Fort Liard (Mar 14/05) - At the end of February, the North of 60 Idol winner drove to Whitehorse to audition for Canadian Idol.

The 26-year-old wasn't pinning all her hopes and dreams on the competition, but when she was told she did not make the cut, "there were some tears."

Fawn Fritzen of Fort Liard didn't have the pop sound the Whitehorse judges were looking for. - NNSL file photo

"I was disappointed," said Fritzen, who won her crown last fall at the Royal Canadian Legion in Yellowknife. "I was more upset than I thought I would be. She was one of roughly 40 people who were in the Yukon capital for the only Northern stop on the Canadian Idol tour.

Fritzen said she was nervous when she was called into a room with several executive producers in what was billed as a pre-audition.

"It was a little daunting. Not like performing at the Legion," she said.

Fritzen prepared two songs for the audition, Someone Else's Story - a ballad from the musical Chess, and a jazz number - You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To.

But since Canadian Idol focuses mainly on pop sounds, the judges asked her to choose one more song and kick it up a notch. The only song she could think of off the top of her head was Reason to Believe, the Wilson Phillips remake of the Rod Stewart tune. They had her sing it twice.

Ultimately, Fritzen did not qualify for an audition in Winnipeg in front of the TV judges and, unfortunately for her fans, the Whitehorse auditions will not be televised.

Despite the setback, Fritzen said the experience was a good one.

"I just went for fun, so my expectations were not too high," she said. "I thought to myself, If I don't try, I might regret it." It also helped ease a nagging feeling of, "what if?"

Fritzen plans to continue with her music career part-time. She's still teaching the only piano student in Fort Liard. She will perform at Caribou Carnival in Yellowknife the third week of March and hopes to record a CD with studio time she won at the North of 60 Idol competition.

"Who knows?" she said. "There might be something else that comes along."

- with files from Jennifer Geens