Jenny Gear (born April 23, 1982) is a Canadian singer and former

Canadian Idol ''Canadian Idol'' is a Canadian reality television competition show which aired on CTV, based on the British show ''Pop Idol''. The show was a competition to find the most talented young singer in Canada, and was hosted by Ben Mulroney. Jon Dore ...

contestant.

On Canadian Idol

Gear auditioned for Season One of

in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador in 2003, bringing the panel of judges (which included

Jake Gold Jake Gold (born April 4, 1958) is an American-born Canadian music manager. He was a judge on the ''Canadian Idol'' television program. In addition to ''Idol'' participants, he has managed Canadian artists The Tragically Hip, The Watchmen, The C ...

Sass Jordan Sass Jordan (c. 1962) is a British-born Canadian rock singer from Montreal, Quebec. Her first single, "Tell Somebody," from her debut album of the same name won the Juno Award for Most Promising Female Vocalist in 1989. Since then, she has been ...

Farley Flex Farley Flex (born Farley Fridal, August 9, 1962) is a Media Consultant, promoter (entertainment), music promoter, talent manager, artist manager, and motivational speaker. He is best known for being a judge on the reality television series ''Canad ...

and

Zach Werner Isaac "Zack" Werner is a Canadian artist, producer, entertainment lawyer and manager. Early life and education Born in Winnipeg in 1960, Werner attended the St. John's-Ravenscourt School. He received a B.A. from the University of Minnesota and ...

) to tears with her rendition of " God Bless the Child". She next completed the

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

rounds and earned herself a spot in the semi-finals. There, she performed "Tower Of Song" by

Leonard Cohen Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934November 7, 2016) was a Canadian singer-songwriter, poet and novelist. His work explored religion, politics, isolation, depression, sexuality, loss, death, and romantic relationships. He was inducted in ...

and received mixed reviews from the judges. Some of the judges' comments include "In true Newfoundland style I can't help but feel that you are slightly a fish out of water in all of this," from

and "When I get a sense you're enjoying yourself, I enjoy myself. And that's all it boils down to," from

. The next night, she garnered enough votes to earn herself the fifth seat in the Top 11. On August 4, the Top 11 performed Canadian hits. Gear excelled with her version of

Sarah McLachlan Sarah Ann McLachlan Order of Canada, OC Order of British Columbia, OBC (born January 28, 1968) is a Canadian singer-songwriter. As of 2015, she had sold over 40 million albums worldwide. McLachlan's best-selling album to date is ''Surfacing ( ...

's "

Possession Possession may refer to: Law * Dependent territory, an area of land over which another country exercises sovereignty, but which does not have the full right of participation in that country's governance * Drug possession, a crime * Ownership * ...

", showing off her incredible range and pitch-perfect control, and after all the voting, was safe from elimination. Some of the judges' comments include "You do put the Canadian in Canadian Idol," from

and "It never fails to amaze me the amount of control you have when you're singing. This unbelievably emotional stuff," from

. The next theme,

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, proved to be a challenge for Gear. She sang "Sir Duke" by

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, Pop musi ...

and although she received mediocre comments from the judges, she was safe and without a trip to the bottom three. Some of the judges' comments include "This girl can really sing," from Zach Werner and "You get up there and you just have this vibe about you, and you be Jenny. You can't judge Jenny Gear. It's just impossible," from

. For the Top 6, Jenny performed an amazing rendition of " Summertime" and remained safe from elimination. Some of the judges' comments include "Jenny, that was a really beautiful interpretation," from Sass Jordan and "Jenny I gotta say, I feel vindicated. You've just shown Canada what we first saw in St. John's. That was riveting," from

. The next theme night was

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...

and Jenny chose to sing "Rocket Man." Her performance earned her a mediocre response from the judges with comments that included "With the song selection and the arrangement and how level your performance was it was sort of like the words you don't want to hear your surgeon say... whoops," from

and "I think you took a song that's extremely hard to sing and you did a damn fine job," from

. The next night, she had her first and last trip to the bottom two along with eventual

winner

Ryan Malcolm Ryan Michael Malcolm (born October 13, 1979) is a Canadian singer and realtor best known as the winner of the first season of ''Canadian Idol''. In 2003, he released his debut solo album ''Home'' which was certified Platinum in Canada. In 2006, M ...

. When the results were announced the crowd was shocked to find Jenny eliminated.

Post-''Idol''

After the show, Idol judge

signed Gear to his talent agency, but they eventually parted ways due to creative differences. Jenny Gear's debut album "Jenny Gear and The Whiskey Kittens", which was recorded entirely in her grandmother's kitchen, was actually recorded before she appeared on Idol. The CD was released in late 2004 and has been the top seller on Atlantic Music Online for the last two and a half years. She has appeared on many TV shows including "

Breakfast Television Breakfast television (Europe, Canada, and Australia) or morning show (United States) is a type of news or infotainment television programme that broadcasts live in the morning (typically scheduled between 5:00 and 10:00a.m., or if it is a ...

", "

MuchMusic Much (an abbreviation for its full name MuchMusic) is a Canadian English language specialty channel owned by BCE Inc. through its Bell Media subsidiary that airs programming aimed at teenagers and young adults. MuchMusic launched on August 31 ...

's Going Coastal", " Live at 5", and "Out of the Fog"." She also appeared in her own special on CBC in 2004 before the release of her album. Jenny Gear is currently playing clubs around the St. John's area and working on her 2nd CD.

Jenny Gear and The Whiskey Kittens

Jenny Gear and The Whiskey Kittens, the band on Jenny's first CD, are no longer performing together. Most of the members are now pursuing solo careers. Accompanying Jenny at most of her gigs lately is the well known St. John's guitarist Sandy Morris.

Singles

Trivia

* Jenny Gear appears in the

Great Big Sea Great Big Sea was a Canadian folk rock band from Newfoundland and Labrador, best known for performing energetic rock interpretations of traditional Newfoundland folk songs including sea shanties, which draw from the island's 500-year Irish, Scot ...

video for "Captain Kidd" from ''The Hard and the Easy'' album.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gear, Jenny Canadian Idol participants Musicians from Newfoundland and Labrador Living people 1982 births