Adam Prudhomme
Editor
Practice and determination paid off for 15-year-old singer Jade Peter, who has been named to the preliminaries of the CNE’s Rising Star Competition.
The Napanee native was selected from thousand of entries down to the final 12 where she’ll compete against singers, dancers, actors, musicians and comedians in the talent show’s youth division, all between the ages of 13-21. She’ll perform in front of a panel of judges during the week of Aug. 19 with the hopes of advancing to the semifinals and ultimately aiming to earn a spot in the finals, Sept. 3 and 4, which will be held in front of thousands of spectators at Enercare Centre during the final weekend of Toronto’s Canadian National Exhibition.
Singing contestants were tasked with submitting a video of themselves singing a cappella as well as a live performance. For her entry Peters performed California Dreamin’.
“I was really shocked because I’ve auditioned a couple times (for the CNE Rising Star) and haven’t gotten in so I was exactly like I’m definitely going to get in,” said Peter. “It was definitely a shock and I was super excited.”
After missing the cut in pervious attempts, getting the call this time around was all the more rewarding for her.
“I feel like I’ve improved more and I’m super happy and excited to finally get to the CNE talent show,” she added.
Lacking opportunities to perform during the pandemic, Peter got creative, hosting a series of virtual fundraising concerts from home over the last two years. As restrictions have eased, she’s been glad to be able to get out in front of an actual audience.
“I’ve been doing a couple of open mics at (Belleville’s) The Bistro 116,” said Peter, noting they’ve made it easy for her to get back into the swing of live performances following the lockdowns. “After COVID no one was performing because obviously you couldn’t. So I’ve been doing a couple of open mics at different places and I’ve actually being doing a couple of musicals in Kingston, which have been fun.”
She’s currently in the cast of Blue Canoe’s Footloose, which is in the middle of a 10-show run at the Kingston Domino Theatre, which shows Aug. 11-13. https://www.kingstongrand.ca/events/footloose-the-musical.
After that she’ll turn her focus back to the CNE’s Rising Star.
Now in its 35th year, previous winners of the talent show include crooner Matt Dusk and choreographer Blake McGrath, who has been featured on So You Think You Can Dance Canada.