It's been six years to the month since Chris Henderson put his name on the musical map by winning the 2004 Estevan Idol competition. The local country superstar has done it again, winning another talent show.
The 26-year-old Estevan native, who now resides in Regina, took the
stage at the Pump Roadhouse in Regina on Sunday to compete in Big Dog
92-7's The Next Big Thing country music talent competition.
When the contest began in May, nine musical acts from across
Saskatchewan were chosen to compete for a $20,000 prize package, which
includes cash and resources to kick-start a career in the music industry.
By Sunday, only three entries remained.
Chris Henderson and his band faced off against FOXX Worthee, a Regina band, and Tim Toutant from Prince Albert in the contest finals. When all was said and done, and each act got a chance to show their stuff, Henderson was named the "next big thing."
It was an emotional moment for Henderson, who had friends and family in
the audience cheering him on to victory.
"That was probably one of the highlights of my career," Henderson said
on Monday, a day after the big win. "When you have everyone who you love
and who loves you coming up hugging and crying - all just so excited for you,
it's an outstanding feeling."
Henderson is no stranger to competing in, and winning talent
competitions. After winning Estevan Idol in 2004, Henderson went on to
win 620 CKRM's Big Country Talent Search in 2006. The singer-songwriter said he's been very fortunate to have had such success in all of the competition's he's entered up to this point.
"The CKRM (contest) did a great deal of stuff for me. It basically got my first album off the ground and got me some exposure on the radio in Canada."
The winnings from this most recent contest will go towards getting a
second album made, Henderson said.
"I've been doing a lot of writing this year and I'm planning on
continuing to do that throughout the rest of this year. The tentative
plan is to start a new album in February - that was the plan before I won this contest. So, this is going to help that become a reality in a real hurry."
On top of the obvious monetary benefits that winning high-profile talent
shows has afforded him, Henderson said that the music competitions go a long way to renew an artist's confidence.
"I don't mean this to sound arrogant, but every now and then you need to
be reminded that you're good. Sometimes this industry can be really
discouraging - because it is. It's a dog-eat-dog industry and it's
really hard to rise to the top," said Henderson. "I'm a long way from
the top, but every now and then it's just wonderful to have a reminder
that, 'you know what, I am good at this. This is a passion of mine, this
is a talent I have.'"
Henderson will make a return to his hometown on June 23 to perform and judge at Estevan Idol. The singer-songwriter says he always likes coming back to where he got his start as a musician.
"I love coming back to Estevan. I have a tremendous amount of support from friends and fans and family down there," he said. "The Estevan Idol thing, I think, is going to be a lot of fun. Six years have gone by since I won that, and I felt like I was just a kid then, compared to now - it seems like 100 years ago."
