Welland singers vying for top prize in CBC competition
Two Welland singers are vying for the top prize in the CBC Music Searchlight 2018 competition.
Jessica Wilson, 22, and Ashlynne Vince, 20, have thrown their hats into CBC Music’s search for “undiscovered talent” and are competing against other singers and songwriters from across the country.
The competition’s web page indicates there are more than 2,000 entries. Voting has opened to help narrow down the numbers.
By March 1, there will only be 100 competitors left — 50 chosen by popular vote and the rest chosen by judges comprising CBC Music producers.
“There’s so much talent in Canada that, honestly, it’s going to be the hardest contest to win or even make the top 100,” Vince said of going up against that much competition.
She said it’s nerve-racking, but also exciting to even make it to the voting stage. It’s her first time entering the competition.
She submitted her song Take Cover, an upbeat country song. She said she chose it because she does a lot of slower ballads and thought people would respond more to something a bit faster paced.
Wilson submitted a pop song from her latest album. Called Invisible Man, she said she chose it because so far it’s the most popular from the record, which she released last summer.
This is the second time Wilson has been in the CBC competition. The first time she entered was five years ago, when entries were then narrowed down by submission area. She said she made it to the top 10 for Hamilton; there was no Niagara category.
“I kind of wanted to take a break and come back really strong because there are industry professionals listening to the songs and I didn’t want them to keep seeing me every year, every year, every year with the same stuff,” she said.
Winning the competition means winning a prize package filled with things meant to push an artist forward in their career: a master class with Allan Slaight of Slaight Music which leads to performing at JunoFest during the 2019 Juno Awards in London; a week-long residency at the National Music Centre in Calgary, Alta., with the opportunity to use its recording studio; a CBC Music Festival performance.
Vince, currently in Nashville, Tenn., honing her craft, has her eye on the Juno prize, saying that she would be “over the moon excited” to have the opportunity to perform at such a venue while sharing the stage with other talented performers.
Wilson, who is no stranger to winning competitions, said she would love to have the chance at being in the National Music Centre’s recording studio.
Both young women said they have much support behind them, which motivates them to keep pursuing their dreams.
Voting takes place at cbcmusic.ca/searchlight, where people can find out more information about the contest, browse or search for artists, and have the opportunity to listen to entries.
Vince and Wilson each have accounts on various social media platforms, where they have been sharing voting links. lbarton@postmedia.com twitter.com/LBartonTribune