The Launch could launch new careers for local artists
New show features a strong group of talent from Hamilton, including Stoney Creek pop-rock band LITEYEARS and Ancaster singer-songwriter Poesy
THE HYPE HAS BEEN BUILDING ever since CTV used Shania Twain and the Grey Cup halftime show to announce it was getting back into the music reality show business with a celebrity-strewn six-episode talent search called “The Launch.”
It may be the biggest thing the Canadian network has done since the glory days of “Canadian Idol” some 10 years ago. (You may remember the three frenzied months of Melomania that overtook Hamilton during hometown favourite Brian Melo’s run for the crown.)
If you have access to cable television you probably know that “The Launch” launches Wednesday, Jan. 10, at 9 p.m. The CTV promotional spots, featuring Shania cheering on hopeful contestants, have been incessant.
You probably also know the show features a bizarre array of guest mentors that includes — besides Shania — Boy George of Culture Club, Fergie of the Black Eyed Peas, Ryan Tedder of OneRepublic, Jennifer Nettles of Sugarland, Nikki Sixx of Mötley Crüe, “Wrecking Ball” songwriter Stephan Moccio and Grammy nominated pop sensation Alessia Cara. (Perhaps they should all break out in a rousing rendition of “We are the World” at the series’ conclusion.)
YOU PROBABLY DON’T KNOW, however, that the show also features a strong contingent of up-and-coming talent from Hamilton, in the form of the Stoney Creek pop-rock band LITEYEARS and Ancaster singersongwriter Poesy, a.k.a. Sarah Botelho.
The two local hopefuls are part of the 30 unsigned Canadian acts selected to compete — five a week over the six hour-long episodes — for the chance to record and release a specially written song and, hopefully, get mega-exposure across the country. The show’s hype sheets boast they were selected from some 10,000 applicants.
“THE LAUNCH” is the brainchild of American music mogul and former “American Idol” mentor Scott Borchetta, the Big Machine Records founder credited with “launching” the career of Taylor Swift. (You’ll see plenty of Borchetta, his leather racing jackets and overly perfect hair on the show, as well.)
Unlike the “Idol” franchise, each episode of “The Launch” will produce its own winner and its own potential hit single. Each week five acts will get up in front of a new celebrity panel and show their stuff. Three will be summarily cut, while the final two head into the studio to record their own version of that week’s chosen single. One will be selected at each episode’s conclusion to “launch” the single nationally.
It’s easy to be cynical about these things — especially if you had to come up with a new Melomania story ever day for three months back in 2007. But you can’t understate the exposure “The Launch” will give each of these up-and-comers. Don’t forget “Canadian Idol” became the launching pad for stars Carly Rae Jepsen (third place in Melo’s winning year) and Hedley frontman Jacob Hoggard (third place, 2004). Melo, by the way, is now working in Nashville with a new group called Apollo’s Crown that also features Hamilton native Victoria Boland.
BRENT WIRTH, lead singer and keyboard player for LITEYEARS, admits the band was a little skeptical when it decided to send a demo video from a recent show at Hamilton’s Zoetic Theatre.
“It seemed like too easy a path, reality TV shows and music contests,” says Wirth, 29. “I guess I had too much pride to do it, but my mom was the one who urged us to follow through with it.”
The shows have been pretaped, but Wirth is sworn to secrecy about the outcome of LITEYEARS’ episode, which airs Jan. 17. He will say, however, that the show gave band members an opportunity to work with one of their idols, OneRepublic’s Ryan Tedder. And, win or lose, there’s all that exposure.
“It gives us immediate connectivity and the ability to reach out to more people than we ever have in our entire lives,” Wirth says. “That’s certainly not a bad thing by any means.”
“For everybody it was good,” adds LITEYEARS drummer Joey Muha, 25. “It’s not an everyday thing or something you expect to happen, to be able to showcase your music in front of Scott Borchetta or Ryan Tedder. Getting feedback from them was something very useful and something we’ve learned from.”
Botelho (Poesy), 23, was a bit overwhelmed when she first stepped on the show’s elaborate stage.
“I felt a little intimidated the moment before I sang just because it was such a big moment in my life, potentially my one shot to show them what you can do,” Botelho says. “But once I started singing, I felt OK.
“I had the pleasure of working with Fergie and Stephan Moccio,” she adds. “I had the opportunity to sing for both of them and they both gave me feedback. It was so cool to even be in the same room with them and have them listen to me sing.”
“I guess I had too much pride to do it, but my mom was the one who urged us to follow through with it.” BRENT WIRTH LEAD SINGER, LITEYEARS