Canadian Idol finalist Mitch MacDonald is from Nova Scotia, but one of his biggest fans lives right here in Dundas.

Bernadette Montague is MacDonald's aunt. She moved to Dundas 41 years ago from the small Cape Breton town of Port Hood where MacDonald still lives.

"He's a star in Port Hood now," Montague said about her 22-year-old nephew. "Before they had (hockey great) Al MacInnis. Now they've got Mitch."

Montague returned to Port Hood Thursday for a family funeral and plans to stay through this week's final two episode's of Canadian Idol.

"I think the town is having a big rally for the finale on Wednesday and we'll be going to that for sure," she said.

Tonight at 9, MacDonald and fellow finalist Theo Tams, of Lethbridge, Alta., will square off in an hour-long battle for Idol supremacy, each performing three songs before the phone-lines open for two hours of voting.

The winner will be announced Wednesday night following a star-studded two-hour finale (starting at 9 p.m.) that will include performances by reigning Canadian Idol champion Brian Melo, of Hamilton, and Adam Castelli, another Hamiltonian who made it to the Top 10 this year.

Also on the bill will be international superstar Mariah Carey, R&B Grammy winner John Legend and Canadian rock band Hedley.

One of the songs MacDonald sings tonight will be Where We Begin, a song specially written for the competition.

Should MacDonald win, his recording of the song will be released to radio stations Thursday morning as his first single.

Montague said she has travelled to Toronto three times to watch MacDonald, who works as a carpenter when he's not singing.

She has also been using the redial button on her phone after each of his performance episodes, registering as many votes as possible for her nephew during the two-hour voting window.

"I'm worried it won't be as easy to get through on the line in Nova Scotia," Montague added.

Montague said MacDonald comes from a musical family and that his mother had been a step-dance instructor in Cape Breton.

grockingham@thespec.com

905-526-3331

Here are the top 10 television programs in Canada, with viewer numbers, for the week of Aug. 25-31 from BBM Nielsen Media Research:

1. Canadian Idol (CTV, Monday) -- 1,269,000

2. CTV Evening News (CTV, Monday-Friday) -- 1,177,000

3. C.S.I. New York (CTV, Wednesday) -- 1,134,000

4. Canadian Idol (CTV, Tuesday) -- 1,110,000

5. Bones (Global, Wednesday) -- 1,106,000

6. C.S.I. (CTV, Thursday) -- 1,036,000

7. Criminal Minds (CTV, Wednesday) -- 978,000

8. Law And Order: SVU (CTV, Tuesday) -- 968,000

9. Big Brother 10 (Global, Thursday) -- 935,000

10. C.S.I. Miami (CTV, Monday) -- 925,000