Gibsons Sarah Loverock passed another test Wednesday night.
Wednesday was cutdown night as four Can-adian Idol hopefuls were sent packing. Loverock was not among them, as she garnered enough votes to stay alive in the competition for at least another week.
After more than two million votes were cast on Monday and Tuesday, two males and two females were eliminated.
Nathan Brown from Dewbury, Alta., Jeremy Koz from Winnipeg, Man., Valerie Jalbert from Saint-Jerome, Que. and Anna-Belle Oliva from Montreal, Que. all saw their Idol dreams end Wednesday.
Now 18 remain in the hunt for the Idol crown.
Loverock took command of the stage Tuesday night during her performance, singing one of her favourite songs, "Since I Fell for You."
She introduced herself to Canada as the girl from Gibsons, B.C., "the closest place to heaven on earth," as once described by her grandfather.
She said she'd been singing "Since I Fell for You" for a long time.
"It's one of my favourites. I hope everybody likes it. Everyone will like it," she confidently stated with a grin.She was right. Judges praised her performance.
Sass Jordan described it as "a great choice. It showed off all those warm husky overtones in your voice. I thought it was really, really good Sarah."
She was the sixth of 11 female competitors that night, and she raised the bar for singers who up until that time were lacking in some respects.
Loverock was confident and strong and mastered some difficult runs, ending with a beautiful falsetto. With a little attitude and a soulful edge, Loverock was the first to gain praises from every judge.
Zack Werner, likened to American Idol's Simon Cowell, said the performance was good and the song showed off what Loverock is all about.
"You've got great pipes and people will vote for you because of that," he said.
Jake Gold gave more kudos saying, "That was technically the best performance so far tonight."
The fourth Canadian Idol judge, Farley Flex, was absent from the show Tuesday night as he was attending his daughter's Grade 8 graduation.
Loverock seemed pleased with her performance too and said she was very excited to have made it to the top 22 this year, having been cut before the live performance portion of the competition last year.
Host Ben Mulroney noted, "You stepped up your game and you deserve to be here."
The guys will take the stage again on Monday, while the girls, headed by Loverock, take the stage Tuesday. Wednesday will see two more males and two more females eliminated, leaving only 14 in the competition.
For more on Canadian Idol, check out www.ctv.ca.
