More than 30,000 votes were cast for the Final 5 in this year’s Eagle Talent Search contest, close to 55,000 over the full four weeks of voting, and now one aspiring singer has been named this year’s Eagle Talent Search winner.
Twenty-two year old Nancy MacDougall from Port Hawksbury has been named this year’s Eagle Talent Search winner – getting the highest number of votes for her original song, “All Alone”.
“I can’t believe I won. It’s the biggest thing I’ve ever won,” gushed an excited MacDougall from her home in Port Hawksbury. “With all the votes this year I really can’t believe it.”
MacDougall, who works as a piano teacher from her home, beat out 16-year old Brandon Lafantasie from River Bourgeois, The Yarnells from Sydney, Chad Huntington from Sydney and Gary Williams who competed with Nancy in the finals last year.
“I’m glad the winner was chosen based on votes,” says1035 The Eagle music director Jay Bedford. “The caliber of talent this year was exceptional. I wouldn’t have been able to chose just one.”
Asked what she plans on doing now that she won the recording session with 8-time ECMA Recording Engineer of the Year winner, Jamie Foulds, MacDougall says, “Record a CD and hopefully get my music out there.”
It’s something MacDougall is already working on.
“I’ve been recording a few jazz standards for a demo CD with Michael Buble’s bassist and Jimmy Rankin’s drummer in Halifax,” says MacDougall as she passionately discusses her love for both Country music and Jazz.
No one is more proud than her father, Steve MacDougall.
“It’s just amazing and I’d really like to thank the Eagle for putting this on,” he says.
But it’s something 1035 The Eagle is proud to do says Jay Bedford.
“Since day one we have always supported local talent, local musicians, and we aren’t stopping anytime soon,” he explains. “With the incredibly high number of votes for this year’s contest I would bet that Cape Breton doesn’t want us to.”
