A Richmond singer received a unanimous “yes” from the judges on Canada’s Got Talent Tuesday night.
Rachel Chiu made her debut on the show, succeeding in her audition with a unique vocal performance that wowed the judges.
“Honestly, it was kind of scary, and the nerves, they don’t ever leave me, they still come, but it’s just learning to manage it,” she said.
“So I was feeling a lot of excitement and nerves and something I learned is the nerves that you feel…to switch that into excitement.”
The 24-year-old says her musical roots go back to playing classical piano as a child, before discovering jazz and singing. She then began exploring different instrumental sounds with her own voice.
“I’ve kind of used the word ‘mouth trumpet,’ because I imitate the trumpet sounds with my mouth,” she said.
“But I have to give credit to the beatboxing community because that’s where its from.”
Chiu says if she were to win the $1 million prize, she’d open her own studio on the Downtown Eastside for members of the community who have a passion for music.
“I kind of want to be able to give back and open up my own place and give them a chance to come in and record … and release it and have the world listen to it,” she said.
“[That would] hopefully give them more opportunities.”
Chiu says it was great having her parents cheering her on.
“I was so happy to see when my dad and my mom were there, and there were just big smiles on their faces,” she said.
“And you know, they put me into piano when I was five…so I really hope that it’s paying off now.”
Her parents weren’t the only people encouraging her.
“Howie [Mandel] said that I was going to be doing concerts forever, and that’s something that I really dream about,” she said.
If Chiu qualifies for the finals, the live finale will air on Tuesday, May 14, on Citytv.