Mitch MacDonald is a Canadian singer who was runner-up in season 6

Canadian Idol (season 6)

The sixth season of Canadian Idol is the sixth and final installation of the Idol series in Canada and premiered on June 3, 2008, on the CTV Television Network. It is again hosted by Ben Mulroney, with the addition of Jully Black as a special correspondent and general mentor to the contestants....

 of the reality series Canadian Idol

Canadian Idol

Canadian Idol is a Canadian reality television competition show which aired on CTV, based on the British show Pop Idol. The show was a competition to find the most talented young singer in Canada, and was hosted by Ben Mulroney. Jon Dore was the "roving reporter" for the first three seasons...

.

Early life

MacDonald is from Port Hood, Nova Scotia

Port Hood, Nova Scotia

Port Hood is a seaside community on the west coast of Cape Breton Island and the shire town of Inverness County, Nova Scotia, Canada. Local residents are predominantly English-speaking Roman Catholics, the population core having Highland Scottish ancestry; MacDonalds/MacDonnells mostly...

 on Cape Breton Island

Cape Breton Island

Cape Breton Island is an island on the Atlantic coast of North America. It likely corresponds to the word Breton, the French demonym for Brittany....

. He grew up in a family of seven siblings. He worked primarily as a carpenter before Idol. He cites his musical influences as including fellow Cape Bretoner Gordie Sampson

Gordie Sampson

Gordie Sampson is a singer-songwriter and producer from Big Pond, Nova Scotia, Canada.He has written songs for Carrie Underwood , Martina McBride , LeAnn Rimes , and George Canyon and produced and sound engineered...

. Bright Eyes is one of his favourite bands.

Canadian Idol

On Canadian Idol in 2008, MacDonald worked with such artists as Anne Murray

Anne Murray

Morna Anne Murray CC, ONS is a Canadian singer in pop, country and adult contemporary styles whose albums have sold over 54 million copies....

, Simple Plan

Simple Plan

Simple Plan is a Canadian pop punk band from Montréal, Québec. The band has had no line up changes since its inception in 1999. Members are Pierre Bouvier , Jeff Stinco , Sébastien Lefebvre , David Desrosiers and Chuck Comeau...

, Gavin Rossdale

Gavin Rossdale

Gavin McGregor Rossdale is an English musician, known as the lead singer and rhythm guitarist of the rock band Bush as well as an actor. Following Bush's separation in 2002, which lasted for eight years, he was the lead singer and guitarist for Institute, and later began a solo career. He...

, and Tom Jones

Tom Jones (singer)

Sir Thomas John Woodward, OBE , known by his stage name Tom Jones, is a Welsh singer.Since the mid 1960s, Jones has sung many styles of popular music – pop, rock, R&B, show tunes, country, dance, techno, soul and gospel – and sold over 100 million records...

. During his run on Idol, he never appeared in the "bottom two" or "bottom three".

Music writer Martha Worboy described MacDonald's music as "tender, mostly acoustic renderings." He received accolades in particular for his rendition of Joel Plaskett

Joel Plaskett

Joel Plaskett is a Canadian rock musician originally from Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. He grew up in Halifax, Nova Scotia and now resides across the harbour in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia...

's "Love This Town", which drew comparisons to Paul Simon

Paul Simon

Paul Frederic Simon is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist.Simon is best known for his success, beginning in 1965, as part of the duo Simon & Garfunkel, with musical partner Art Garfunkel. Simon wrote most of the pair's songs, including three that reached number one on the US singles...

 from the judges. Nova Scotia Premier Rodney MacDonald

Rodney MacDonald

Rodney Joseph MacDonald is a Canadian politician, educator and musician who served as the 26th Premier of Nova Scotia from 2006 to 2009 and as MLA for the riding of Inverness in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly from 1999 to 2009....

, a musician himself before entering politics, said, "[T]he key to his success throughout the contest was that he remained true to his musical roots."

Performances

Week	Theme	Mentor	Song	Artist
Semifinal Group 1	Top 24		"Follow Through Follow Through "Follow Through" is a single by Gavin DeGraw released in 2005. It is featured on his 2003 album Chariot.The song has been featured on several television shows, including One Tree Hill and Scrubs and, from 2008-2010, played in the UK and Italian advertisements for Carte D'or.The song peaked at #13... "	Gavin DeGraw Gavin DeGraw Gavin Shane DeGraw is an American musician and singer-songwriter. He is known for his songs "Chariot", "Follow Through", "I Don't Want to Be" , "In Love with a Girl", and "Not Over You".-Early life:DeGraw grew up in the Catskills in South Fallsburg,...
Semifinal Group 2	Top 20		"I'm Yours I'm Yours (Jason Mraz song) "I'm Yours" is the first single released by Jason Mraz from his third studio album We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things. The song was originally released on a limited edition EP called Extra Credit as a demo in 2005 to promote his second studio album Mr. A–Z. It was performed in his 2004 and 2005... "	Jason Mraz Jason Mraz Jason Thomas Mraz , also known as Mr. AZ and Mr. Raz, is an American singer-songwriter. Mraz released his debut album, Waiting for My Rocket to Come, which contained the hit single "The Remedy ", in 2002, but it was not until the release of his second album, "Mr. A-Z", in 2005, that Mraz achieved...
Semifinal Group 2	Top 16		"Blue Tomorrow the Green Grass Tomorrow the Green Grass is an album by the American alternative country and rock band The Jayhawks, released in 1995. It peaked at number 92 on The Billboard 200 charts.-History:... "	The Jayhawks
Top 10	Songs of David Bowie David Bowie David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...		"Moonage Daydream Moonage Daydream "Moonage Daydream" is a song written by David Bowie in 1971 and first released as a single under the name Arnold Corns. A rerecorded version was released in 1972 on the album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars.... "	David Bowie
Top 9	Hits by Dead Artists		"Angel Eyes"	The Jeff Healey Band
Top 8	Week of Unplugged Music	Gavin Rossdale Gavin Rossdale Gavin McGregor Rossdale is an English musician, known as the lead singer and rhythm guitarist of the rock band Bush as well as an actor. Following Bush's separation in 2002, which lasted for eight years, he was the lead singer and guitarist for Institute, and later began a solo career. He...	"Oh, Atlanta"	Alison Krauss Alison Krauss Alison Maria Krauss is an American bluegrass-country singer, songwriter and fiddler. She entered the music industry at an early age, winning local contests by the age of ten and recording for the first time at fourteen. She signed with Rounder Records in 1985 and released her first solo album in...
Top 7	UK Top 10	Tom Jones Tom Jones (singer) Sir Thomas John Woodward, OBE , known by his stage name Tom Jones, is a Welsh singer.Since the mid 1960s, Jones has sung many styles of popular music – pop, rock, R&B, show tunes, country, dance, techno, soul and gospel – and sold over 100 million records...	"Jealous Guy Jealous Guy "Jealous Guy" is a song written and performed by John Lennon which first appeared on his 1971 album Imagine. It is one of the most commonly covered Lennon songs, with at least ninety-two recorded cover versions, the most notable being Roxy Music's version, which reached number one in several... "	John Lennon John Lennon John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
Top 6	Canada Rocks Canadian Rock n' Roll	Simple Plan Simple Plan Simple Plan is a Canadian pop punk band from Montréal, Québec. The band has had no line up changes since its inception in 1999. Members are Pierre Bouvier , Jeff Stinco , Sébastien Lefebvre , David Desrosiers and Chuck Comeau...	"Love This Town"	Joel Plaskett Joel Plaskett Joel Plaskett is a Canadian rock musician originally from Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. He grew up in Halifax, Nova Scotia and now resides across the harbour in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia...
Top 5	Judges' Theme Lennon/McCartney Lennon/McCartney The Lennon–McCartney songwriting partnership is one of the best-known and most successful musical collaborations in history...		"In My Life In My Life "In My Life" is a song by The Beatles written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney . The song originated with Lennon, and while Paul McCartney contributed to the final version, the extent of his contribution is in dispute. George Martin contributed the instrumental bridge... "	The Beatles The Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
Top 4	Music of Anne Murray Anne Murray Morna Anne Murray CC, ONS is a Canadian singer in pop, country and adult contemporary styles whose albums have sold over 54 million copies.... Idol's Choice	Anne Murray	"Cotton Jenny Cotton Jenny "Cotton Jenny" is a single by Canadian country pop artist Anne Murray. The song was written by Gordon Lightfoot, who originally recorded it on his 1971 album Summer Side of Life. Murray's version was released in January 1972 as was the first single from her album Talk It Over in the Morning. It... " "Between the Bars"	Anne Murray Elliott Smith Elliott Smith Steven Paul "Elliott" Smith was an American singer-songwriter and musician. Smith was born in Omaha, Nebraska, raised primarily in Texas, and resided for a significant portion of his life in Portland, Oregon, where he first gained popularity...
Top 3	Songs of Bryan Adams Bryan Adams Bryan Adams, is a Canadian rock singer-songwriter, guitarist, bassist, producer, actor and photographer. Adams has won dozens of awards and nominations, including 20 Juno Awards among 56 nominations. He has also received 15 Grammy Award nominations including a win for Best Song Written...	Bryan Adams	"Heat of the Night" "When You Love Someone"	Bryan Adams
Top 2	Idol's Choice Idol Single Judges' Choice	John Legend John Legend John Roger Stephens , better known by his stage name John Legend, is an American singer, musician, and actor. He is the recipient of nine Grammy Awards, and in 2007, he received the special Starlight award from the Songwriters Hall of Fame.Prior to the release of his debut album, Stephens' career... Hedley Hedley (band) Hedley is a Canadian pop rock band comprising lead singer Jacob Hoggard, Tommy Mac on bass, Dave Rosin on lead guitar and Chris Crippin on drums. The current band retains the original name of Hoggard's pre-Canadian Idol group, although the membership has changed. The band originated in Abbotsford,...	"Paris" "Where We Begin" "If If (Bread song) "If" is a song written by American singer-songwriter David Gates in 1971. Originally popularized by his group Bread, the song charted at number four on the Billboard Hot 100 when released as a single in 1971. The song also spent three weeks at number one on the Easy Listening chart... "	Gordie Sampson Gordie Sampson Gordie Sampson is a singer-songwriter and producer from Big Pond, Nova Scotia, Canada.He has written songs for Carrie Underwood , Martina McBride , LeAnn Rimes , and George Canyon and produced and sound engineered... Mitch MacDonald Bread Bread (band) Bread was a rock band from Los Angeles, California. They placed 13 songs on the Billboard Hot 100 chart between 1970 and 1977 and were a prime example of what later was labeled soft rock....

Post-Idol

MacDonald toured Canada as part of the Top 3 Tour tour, with Theo Tams

Theo Tams

Theo Tams is a Canadian singer and the winner of the sixth season of the CTV reality show Canadian Idol. His debut album, Give It All Away, was released on 19 May 2009 by Sony Music Canada.-Early life:...

, and Drew Wright

Drew Wright

Drew Edward Wright is a Canadian who is best known for being a top three finalist on the sixth season of Canadian Idol.-Early life:...

.

As of 2010, he continued to tour occasionally, both in his home province and in other parts of Canada, and he started work on an album.