Newest Star Showdown champ is 7 years old
Move over Michael Bublé, there’s a new jazz star in town and he comes in a small, seven-year-old package.
Port Moody’s Elias Tyson Venegas was the champion of this year’s PNE Star Showdown, which helped launch the careers of Bublé and pop artist Carly Rae Jepsen.
Elias’ soulful rendition of the popular jazz song Route 66 endeared him to the crowd and the judges.
“We were just beyond the moon when Elias won,” said mom Iris Samson. “We’re still so amazed at it all, especially since he’s so young.”
According to his mom, Elias started singing when he was only two years old.
His parents would sing him to sleep with lullabies and after, he would sing back different versions of songs like Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.
“He’s so musically inclined but he definitely doesn’t get it from his father and me,” said Samson, laughing. “I think it’s just really a God-given talent.”
Though he’s been singing for years, it wasn’t until last fall that Elias started taking voice lessons.
Ever the musician, the first thing he does every morning is practise singing or play the drums and the piano.
The seven-year-old crooner is ecstatic about winning but according to him, nothing can top the experience of meeting Bublé, his longtime idol.
“I feel awesome about it,” Elias said. “But the best part was seeing Michael Bublé in person.”
Just as Elias was being crowned as the Star Showdown’s champion and awarded the $5,000 cash prize, Bublé made a surprise appearance and congratulated him. This surprise encounter, however, wasn’t the first the young singer had with his hero.
When he was five, Elias’ parents took him to a Bublé concert. Just after wrapping up a set, the artist pointed to Elias and said, “Hey, you kid,” and threw his towel at the toddler.
Ever since then, Bublé has been Elias’s inspiration. To this day, he keeps Bublé’s towel in his closet as if it was a treasure.
Though only going into Grade 3, Elias said he knows that he wants to build a career as a performer.
One of his goals is to sing alongside his idol.
“I’m going to keep singing when I grow up,” Elias said. “And it would be really cool if I can perform with him (Bublé) one day.”