Yellowknife (May 14/04) - The eight competitors for North of 60 Idol have spent the past two weeks pouring over karaoke tracks, trying to find that one song that will put them over the top tomorrow night at the Legion.

Michelle Layes

That melody will be their weapon of choice for the final battle in the karaoke arena.

"The song you choose -- you're going to win or lose with it," said Idol hopeful Mackenzie Pope.

And with the Idol title on the line, along with a handshake from Premier Joe Handley and a trip for two to Nashville, the song selection process is painstaking.

Contestants each sang two songs in their preliminary round, and one more at the semi-finals. Each finalist will sing twice at the Legion on Saturday night.

By Tuesday, Pope had shortlisted half a dozen potential songs, varying from the Goo Goo Dolls to Roy Orbison to Colin James.

"Oh, talk about a headache," said Pope.

During the earlier rounds, the Hay River singer paid close attention to his competitors' performances and the reactions of the crowd and the judges.

Something he has clued in to is the gladiatorial nature of the competition. He's noticed that people who win over the crowd tend to win over the judges, too. His strategy is to come up with a crowd-pleasing performance.

Stephen Pretty already has the audience on his side. Despite being a relative newcomer to Yellowknife (he came up last August when his wife got a teaching job here), Pretty has an enthusiastic following among his fellow Newfoundlanders at the Legion.

Pretty never practises in front of small groups of people, not even in front of his wife. Instead, he sings in the shower or in the car.

"I put the track in the CD player in the car and go driving around Airport Road," said Pretty.

His strategy is to try and do what he does best.

"Some of the other performers have been a little bit country, and I'm a little bit rock and roll," he said. "It sounds corny, but it's the truth."

One of the finalists who is a little bit country is Glenn Butt. And he's is sticking with country -- it's what works for his voice and he's not going to try to be something he's not.

"I'm me and that's it," said Butt.

Butt gets his practising in every Friday night at the Legion when he fills in at the karaoke machine for Bill Chipman. He's so familiar with the karaoke selection he had his songs for the finals picked out as soon as the semi-finals wrapped up.

Butt's powerful baritone stands out in the contest, and he's a crowd favourite at the Legion, but he's not taking anything for granted.

"(I've) got some stiff competition," he said.

But even some of his competitors would vote for him if they could.

"I'm rooting for Glenn," said fellow finalist Julie Simpson.

"When he sang at the semi-finals, I felt like a teenager at a Beatles concert."

Simpson is also a little bit country, but she won't be honouring judge Jim Stratford's request for more Shania Twain.

"He's had his Shania," said Simpson.

But her songs will still be in the western vein. "I like to do my own thing and country's definitely my thing," she said.

Her husband helped select her two songs over the weekend, and now she's just trying to figure out what boots to wear. That selection process will likely be as agonizing as choosing the right song.