Tickets are now on sale for the final rounds of competition in the first annual Langley Has Talent contest, and organizer Peter Luongo promises two evenings filled with extraordinary acts from a wide range of talented performers.
Presented by the four Rotary Clubs of Langley and Aldergrove, the competition will take place on two separate nights at the Christian Life Assembly, 21277 56 Ave.
Now that the flood of hopefuls has been whittled down to the 30 top contenders, the competition semifinal will take place on Saturday, April 16, with finals happening on Saturday, April 30. Both shows start at 6:30 p.m.
JRFM’s Bob Saye will emcee the events, which will be judged by a number of Lower Mainland personalities, including Langley’s own Howie Vickberg, a member of the 1960s band The Collectors and Langley City mayor Peter Fassbender.
“He (Fassbender) actually has a pretty wide background people don’t know about. He was a DJ,” said Luongo.
Talent agent Lissa Lloyd will also be on hand to help judge both the semifinal and final competitions.
Sitting on the panel of judges with Fassbender, Lloyd and Vickberg will be a pair of well-known Vancouver media personalities.
Right from the start, Luongo was impressed by not only the quality of the talent that auditioned for the contest, but by the range of acts who came out and took a shot.
Solo singers, duets and singing ensembles in pop, classical, rock and country genres have made it through to the next round, as well as ballet, modern and tap dancers.
The youngest semifinalist is 11 years old, while the oldest is 71.
“We had a tough time getting to 30 (semifinalists), but within that, we have a whole array of talent,” Luongo said.
“We’ve got some really fine artists performing.
“The range is wide, it will truly be a variety show.”
Fifteen finalists will be selected by a combination of decisions made by judges and audience voting.
The Grand Prize will be $2,500 in cash as well as industry prizes such as studio time, talent agency consulting, and promotion packages.
Cash prizes will be handed out for second and third place as well.
Tickets are $15 for the semifinal show and $20 for the finals. A combo package is also available, with tickets to both shows for $30.
All profits from the shows will go toward helping to build a performing arts centre in Langley.
Tickets are available online at langleyhastalent.com/tickets.html or at the Langley Times Office, 20258 Fraser Hwy during regular business hours, from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday to Friday. Office sales are cash only.