When we first set out to do this contest, it was just a concept. It was an idea in our minds that we had envisioned turning into a reality. While we knew it would be daunting, it was something that individually we had wanted to do for quite some time. There are many talent competitions so we needed to up the ante a bit. The best way was to create a legit team of people who have built solid music careers, not only in the local scene but nationwide and beyond. The second was to have a prize for the ONE Artist that would completely change their life. Something big enough to truly give them a huge stepping stone to build off of.
When the week of auditions, boot camp, semi-finals and finals finally came, we were excited to see the talent that Ottawa and the province of Ontario had to offer and we were not disappointed. The amount of artists that came out and the amount of talent that was involved was nothing short of amazing. Ages ranged from eight to fifty, and included different genres of musicians from single artists to full bands. We had an amazing time at The Lonestar Loft for the auditions and then a fantastic full day of semi finals and finals at the Overflow Brewery that was packed with over 300 people who were there to support their favourite act.
After a great day of seminars at Artist Alliance, and individual performance and vocal coaching by Sing House Studios, the day of the finals finally arrived. Forty artists played and sang their hearts out. Making the final decision of who would make it into the final ten was not easy. There were so many artists with great song choices, some with amazing original songs, heartfelt, emotional, soaring vocals and goose bump inducing performances.
Once the top ten had been chosen, tensions were visibly high in the room, nerves were starting to show and the reality of the evening was starting to set in for the top ten. After a surprize eleventh wild card spot, the top eleven gave us a wild ride with their performances, showing us why they were chosen to perform. Again, they made it too hard to pick the ONE and we threw in a surprize top three to give the judges one more look at their favourites.
The artists, Nayana Kathleen, Craig Voskamp and Jason Kokkovas, knew this was their final chance to wow the judges. Interestingly enough, all three of the finalists were songwriters playing their own songs. After three great performances, ONE Artist stood tall at the end, after giving the crowd an amazing performance and original song. Nayana Kathleen was crowned the ONE Artist 2019 winner, taking home a record deal with Young Wild & Free Records, full artist development plan and management with Artist Alliance, an amazing year of vocal and performance coaching with Sing House Studios, a full graphics package with FM Designs, a brilliant photography package with Sisk Photography, makeup package from Corey J. Stone and hair package for the release by Pistol Rose Studio.
Nayana Kathleen is ready to launch the next step of her career as a country artist in Canada. Everyone involved in season one of the ONE Artist was blown away with Nayayas raw vocal talent, song writing and natural performing ability. She has an arsenal of amazing original music, an unstoppable work ethic and a smile that will take the nation by storm. Watch for her first single in spring 2020!
