Virtual singing competition aims to discover talent in northwestern Ontario

Some aspiring musicians in northwestern Ontario youth waiting for a moment to showcase their musical talent will soon get their chance.

Earthling Art Collective, a business in Thunder Bay, Ont., is putting on an All Nations Star Search virtual singing competition.

Ben Murray, the founder and creative director of Earthling Art Collective, said they received funding for other programming, but with COVID-19 restrictions it's been hard to reach the target youth that they had originally set out to reach.

Murray said they used to have a drop-in facility with a studio and creative resources, along with mentorship opportunities.

"With COVID, that's been nearly impossible to do. Basically we were just trying to find a way that we can reach people and still have a meaningful impact on their lives and their art and creative process and kind of help push them along moving forward," Murray said.

The contest is for BIPOC northwestern Ontario residents between the ages of 12-35, something that was important for Murray, as Earthling Art Collective was created to have a space for that transitional age because some programming caps has an age limit of 30.

"I remember when I turned 30…. kind of freaking out like this is the end of the line. I just didn't want to put a hard line on it like that. So yeah we just, we broadened it to have a really large scope," said Murray.

"We just wanted to offer something tangible where people would have an ability to actually learn some skill set and really do something that would be meaningful to them and maybe lead them down a path where they could actually do something with music or creativity."

The contest will have three winners, with each getting some cash, and the chance to create their own music video and a fully-produced single. But even though prizes guaranteed for the top three winners, others could score opportunities as Murray said the point of the program is for anyone who shows interest.

"If any of the people who submit a video submission and don't end up being a finalist, they can contact us if they're interested in having something produced like that as well because that's the basis of the funding anyway," said Murray.

Cheynna Gardner, a youth worker and artist, is helping Murray run the contest. She said they would also like other youth to come learn, and help, with the process of filming the music videos.

"Having already established Indigenous or BIPOC role models, really showing you that it's possible to do art as a living. And art is such a therapeutic thing for a lot of people. So that's kind of the whole goal is just to spark that interest and to show youth that it is possible," Gardner said.

Gardner said the contest is another way for youth to express themselves in a different outlet, as many youth are involved with recreational sports but might not necessarily be interested.

"This is a really good way for people who are aspiring artists or creatives to do some social networking, really, just to really get into that theme and, and  have an outlet like to show not all youth are into sport," Gardner said.