Fil-Canadian boy digs jazz, wows audiences

Eight-year-old Elias Tyson Venegas was one of the youngest contestants in the 2013 Pacific National Exhibition annual Star Showdown contest.

But the young Filipino-Canadian jazz crooner showed talent beyond what could be expected for his age —  talent that catapulted him to victory, according to Tri-City News.

A separate report on CBC News said Venegas' love for music started at the age of two when he started "jazzing up" nursery songs like "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" and "A-B-C."

However, he only got interested in singing on stage when he saw singer Michael Bublé perform when he was four years old, according to Surrey 604.

The bubbly boy's enthusiasm and skill paid off when Bublé, who attended the show incognito, showed up to congratulate the child crooner after his victory.

Venegas' grandmother even managed to snap a picture with Bublé before the famous singer was whisked away by his handlers.

Bublé and another famous Canadian singer, Carly Rae Jepsen (of “Call Me Maybe” fame), were also previous winners of the PNE Star Showdown, a Surrey 604 report said.

For winning the competition with Nat King Cole's “(Get Your Kicks On) Route 66,” Venegas will receive $5000. His plans for the cash? Voice, piano, and soon, trumpet lessons.

“We were asking him, if you’re going to play the trumpet, are you going to sing still?” Venegas' father, Samson, told Surrey 604.

“And he goes, well you know when they have the instrumental part? I want to play the trumpet too! And I’m like, oh my God, that’s the part where you’re supposed to rest,” Samson added.

Between formal schooling and music lessons, Venegas performs in bars like the Java Jazz Bistro, among other venues. —Rie Takumi/KBK, GMA News

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