Burnaby resident wins Lougheed Sings
Knowing who he was up against, Burnaby's Frankie Cena was a little nervous heading into the finals of the Lougheed Sings talent competition.
Sponsored by Lougheed Town Centre, the competition had been whittled down from 150 entries to 12 finalists.
"Of the 12 I would say I knew probably eight of them because it's in Burnaby, it's my hometown, so I knew mostly who I was against," said Cena, 20. "By the time it came to the competition I was extraordinarily nervous because everyone was doing so, so, so good."
He managed to take a deep breath and not let his nerves show. The performance paid off last Friday when he was named the winner, followed by runner-up Stephen Scaccia, also of Burnaby, and in third place, Jessica Zraly of Coquitlam.
His winning performance was of the song Down, by Jay Sean.
Cena won a $500 gift card for Lougheed Town Centre, two tickets to the Sept. 30 Madonna concert in Vancouver, and one-on-one meetings and coaching sessions with Canadian pop singer Elise Estrada and Adam H. of Rockstar Academy.
Cena is thrilled with the chance to meet with Adam H., who he has been performing for in auditions since he was 14.
The opportunity comes at just the right time as Cena has just decided not to go to law school, at least not yet. Instead, after he graduates with a commerce degree from the University of British Columbia in May, he plans to pursue a singing career while also continuing to coach high school debating teams.
"I need to spend a bit of time working on my dreams."
wchow@burnabynewsleader.com
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