After a whirlwind tour across the country, Canadian Idol finally unveiled some of its unique musical finds as discovered in the western cities of Vancouver, Calgary, Saskatoon, Whitehorse and Winnipeg.

All are vying for space on the top shelf now occupied by last year's winner and current heartthrob, Kalan Porter. But before any of these eager hopefuls move in on Porter's hard-earned spot, they must prove themselves worthy to Idol's frank and fearless foursome.

That's right. The Canadian Idol judges are back and they're more picky than ever.

Farley Flex returns as the master of metaphors. "You've got two toolboxes but you're scared to put the right thing in the wrong box kind of thing."

Jake Gold is still looking for feeling. "Music is a spontaneous medium. You can't learn that, you have to feel it and right now, I don't feel anything from you."

As for Sass Jordan, she knows what she likes and if you don't have it, she'll tell you. "It's not you. It's your voice."

And Zack Werner, well, he's just waiting for the massacre to begin. "Let's make with the atrocities, shall we?"

With judges like these, it's no wonder some Idol wannabes are resorting to sheer acts of desperation.

Vancouver's Julia Lockley got a little help from a stuffed furry friend as she sang Captain and Tennille's duet, "Love Will Keep Us Together," with her teddy bear, Boo Boo. Too bad their vocal blending still couldn't win the judges over.

If "cute" isn't going to cut it, then how about plain old perseverance?

With two strikes on her scorecard, one from Season One and another from last year, 18-year-old Chelsea Johnson finally hit it out of the ballpark with her rendition of "Summertime".

"I don't know how bad you were or whatever, but I think you're absolutely wonderful," Werner said. The teary-eyed teen can now pack her bags for Toronto.

Vancouver's sunny skies wouldn't last long, however. From whimsical breathy singing to a bad Britney Spears cover, singer after singer continued to bring gloom into the audition room.

That is, until Suzi Rawn came a-thunderin' in with her take on Amanda Marshall's "Let it Rain". The petite lead singer of King Size Suzi, a rock band based in Kamloops, got an "I'll sign you" endorsement from Werner. Gold said the show needed female rock singers and told her to pick up her gold ticket.

All in all, 17 of Vancouver's brightest got the golden nod of approval and are headed to Toronto.

Next on the Idol trail is the home of the Stampede and the 1988 Olympics -- Calgary --where host Ben Mulroney and comedic correspondent Jon Dore tried to blend in with the locals wearing cowboy hats, boots, neckerchiefs and boxers.

Inside the audition room, Brandon Kowalczyk tried to impress with his high-soaring "Rocket Man" rendition but crashed.

Cowboy Richard Morrison, dressed in Johnny Cash-black, also failed to round up any support from the judges.

With the guys falling short, Calgary cranked up its girl power starting with 22-year-old Jenn Beaupre from Drumheller.

Her stylized version of "I Can See Clearly Now" prompted an Alanis Morrisette comparison from Werner, approvals from the other judges and a ticket to the next round of competition.

For 18-year-old Raven Spier, who said she's used to singing behind her guitar, trying out for Canadian Idol could give her the opportunity to break out of her shell.

Without the help of her acoustic instrument, the heavy metal fan took on a Loreena McKennit song and won the praises of Jordan and Flex who described her voice as "heavenly."

After Spier's stirring audition, it was time for Amanda Marles to shake things up, literally. The Swan Hills' teen tried to control her shaky knees and fingers as she performed Lesley Gore's "It's My Party".

Jordan warned that she'd be doing a lot more shaking with more auditions ahead of her in Toronto.

All together, Canadian Idol rounded up a total of 24 contenders all eager to join fellow Albertan Kalan Porter in the Idol hall of fame.

From one prairie province to another, Canadian Idol rolled into Saskatoon hoping to tap into its talent pool, which already includes last year's Top 2 finalist Theresa Sokyrka.

But before reaching the depths of talent, the judges must wade through waters infested with singers like Darren Kalaman, whose Sound of Music ode barely resembled any notes and Anthony Yuzwa, whose version of the over-played Etta James song, "At Last" may just rank as one of the best of the worst renditions ever heard.

Meanwhile, Moose Jaw's Meredith Shareski's cool and calm "Stormy Weather" quickly turned into uncontrollable frenzy after receiving a gold ticket.

But these Toronto-bound singers aren't the only ones living out their dreams. Idol's own comedic correspondent also got to live out his with Saskatoon's singing production assistants, who just happen to be members of the Magic City Chorus. With a red-sequin blouse and head full of gray hair, Dore sang and danced with the chorus and fit right in with the ladies.

Fourteen more aspiring singers are one step closer to achieving their dreams of stardom as they make their way to the Top 100 round of auditions.

No tour would be complete without a trek to Canada's most westerly city of Whitehorse, Yukon. With Dore in the dog-sled, Idol's search team hunted down potential gold-ticket candidates during the town's annual Rendezvous Sourdough Festival.

Amidst all the festivities, including a log-sawwing event and a chainsaw-chucking competition, the Canadian Idol team rounded up three aspiring singers who'll be making their way to Winnipeg to audition before the judges.

After a quick jaunt in Whitehorse, the search made its way to the country's geographical centre in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

With the 'Peg's history steeped in rock and roll, high-octane hopefuls such as Matt Cairns came out to impress the judges.

The 21-year-old Winnipegger cranked up the voltage on Edwin McCain's "I'll Be," and sold Gold and the other judges on his syrup-free version.

Pascal Boivert tried to show the judges his versatility, or is it his alter ego? From his soft, tone-deaf rendition of Five for Fighting's "Superman", the 17-year-old switched to an equally tone-deaf but manic take on a Billy Talent song.

Meanwhile, Robert Perrier's "You Raise Me Up" was just enough to bring a tear to his grandmother's eyes and enough to send him away with a ticket to Toronto.

Rounding out the repertoire of male ballads, Thunder Bay's Spencer Hari was able to impress some of the judges without the hard-edged vocals. Instead, his schmaltzy Vegas-inspired routine of Tom Jones' "Delilah" made a fan out of Gold.

"Potentially, if you clean up some of the schmaltz, you could go far because you've got a really great voice and you've got charisma," the judge said.

With 18 gold-ticket winners in Winnipeg, the western leg of the tour came to an end, but not without some parting words of consolation from the host.

"If you didn't make it all the way to the gold-ticket finals, don't be too hard on yourself, because no matter who you are or where you're from, if you auditioned for us and you gave it your all, we will never forget you."

Next on Canadian Idol: The Tour heads east and hunts for talent in St. John's, Charlottetown, Sydney, Moncton and Montreal.