Theresa is No. 2 in "Canadian Idol," but No. 1 in Saskatoon (09/26/04)

Theresa is No. 2 in "Canadian Idol," but No. 1 in Saskatoon

by Albert Kachkowski

SASKATOON - An estimated 5,000 Theresa Sokyrka fans, many carrying colorful homemade signs, filed into Credit Union Center (formerly Saskatchewan Place) here on September 16 to view the two-hour final show of "Canadian Idol" on two giant screens.

And, though their hometown favorite ultimately wound up in second place in the competition - 18-year-old Kalan Porter of Medicine Hat, Alberta, was crowned "Canadian Idol" - fans were proud of what Ms. Sokyrka had accomplished.

Family and friends were privileged to occupy a preferred seating section in the first 20 rows directly in front of the screens. Every time Ms. Sokyrka, one of two finalists in the "Canadian Idol" competition, appeared, the cheers from the largely teenage crowd was deafening.

The StarPhoenix said the following about the atmosphere: "The sight of Sokyrka on the big screens continually evoked ear-splitting screaming, clapping and cheering and some fans jumped out of their seats to get a better look at the hometown hero. At times, Credit Union Center took on a New Year's atmosphere as fans carried balloons, blew horns, threw confetti and did the wave."

Needless to say, the few times that the Saskatoon audience was cut into the national telecast the noise was even more deafening.

Ksenya Foly, a close friend of the Sokyrka family, was interviewed on both the national telecast and by local media covering the show for news purposes. From the news coverage we learned that both the premier of Saskatchewan, Lorne Calvert, and the federal minister of finance, Ralph Goodale of Regina, were at the Toronto show.

The following day the Saskatchewan media was full of interviews and phone-in shows with Ms. Sokyrka. Reportedly she was busy traveling about Toronto to do about 25 interviews with various media, some of them over her cell phone, when she was off schedule. All of this was done on one and a half hours of sleep because of the length of the after-party following the show.

The Saskatoon daily newspaper published a full-page color poster of the young girl everyone knows as Theresa. This writer listened to the half-hour visit with Theresa on province-wide CBC radio. Callers and subsequent reports revealed that a thorough cross-section of people were tuned in, including many elementary school classes with their teachers. The glowing praises for Ms. Sokyrka's accomplishment were an indicator of the obvious pride she generated among Saskatchewan citizens.

Following are approximations of what some of the callers said.

One caller was from the Thunderchild First Nations Reserve, "We support you and wish you well, especially the people at Thunderchild."

Another caller, with obvious difficulty, uttered a couple of phrases in Ukrainian, "Faina divchyna. Duzhe dobre" (A fine girl. Very good), to which Theresa replied "Duzhe diakuyu!" (Thank you).

A caller from near Regina said, "You've done more for the Ukrainian community than anyone. You're so sweet! You brought our whole family to tears!"

Yet another caller asked, "Do you know how much power you have? You united this whole province! You made us forget about the crappy weather, the economy, the health care system and the Roughriders while inspiring us with your wonderful voice and personality."

On Saturday, the second day after the show, the headline in the paper was "Theresa plans move to TO."

It is clear that Theresa has made an impact on the city of Saskatoon and the province of Saskatchewan. She is expected to come home in a couple of weeks.

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An estimated 3.3 million viewers watched the final of the "Canadian Idol" contest that aired last week. A total of 3.6 million votes were cast in the final round of the competition, which wrapped up a 34-episode season. Nearly 9,000 auditioned for the show back in February, March and April, and 155 hopefuls were chosen for a trip to Toronto for the quarterfinal auditions. TV audiences got to vote for their favorite would-be idol when the field was narrowed down to 32.

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