Boulou Ebanda de b Béri & Ruth Middlebrook

Canadian journal of communication , Vol. 34, n° 1, 2009

Region, nation, and Canadian Idol

This article is about the 2006 season of the reality television show Canadian Idol, and the manufacture of the canadian identity. This analysis focuses specifically on how the canadian identity has been articulated in the production of the show, the judges ' comments to the candidates, the comments in the press releases and discussions of the viewers on the bulletin board to accompany the show. Of B Béri and Middlebrook argue that the program produced a version of the canadian identity, which supports a logic of regional difference, with a key point of distinction between the Canadian urban and non-urban. However, this representation is broken by the debates of the viewers on their sense of canadian identity.