More than 2,000 musical acts from across Canada recently entered into the CBC Searchlight competition including one local singer/song writer, Ainsley Elisa.
Entries are broken up into a number of regional divisions with Elisa and Sylvan Lake falling into the Edmonton and Northern Alberta area. The young artist and H.J. Cody High School student recently asked her friends, family and fans to vote for her single, ‘One More Day’ in the first round of the competition. The heartfelt track was written by the young artist at a trying time in her life, as she and her family had recently faced the loss of Ainsley’s grandmother.
“It was a tough time for me and for our family,” said Elisa. “But what I love about writing music is it allows me an outlet to channel those feelings and emotions into.”
She was delighted to learn on Tuesday afternoon that her track had been chosen as the ‘Popular Vote’ option in the first round of the area’s voting process. This mean’s the artist has landed herself in the top ten artists for the Edmonton and Northern Alberta area and she will now move on to the second round of the competition.
“I couldn’t believe it,” said Elisa on seeing her name in the top seat of the competition. “Listening to the other nine artists who were chosen to be in the top ten blew me away. To see my name next to so many other amazing musicians was incredible.”
Elisa and ‘One More Day’ will now enter the second round of the CBC Searchlight competition. The second round will remain open from now until Monday, March 13. During that time, the top ten acts will be sent to the Searchlight industry panel, who will help select the one winner from each of the 23 regions. The two acts who receive the highest number of votes will automatically advance, rounding out the country’s Top 25 which will be announced Tuesday, March 14.
Since entering her song in the competition near the end of February, the young artist said she has experienced a great deal of heart warming community support.
“I’ll just be doing things around town and people will come up to me and say ‘Hey, aren’t you the singer with her song in CBC Searchlight?’” she explained. “People recognize me from a picture they’ve seen online or in the newspaper and it’s a great feeling. Everyone has been so supportive and I can’t thank the community enough.”
Ainsley Elisa hopes her journey will encourage other young artists in the area who have been writing their own music to have their songs heard.
“For any other young people that have been songwriting in town, put your songs out there,” she added. “You never know what might happen and you can get an amazing amount of support from your peers.”
She explained she is also looking forward to the Sylvan Celebration of Music Festival at the end of March which features a composition category which she encourages all young song writers in the area to enter into.
To vote for Ainsley Elisa and ‘One More Day’ in the second round of CBC Searchlight visit www.cbcmusic.ca/searchlight/249 or by searching ‘Ainsley Elisa’ on the home page of CBC Searchlight.
jenna.swan@sylvanlakenews.com