Toronto, ON – As American Idol makes its long-awaited return to television tonight, CTV announced today further details about the upcoming cross-country, musician-friendly search for the next Canadian Idol. In addition to releasing audition venue information, the network also confirmed today that the tour will now begin Feb. 3-4 in Vancouver, one week later than previously announced, allowing prospective competitors additional time to prepare for the auditions.

With the 10-city audition tour now kicking off in less than three weeks on the West coast, full details about how, where and when to audition are now available on the Canadian Idol website at idol.ctv.ca.

As previously announced, for the first time in North America competitors can audition while playing musical instruments. Like last year, the 2007 Canadian Idol �Easy-Access� tour makes it easier than ever to audition. There is no need to line up as competitors can arrive any time between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. on each day of the auditions. As well, almost all of the auditions are scheduled on weekends and most of the auditions will be held at malls.

The auditions will be held at the following venues (all information subject to change):

City Dates Venues

Vancouver, BC February 3-4 Metropolis at Metrotown

Calgary, AB February 10 – 11 Southcentre Mall

Saskatoon, SK February 17 – 18 Market Mall

Winnipeg, MB February 24 – 25 Portage Place

London, ON March 3 – 4 White Oaks Mall

Montreal, QC March 10 – 11 Triplex/Old Montreal Forum

Ottawa, ON March 17 – 18 St-Laurent Centre

Halifax, NS March 24 – 25 Halifax Shopping Centre

St. John�s, NL April 4 Village Shopping Centre

Toronto, ON Starting April 11 TBC

Auditions for Canadian Idol are open to all Canadians between the ages of 16 and 28 (inclusive) as of February 1, 2007. Prospective competitors are encouraged to visit the Canadian Idol website, www.idol.ctv.ca, where they can download and complete a Regional Release Form which is required to audition (Release Forms will also be available at the auditions).

As of today, applicants can also find on the website Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs), audition tips, and the complete rules and regulations. The best resource for competitors is the Forums section, where applicants can learn valuable information and advice from previous hopefuls. Finally, competitors subscribing to the Canadian Idol newsletter will receive frequent e-mail updates about the auditions.

Those planning to audition should note that:

Applicants must be Canadian Citizens or Landed Immigrants.

All competitors must be legally eligible to work in Canada.

Two pieces of ID (i.e. birth certificate, drivers license, passport etc.) including recent photo ID must be presented at the audition.

Applicants under the age of majority in their province must bring the Regional Release Form, available online, signed by their parent or guardian.

Applicants are ineligible if they are under contract for any entertainment related talent (including modeling). Applicants must be able to travel freely around the world.

Applicants should be prepared to sing two songs, either a capella or accompanied by a musical instrument played by the applicant during the audition.

Applicants should be prepared to spend several days in the audition process if they move forward in the competition.

Applicants will be processed on a first-come, first-seen basis. Registration begins at 8 a.m. and continues throughout the day: all applicants who arrive by 4 p.m. on the audition days are guaranteed to be seen.

Featuring host Ben Mulroney and judges Farley Flex, Jake Gold, Sass Jordan and Zack Werner, Season 5 of Canadian Idol returns to CTV this June, building on the success of the series� fourth season. After a record 12,000 auditions kicked off the fourth edition of the series, Season 4 ended with an astonishing 36.4 million votes cast by viewers – more than one for every man, woman and child in the country. Season 4 reached 55 per cent of the English Canadian population, meaning that one out of every two people in the country watched some part of the series last summer.

TORONTO, Sept. 14 /CNW/ – Is it Craig or Eva? This year’s Canadian Idol champion has won by a nose in the closest vote ever, CTV announced today as preparations continue for this Sunday’s blockbuster season finale. With three days still to go before the winner is revealed, CTV is taking advantage of the opportunity to reveal voting data from Monday’s final vote that demonstrates it’s a horserace like never before. And unlike most federal elections, the West, for once, has had the final say, playing king-maker – or queen-maker – in Canada’s biggest popular vote this year.

By the time the eastern voting window closed at 11 p.m. EDT following Canadian Idol’s final performance episode on Monday, votes for Top 2 competitors Eva Avila and Craig Sharpe had resulted in a virtual tie. It was votes from Western Canada during the second voting window that determined the winner, with Sunday’s eventual champ edging out the runner-up by only 131,000

votes out of a total of nearly four million cast, a margin of just 3.3 per cent. The identity of the winner still remains a closely-guarded secret, secured in a sealed envelope under lock and key until Sunday night’s show.