seemed akin to her style.

Jaydee Bixby got mixed reviews on his first song, better comments on his second.

The Top 4 becomes the Top 3 tonight when the competitor with the fewest votes is eliminated from the show. The results show airs at 8 p.m. and will include a performance by Paul Anka.

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