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NORTH AMERICAN Newsline MAY 26, 2023 | The Indian Eye 20

Winners announced for The First Ever

2023 Markham Talent Open

Nanamie Li and AC5 is the Big Winner of the York Region’s Got Talent

OUR BUREAU
MARKHAM, ON
t was a showcase of excitement,
expectation and applause as the
Ipanel of judges began to an-
nounce the awards at the Grand Fi-
nale of the 2023 Markham Talent
Open Casting Call. The winners in
the singers, songwriters, dancers, ac-
tors, models and other performing
artist categories walked up to the po-
dium on May 13 at the Xinflix audi-
torium in Markham to be honored at
the event. The biggest award, amidst
the resounding sounds of applause,
was given away to Nanamie Li and
AC5, the winners of the Markham
Talent – 2023 Open Casting Call, both
of whom received a trophy as well as
$2000 in prize money.
Winners in other categories also
received trophies as well as cash priz-
es of $2000, with the second and third
prize winners receiving $300 and $200
respectively and the opportunity to get
booked by talent agencies.
The award winners were selected
from a large pool of diverse talent who pool of talent available in On- chair of the Markham Arts AND THE WINNERS ARE…
submitted their art and participated tario that was just waiting to be Council. “Everyone is a winner
in this first ever Talent contest held tapped,” said Councillor Colluc- as each one of them showed the GROUP A: 16 AND UNDER CATEGORY:
across Ontario. The event opened ci. “It was a delightful surprise to courage and strength to enter • Overall Champion Winner – Nanamie Li, Music
with a special feature performance by see the energy and creativity and into the Markham Talent con- • Overall 2nd Winner – Daniel Tamburro, Dance
Maya Gamzu, semi-finalist and recip- the diversity of talent that was test.” • Overall 3rd Winner – Ethan Sohrabian, Model
ient of the golden buzzer at Canada’s showcased in Markham Talent.” All proceeds from this • Music Category Winner – Stephen Tang
Got Talent 2023 who charmed the The impressive array of event will go towards helping • Dance Category Winner – Ashley Chau
audience with her mesmerizing voice. judges includes Juno Award Markham Arts Council drive • Model Category Winner – Brooklyn Williams,
Actress and judge in the Actor cate- Board Member - Aideen O economic growth in arts, culture, Stargo Model Academy
gory Samantha Aucoin, who is also a Brien; Brian Levy, Casting Di- and tourism sectors within the ACTOR CATEGORY WINNERS:
singer/songwriter, captivated the audi- rector; Amy Wright, Producer / City of Markham. • 1st – Serena Wang
ence with her musical voice and talent. Dance Choreographer /Casting Markham Arts Council is a • 2nd– Kelly Hof
The event, co-chaired by Director of The Next Step; Rob- registered, nonprofit, and char- • 3rd– Liat Assraf
Markham Ward 6 Councilor Amanda ert Laidlaw, Singer-Songwriter / itable organization, first estab- GROUP B: 17 AND OVER CATEGORY:
Yeung Collucci, Markham Arts Coun- Juno Awards Nominee; Patricia lished in 2004 with a focus on • Overall Champion 1st Winner – AC5, Dance
cil Chair Stephen Chait and Markham Jarosz, Talent manager; Cynthia connecting local artists and pro- • Overall 2nd Winner – Emma Ren, Music
Arts Council Executive Director Shru- Cully, Model Agent / Manager; moting the various diverse forms • Overall 3rd Winner – Annie Liang, Lindance
ti Ganapathy, was the first of its kind Jessica Gregory, Toronto’s Top of art in Markham. It was found- Studio - Dance
to be held in the city of Markham. Runway Coach; Lucas Nguyen, ed to help the local under-served • Music – Breanna Ells
“Markham Talent will be invited Actor / Singer; Samantha Au- artists and arts organizations to • Dance – Spread Dance
for a segment on stage at the City’s coin, actress; David Chesterown- come together, network, share • Model – Truong Ng
Canada Day celebrations this year that er of Chalet Studio; and Sarah their resources and grow. ACTOR CATEGORY WINNER –
usually attracts an audience of 20,000– Bay-Cheng, Dean, York Univer- Over the past 16 years, the
30,000 people,” said Markham Mayor sity, School of Arts, Media, Pro- Arts Council has played a leader- • 1st– Kavita Taluja
Frank Scarpitti, Honorary Chair of duction and Design (AMPD). ship role in the community, pro- • 2nd– Anju Malhotra
• 3rd– AJ Spatola
the event. “Congratulations to all the viding quality programming and
“I am amazed with such a wide winners,” says Stephen Chait, services.

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