Matt Rapley

[IdolCanadien]

Age: 18
Occupation: High School Student
Hometown: Regina, SK
Audition City: Saskatoon, SK
Place of Birth: Calgary, AB
Nickname: Mo Rap
Favourite Song: 'Alabaster Box' by CeCe Winans
Couldn't Live Without: "My cell phone and my bible"
Would Like to Meet: Donnie McClurkin
Motto: "Shoot for the moon because even if you miss you'll land among the stars."

"At first glance, Canadian Idol viewers might expect someone with a deep voice who might not be that confident, but I will surprise them as someone with a high range voice who is entertaining."

Matt is very excited to be part of this year's Top 22 and feels that "the Canadian Idol experience is really great because it allows undiscovered singers to get noticed and make some valuable contacts," he says. "It also allows people to discover traits about themselves that they may not have known existed."

Along with writing music and singing gospel, Matt also enjoys playing basketball, volleyball and doing shot put as well as spending time with his dog Juma. His favourite movie is "Kung Fu Hustle" and "The Oath" is at the top of his reading list. He also cheers for his basketball team of choice, the Denver Nuggets.

Matt credits his family as being his biggest supporters, especially his mother. "She has always pushed me to do something positive with my voice and now I have the opportunity to do so."

The musical personality that Matt would most like to meet would be Donnie McClurkin. "He is a man with an amazing voice and a gift to teach people about music," says Matt. "I am sure if we were to meet he would have a wealth of valuable advice for me as I carry on in my music career."

Matt feels most comfortable when he is behind a piano and doing what he loves best, singing.

CTV.ca | Matt Rapley

[IdolCanadien]

MySpace page for Mr. Rapley:

www.myspace.com/88551223

[canadian_angel]

The article about him in our paper today made him sound like such the sweetheart. I hope he can perform as well as he comes across.

[IdolCanadien]

I enjoyed him during the Toronto boot camp shows and he has a great voice. I haven't noticed a lot of buzz about him on other forums so that might mean his tenure on the show could be short lived.

[scotty2004]

Hey Canadian_angle and Idol Canadien:

This guy put on a performance last night, (July 23), that was so great....audience and judges clapping and on their feet for him. I was just so entertained and thrilled to see and hear him. At that point if the decision were to be made...I would have picked him. I will have to look at the tape to see how the others after him performed. but, if this is the quality of entertainment we are in for...I will be watching.

[Trynity]

Matt was quite impressive last night. Someone finally showed some life on the show this season! Wtg Matt~! Let's hope he can keep this up!

[canadian_angel]

Of course the night I don't watch is the night he seems to nail it down. That's great for him though. He needed to show range and to diversify from what he was doing. I'm so glad that he's showing his worth as being a member of the top 10. I think there were a lot of wonderings if he was worthy of top 10 and it sounds like he proved it last night!

[scotty2004]

I enjoyed him during the Toronto boot camp shows and he has a great voice. I haven't noticed a lot of buzz about him on other forums so that might mean his tenure on the show could be short lived.

There is a lot of buzz about him now...unfortunately everything he does from the moment that he did that song 'Whipping Post' until he either wins or goes home is going to be compared to his great performance of Whipping Post.

Almost every post and article I've read, (and written), about the show this week, compares him to the show last week. I hope that he can pull another great performance out or the hat soon or else people are going to think that the great performance from July 23rd was just a flukie case of luck. He needs to show that he can put on a great performence , not just good, but, great, more than once. He will otherwise be known as that guy who blew the roof off the dump, stole the show, out performed everyone and raised the bar for the entire show ONCE.

It is hard not to compare his performance to that night because it was really so good. He received praise from all the writers in every recap for that performance and it really is unforgettable. So WAKE UP MATT...unless you want to be the...."Remember that guy who did that really good song once"... ...'Whatever happened to him?'.......yeah that guy.

[scotty2004]

When I found out that they were going to be covering Queen for the top 7 show, I thought that Mat would be best off singing "Somebody to Love". Very "Gospel", the only problem I see is how would he be able to make his voice sound like a 100-voice gospel choir? Oh well, I still think that this would be the best chioce for him but the whole group has the same problem finding a song from Queen that can be done without a 100 back-up singers. I have no idea how these kids are going to make 'the song their own' when Queen is so well known and unique. JMHO