Shield your ears, Canada: CBC is launching a new reality TV show with Canadians singing Canadian songs
A singing-focused reality TV show not called Canadian Idol is slated to hit the CBC airwaves this fall, and, well, it’s the ultimate CRTC wet dream. On Cover Me Canada, undiscovered musically inclined Canadians (we’re waiting before we use the word “talent” here) will sing songs every week in hopes of receiving a cash prize of $100,000, the opportunity to record an original single for distribution by Universal Music Canada and, according to the CBC, “the chance to win the hearts and minds of the country.” But here’s the catch: the contestants are limited to covering “iconic” Canadian tunes (read: top 40 hits from the late ’80s).
Is it just us, or does it seem like Cover Me Canada is set on propagating a Canadian image that’s nearly as embarrassing as the Vancouver 2010 closing ceremony? To audition for the program, applicants must submit a video of themselves performing one of four iconic song choices: Sundown by Gordon Lightfoot, Run To You by Bryan Adams, Life is a Highway by Tom Cochrane or Black Velvet by Alannah Myles.
In a so-Canadian-it-hurts approach to reality television, Cover Me Canada will start with the nine finalists and move on from there. That’s right: there’ll be none of this, or this, or even this. And what’s the point of watching reality TV that’s not (at least a little) mean?
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Caroline Aksich, a National Magazine Award recipient, is an ex-Montrealer who writes about Toronto’s ever-evolving food scene, real estate and culture for Toronto Life, Fodor’s, Designlines, Canadian Business, Glory Media and Post City. Her work ranges from features on octopus-hunting in the Adriatic to celebrity profiles.
