Toronto, ON (September 6, 2005) – CTV announced today that Canadian supergroup Barenaked Ladies will perform live on the two-hour Canadian Idol finale Sept. 14.

Tickets for the show go on sale this Friday, Sept. 9 at 12 noon ET at Ticketmaster. The announcement comes in advance of tonight's Canadian Idol episode which is dedicated to the music of the chart-topping Canadian icons. As Canadian Idol gathers momentum for next week's finale, CTV also confirmed today that last year's Top Three Canadian Idol finalists will perform live on the last three shows of the season. Finally, CTV announced today that next week's final Top Two performance episode, airing Tuesday, Sept. 13 at 8 p.m. ET, will be expanded to 90 minutes.

With sales of over 10 million CDs around the world, Barenaked Ladies are true Canadian idols. Now, after work-shopping with the Juno-winning and Grammy -nominated quintet last week, the Top Three perform two songs each from BNL's extensive songbook on tonight's second-last performance episode. The band will be in the Canadian Idol audience tonight, but will perform their hit song "One Week" live in next week's climactic finale.

On tomorrow night's Results Show (Sept. 7), Season Two Top Three finalist Jacob Hoggard makes his long-awaited return to the Canadian Idol stage with his band Hedley. The group will perform their new single "On My Own," which recently entered Nielsen's SoundScan Singles Chart at Number One. Hedley's self-titled debut CD is being released today by Universal Music Canada.

On next Tuesday's expanded 90-minute Canadian Idol performance episode (Sept. 13), Season Two runner-up Theresa Sokyrka makes a special guest appearance and performs a song from her debut CD These Old Charms. Distributed by Maple Music, the CD has gone Gold in Canada and debuted just behind Bruce Springsteen when it was released in April. Saskatchewan's Centennial 2005 Youth Ambassador, Sokyrka has made hundreds of appearances over the past year and has sold out shows across the country.

In addition to the Barenaked Ladies, 2004 Canadian Idol winner Kalan Porter will perform live in the two-hour Canadian Idol season finale, airing Wednesday, Sept. 14 at 8 p.m. ET on CTV. The double-platinum selling artist takes a break from his non-stop touring schedule to return to the Idol stage with this band. The finale will also feature the return of the 2005 Canadian Idol Top 10 who will also perform in the celebration leading up to the crowning of the next Idol champion.

Out of thousands who auditioned, only three remain in the hunt for Canada's next Canadian Idol. Representing Western, Central and Eastern Canada, the three remaining finalists are: Rex Goudie, 19, Burlington, NL; Melissa O'Neil, 17, Calgary, AB; and Aaron Walpole, 26, St. Thomas, ON. One will be eliminated in tomorrow night's live results show, airing at 7:30 p.m. in all markets on CTV.

Tickets to Canadian Idol's final performance and results show will go on sale this Friday, Sept. 9 at 12 noon at all Ticketmaster outlets, online at www.ticketmaster.ca or by telephone (check local listings). Rush tickets will also available to the most enthusiastic fans showing up at the John Bassett Theatre two hours before show time. Visit idol.ctv.ca for more information.