WARNING AND SPOILER ALERT: Do not read this posting unless you want to learn or already know the identity of the second season winner of Bathroom Divas.
The end of the last episode left us with Phil, Paul, and Elaine awaiting their fate after having sung for judges Mary Lou Fallis, Liz Upchurch, Daniel Lichti, and Tom Diamond along with guest judges Catherine Robbin and Yves Abel.
The season finale, rather than picking up from this point, started with a review of the entire 2nd season to date.
We then saw Phillip Holmes at home in Shawville, Quebec--singing on a landscaping job while operating a bulldozer, teaching a young piano student, and singing around the campfire with his buddies.
Visiting Elaine in Calgary, we find that her singing was often sidelined in an earlier unhappy marriage and only recently did she return to operatic singing. Celebrated Calgary voice teacher Elaine Higgin Case made a cameo appearance talking about Elaine's progress.
Next, Paul sings while doing his job as a crane operator on a construction site. At the Hamilton Conservatory Paul has a lesson with Roland Fix, who comments on his progress. We also see him at home with his family in Hamilton.
Back to the final vote-off...
Phil was eliminated, leaving only Paul and Elaine left.
Elaine Hefferton Brown was then announced as the winner of the second season of Bathroom Divas.
Returning to Toronto, Elaine continues her coaching (and stays alone at the house this time) with Mary Lou and Liz, working on "Io son l'umile ancella" from Cilea's Adriana Lecouvreur. For her final coaching, she works with Tom Diamond at the Royal Conservatory (with Nicole Bellamy at the piano), later joined by Liz Upchurch.
In Vancouver, Elaine rehearses with Bramwell Tovey prior to her rehearsal with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra in the Orpheum Theatre. Before going out for her performance, she is joined by the four judges for a few last words. At last, finally, we see an entire aria on the show, beautifully filmed with shots of the judges, VSO players, and the other 5 singers, flown out for the occasion. This final performance was probably the highlight of the first two years of the show for me. After documentary-style footage for nearly the entire series, it was refreshing to hear Elaine's "Io son l'humile ancella" in its entirety.
Sorry, I don't have any kind of blog comment ID to login with. But I have to say, after the final decision I was stunned. Phil was robbed. If it makes the judges feel like human beings to give an unlikeable elderly could-have-maybe-been a chance, as opposed to someone with real talent who could actually use this as a springboard, well, more power to them. Then again, we're talking about Canadian fine arts here...which is sort of like bragging about English cuisine.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment. Competitions....I've always found them so subjective. It might make you feel a bit better if I shared what I told Laura, Elaine, Paul, and Phil in the week prior to the final vote-off:
ReplyDeleteThe competition is only one stage of a much longer process, and that whoever integrated their training the most and ran with the ball the farthest after the show was finished (regardless of who won) would be the one to be successful in the long run (which is what it's about anyway).
From that criteria, it seems that Laura Landauer is the one singer who has done the most with her career of the six Season 2 finalists--steady work, a one-woman show, a string of videos on YouTube, etc.
Personally, I believe any of the three would have been outstanding performing with the symphony orchestra. I also was a fan of Phil's voice. But I also loved Paul's charisma and performance. As for Elaine, I felt she had one of the most beautiful voices I have heard. If it DID come down to a question of age, it allowed her to have her one glorious moment in the sun. What's wrong with that? Paul and Philip can still pursue their dreams - if they do indeed want them. I would love to know what Paul is doing now. I have been able to find SOME information on the net about the other 3 of the 4 semi-finalists. If Paul and Philip take this as a setback rather than the beginning of a marvelous career, then they just wasted the opportunity given to them with all master classes and training given them in the house. I hope this won't be the case.
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