Adam Prudhomme
Editor
When organizers from Belleville’s Kids Got Talent showed up at Claire Cooper’s door earlier this month, they told the 14-year-old singer from Napanee she’d placed in the top 20.
A little intentional vagueness just to build a bit of suspense.
A few short minutes later and a $1,000 cheque presentation later they informed her she had been named the talent show’s grand award winner.
“I was really surprised because I thought they were just coming to my house to give me a swag bag that they called it,” recalled Cooper. “It was all like congratulations for being in the top 20. Then they came out of the car with this big cheque and I was like ‘what?’ I was so surprised.”
This year marked the second time she had taken part in the talent competition, which also serves as a fundraiser for Belleville’s Safety Village. The talent show was open to contestants between the ages of four to 17 from across the Bay of Quinte Region.
This year Cooper wowed the judges with her rendition of Don’t Rain On My Parade. Due to the pandemic, the competition was held virtually, with contestants submitting videos of their entries from home.
“I’d rather be in front of judges because it feels more real and in the moment,” said Cooper. “Sometimes I can be a bit of a perfectionist so when I record videos I’m like ‘I have to change that’, but when I’m on the stage I’m just in the moment and it feels a lot neater and more exciting.”
When it came time to select a song for the competition she says she drew upon inspiration from the T.V. show Glee, which led her to the popular song from the musical Funny Girl.
“Rachel Berry (a main character from Glee), that’s her favourite musical and song from it,” said Cooper. “I was like this is a really cool song and I want to cover this. Last summer I did a workshop and I had to prepare a song and I chose that one and I just wanted to learn the rest of it so I decided to go with that one because I think it shows a lot of my vocal range and it’s fun to sing.”
Along with Belleville’s Kids Got Talent, Cooper has also been working on an EP of original songs with Elevation Music Studios. She described it as a mix of Pop and R n’ B. More than just a vocalist, she can also play piano, guitar and ukulele.
Prior to the pandemic she appeared on stage as part of Selby Community Theatre’s Community Variety Show. When the pandemic shutdown live theatre, Cooper adapted to taking part in virtual cabaret with Kingston’s Blue Canoe Productions’ High School Musical.
“That one’s super exciting because I was in High School Musical last year but we had to stop because of COVID so we got to do it this year which was really cool,” said Cooper.
Currently in Grade 9 at NDSS, she hopes to one day make a career as a singer. She regularly showcases her talents on her Facebook page Claire Cooper Sings as well on Instagram @clairecooper_sings.