Mitch MacDonald (born October 22, 1985) is a Canadian singer who was runner-up in

season 6 A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and po ...

of the reality series ''

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 ...

''.

Early life

MacDonald is from Port Hood, Nova Scotia on

Cape Breton Island Cape Breton Island (french: link=no, île du Cap-Breton, formerly '; gd, Ceap Breatainn or '; mic, Unamaꞌki) is an island on the Atlantic coast of North America and part of the province of Nova Scotia, Canada. The island accounts for 18. ...

. He grew up in a family of seven siblings. He worked primarily as a carpenter before ''Idol''. He cites his musical influences as including fellow Cape Bretoner

Gordie Sampson Gordon Francis Sampson (born July 30, 1971) is a Canadian singer-songwriter and producer from Big Pond, Nova Scotia. Beginning his career as a performer on his hometown island of Cape Breton, both in bands and on his own, Sampson has gone on to ...

. Bright Eyes is one of his favourite bands.

Canadian Idol

On ''Canadian Idol'' in 2008, MacDonald worked with such artists as

Anne Murray Morna Anne Murray (born June 20, 1945) is a retired Canadian singer. Her albums, consisting primarily of pop, country, and adult contemporary music, have sold over 55 million copies worldwide during her over 40-year career. Murray was the fir ...

Simple Plan Simple Plan is a Canadian rock band from Montreal, Quebec, formed in 1999. The band's lineup consists of Pierre Bouvier (lead vocals, studio bass guitar), Chuck Comeau (drums), Jeff Stinco (lead guitar), and Sébastien Lefebvre (rhythm guita ...

, Gavin Rossdale, and

Tom Jones Tom Jones may refer to: Arts and entertainment *Tom Jones (singer) (born 1940), Welsh singer * Tom Jones (writer) (1928–2023), American librettist and lyricist *''The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling'', a novel by Henry Fielding published in ...

. During his run on ''Idol'', he never appeared in the "bottom two" or "bottom three". Music writer Martha Worboy described MacDonald's music as "tender, mostly acoustic renderings." He received accolades in particular for his rendition of

Joel Plaskett William Joel MacDonald Plaskett (born April 18, 1975) is a Canadian rock musician and songwriter based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He was a member of Halifax alternative rock band Thrush Hermit in the 1990s. Plaskett performs in a number of genres ...

's "Love This Town", which drew comparisons to

Paul Simon Paul Frederic Simon (born October 13, 1941) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and actor whose career has spanned six decades. He is one of the most acclaimed songwriters in popular music, both as a solo artist and as half of folk roc ...

from the judges. Nova Scotia Premier Rodney MacDonald, a musician himself before entering politics, said, "The key to his success throughout the contest was that he remained true to his musical roots."

Performances

Post-Idol

MacDonald toured Canada as part of the Top 3 Tour, with

Theo Tams Theo Tams (born 12 July 1985) is a Canadian singer and the winner of the Canadian Idol (season 6), sixth season of the CTV reality show ''Canadian Idol''. His debut album, ''Give It All Away (Theo Tams album), Give It All Away'', was released on 1 ...

, and

Drew Wright Drew Edward Wright (born October 5, 1979) is a Canadian singer and musician, best known as a top three finalist on the sixth season of ''Canadian Idol''. Early life Wright played in the band while a student at Admiral Collingwood Public School ...

. As of 2010, he continued to tour occasionally, both in his home province and in other parts of Canada, and he started work on an album.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Macdonald, Mitch 1985 births Living people People from Inverness County, Nova Scotia Canadian Idol participants Musicians from Nova Scotia Canadian male guitarists 21st-century Canadian guitarists 21st-century Canadian male singers