2 Vaughan hopefuls gear up for The Ex's Rising Star competition
YorkRegion.com
July 31, 2014
By Adam Martin-Robbins
Two battle-tested acts will represent Vaughan at Canadian National Exhibition’s annual Rising Star Competition this year.
Thornhill singer/songwriter Liron Menahem is hoping for better results than last year when she squares off against other contenders in the Youth Rising Star category of the annual competition, which often attracts top talent.
In 2013, Liron bested dozens of young performers to make it to the preliminary round, but then she developed a really bad cold and didn’t make it through to the semi-finals.
“When I went on stage there was a lot of breakage in my voice and it was very strained,” said the 15-year-old Thornhill Secondary School student. “Now, I have vocal training so even if my voice is gone, it will be a lot easier for me to sing normally because I have ways to get around it.”
Her goal for this year’s Rising Star Competition is to go all the way to the top.
“I’ve never been lower than a finalist, except for CNE,” she said. “It’s always been the finals.”
Liron started singing when she was three, but didn’t really start competing until last year.
Since then she’s taken part in numerous competitions including Hidden Talent Toronto, which she won, and the Long & McQuade Singing Contest with John Santos, where she finished second in the juvenile category.
Liron loves all kinds of music and has performed songs by Whitney Houston, Tom Jones, Bonnie Tyler and Taylor Swift, among many others.
Although she’ll be singing cover songs at the CNE competition, Liron also writes her own music.
The Rising Star Talent Competition isn’t just for singers - it’s open to all kinds of performers including comedians, dancers, juggling acts and anyone with a unique talent to entertain.
The competition hosts two divisions - Junior Rising Star (ages six to 12) and Youth Rising Star (ages 13 to 25) - with a total of 90 competitors, in all, vying to take home the prize money.
Notable alumni include So You Think You Can Dance (SYTYCD) Canada judge Blake McGrath (winner 2000), Broadway’s Julius Sermonia (1999 winner), SYTYCD Canada contestant Austin Dilulio (2004 winner) and crooner Matt Dusk (1998 winner).
Local band The Midnight - featuring Aaliyah Bautista (guitar), Joshua Bautista (guitar), Alessia Consolmagno (lead vocals), Harishan Ravindranathan (drums) and Emily Ostella (piano) - hopes to join that list.
They’re competing in the junior division.
Ranging in age from 10 to 14, they’re all students at the Ontario Conservatory of Music in Woodbridge and came together to form the band about two years ago.
They play everything from Taylor Swift to One Direction to Cold Play.
For the preliminary round, The Midnight will perform Paradise, off Cold Play’s 2011 hit album Mylo Xyloto.
Although they’ve competed in - and won - five contests through the Canadian Music League, the Rising Star competition will be the band’s first test outside of the Royal Conservatory.
That has them a little nervous, but they’ve logged a lot of hours practicing.
“It would mean a lot to us (to win). We are working hard for it,” Harishan said. “But even if we don’t win, we will have a blast with it.”
The competition gets under way Aug. 15 and runs through 29, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., on the Variety Stage with the finals scheduled for Aug. 31, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., at the CNE Bandshell.
For more information, visit theex.com.
