{"id":18068,"date":"2017-08-16T17:54:20","date_gmt":"2017-08-16T21:54:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=18068"},"modified":"2017-08-23T12:11:54","modified_gmt":"2017-08-23T16:11:54","slug":"i-just-wanted-my-voice-back-showdown-semi-finalist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/i-just-wanted-my-voice-back-showdown-semi-finalist\/","title":{"rendered":"I just wanted my voice back: Showdown semi-finalist"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Brock Weir
\n<\/strong>
\nColette Zorzella often felt she was simply taking up too much space growing up.
\nOne of six children, she describes her young self as \u201cbig and loud,\u201d always talking, always dancing, always singing, but there came a point where she found herself always trying to \u201ctone it down.\u201d
\n\u201cBut, I think I toned it down to a point where it suffocated me,\u201d says the Aurora resident.
\nRecently, however, she hit a double turning point when one of her three kids graduated from high school.
\n\u201cI am always trying to tell my son he can do anything he wants to do,\u201d says Colette. \u201cHe said, \u2018But, mom, you have never done what you want to do!\u2019 and he put me in my place.\u201d
\nSo, it was with some degree of nerves that Ms. Zorzella strode out onto the stage of Theatre Aurora on Thursday afternoon as one of the contestants from all across Ontario who made the Hoedown Showdown Top 40.
\nThe Hoedown Showdown, the annual Province-wide talent competition looking for Canada\u2019s next country superstar, is held in conjunction with Magna\u2019s Wild, Wild West Hoedown.
\nAttracting video entries from far and wide, the Top 40 were whittled down to a Top 20 by judges Tom Cross of Metal Works Studios, Magna\u2019s Steve Hinder, country star Beverley Mahood, and media personality and philanthropist Joan Walker.
\n\u201cEveryone is so unique and different from one another, which is going to make it tough because there is nothing to compare it to,\u201d said Ms. Mahood. \u201cEach have their own thing and we\u2019re just sitting here impressed with the originality of each one of the contestants so far.\u201d
\nAdded Ms. Walker: \u201cSome of the contestants we have seen are back from previous years and the improvements have been incredible. It is really nice to see that growth and that is why we are doing this: to give people a stage, an opportunity, give them some feedback, and hopefully they learn and grow from it.\u201d
\nThis was the first year though that judges had the opportunity to hear Colette.
\n\u201cI have spent my life being nervous,\u201d she confirmed when judges questioned her jitters. \u201cBut there is excitement for sure. When I was young, I was told, \u2018Shh! Be quiet! You\u2019re too big, you\u2019re too loud, you\u2019re too all of these things,\u2019 and I just shut up forever, and I just want my voice back.\u201d
\nAnd did she ever \u2013 Colette wowed judges with her a capella rendition of Leadbelly\u2019s Cotton Fields, a country-folk standard which has been covered by generations of country stars.
\n\u201cYou got your voice back,\u201d exclaimed Mr. Hinder.
\nPraised for her voice reminiscent of Janis Joplin, she sailed into the Top 20, who will be performing their semi-final round at this month\u2019s Aurora Ribfest on Saturday, August 26.
\nIt is a long way from the woman, now 40, who first submitted her voice to the competition last year. 12 months ago, she bent the rules, sending in just an audio track rather than the full video audition requested because she says she was afraid to be on camera. What a difference a year makes.
\nJoining her in representing Aurora in the Top 20 is 2016 Aurora Teen Idol Melissa Suma, who performed a rendition of Angel Mine. Melissa made the Top 20 last year but after performing this time around she was praised for her maturity.
\n\u201cI have been experimenting on all kinds of different music and I think I am settling into a sound now,\u201d she told judges following her performance.
\nThe Top 20, in alphabetical order are:<\/p>\n

1.\tJohn Anderson, 16, Barrie
\n2.\tKylie Angel, 28, Ancaster
\n3.\tSarah Campbell Mills, 14, Burlington
\n4.\tMike Chianelli, 17, Sutton West
\n5.\tPierina Cincinnato, 46, Mississauga
\n6.\tPatrick James Clark, 23, Mulmur
\n7.\tDarren Evorglens, 41, Oakville
\n8.\tAbby J. Hall, 17, Burlington
\n9.\tZoe Jayne, 17, Schomberg
\n10.\tDave Lang, 41, Newmarket
\n11.\tAlannah Lipsett, 21, Claremont
\n12.\tNicole Mastrangelo, 20, Enniskillen
\n13.\tChristopher Normandeau, 29, Stouffville
\n14.\tOmarr Rahal, 21, Stouffville
\n15.\tJayme Lynn Reed, 21, Keswick
\n16.\tKatie Sacco, 17, Toronto
\n17.\tMelissa Suma, 15, Aurora
\n18.\tLauren (Renee) Vandervecht, 22, Sharon
\n19.\tCameron von Criegern, 19, Peterborough
\n20.\tColette Zorzella, 40, Aurora<\/p>\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Colette Zorzella often felt she was simply taking up too much space growing up.
\nOne of six children, she describes her…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":18060,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18068","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general_news","category-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/2017-08-17-02.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-4Hq","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-29 15:32:42","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18068","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18068"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18068\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18060"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18068"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18068"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18068"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}