The sounds of fiddle, guitar, bagpipes, and the voices of many gifted musicians were in the air Tuesday night at the Co-op Mall.
An audience comprised of guests, proud family and friends, and even a number of shoppers casually stopping by, gathered to watch the performers at the 2014 St. Paul’s Got Talent.
The event opened its categories up this year, allowing performers in the 19 acts the freedom to express themselves through a number of new musical styles.
“We had a good talent show. We’re pleased with the outcome, and are looking at doing some big chances in next year’s show,” said Kevin Bernhardt, marketing consultant with 97.7 the Spur.
“Given the variety of music coming out to our contest, we’re going to address that with more specific categories. We’re going to put rock, pop, and country categories in next time.”
Bernhardt said the newer categories will allow judges to “compare apples versus apples” instead of trying to compare and judge people performing in different genres, holding them all to a single standard.
Though there were a lot of country entries, there was no shortage of variety among the contestants. The audience was treated to covers of an assortment of music from Taylor Swift and Katy Perry, to independent extreme metal music.
A number of the performers present at this year’s show were veterans of previous concerts, with their developing skills on display.
“I’m not normally nervous, but when I went on with the bagpipes, my body went numb. Last year, the judges recommend I play the bagpipes, so I did this year,” said Merrick Fenton, a musician who did a vocal rendition and a unique bagpipe performance of two extreme metal songs he wrote himself.
Fenton, who performed in a kilt, and surprised many of the guests with the comparative intensity of his sound, said he thought playing music in such a wildly different genre from the other performers would give him an edge.
Musician Mickayla Chamberland described herself as someone who has always enjoyed performing saying, “I’ve started at a young age, doing Boscombe Jamborees every couple of months. I’m a very talkative person.”
“I was a bit nervous but that’s because I didn’t take part last year, and did it the year before. It was nice to see new faces show up, take part, and show what kind of talent they have,” she added.
Janelle Faryna, marketing supervisor with the St. Paul and District Co-op, noted that there were likely over 300 in the show’s audience. The 200 chairs set up to accommodate guests and the adjacent Doug’s Cafeteria were full, along with numerous standing guests present.
In the junior category, Savannah Mack got first place, Melanie Jubinville won second place, and Melissa Meltais came in third.
Before final results for the junior category were determined, Mickayla Chamberland was originally given first place in error. Chamberland was judged in the junior category, despite being over the age of 18.
After the placing was revised, Chamberland was given the opportunity to perform on air with the local radio station, and granted an entry in the Global Edmonton Talent Contest, in May 2015.
In the adult category Merrick Fenton won first place, doing two original pieces. Hollie Warkentin, and Hinano Rosa won second and third place respectively in the adult category.
In the group category, first place went to Madisyn Gogowich and Savannah Mack, Heaven and Patience Colbourne won second place, and third place went to Melanie and Angela Jubinville.
