Bulgaria

For the very first time, five finalists have been selected to represent Canada at the Eurovision song contest.

The annual contest is considered one of, if not the biggest of it’s kind. Last year the European Broadcasting Union estimated that more than 135 million viewers tuned in to Eurovision across Europe, a number comparable to yearly Super Bowl viewership.

Now, Canadians are being asked to vote on which of the remaining artists they want to represent them on the world stage.

The five finalists were narrowed down from a pool of hundreds of applicants, then selected by a group of music industry professionals and public broadcasting executives. One of the five will be named to compete at the 71st edition of Eurovision in Burgas, Bulgaria, in May, 2027.

Those finalists include – Ottawa based artist and 2024 Juno Breakout Artist award-winner TALK, Quebec pop artist and 2021 Star Académie winner William Cloutier, bilingual Acadian sensation and season eight winner of La Voix, Josiane, of Dieppe, NB, industry veteran and multiple time Canadian Billboard Top 100 chart-topper Tyler Shaw from Vancouver, B.C., and 2023 Juno award winner Rêve, who operates out of both Toronto and Montreal.

Voting takes place on the CBC website until Nov. 5, and voters can cast one vote each day. CBC says the winner will be announced by the end of November.

TALK – Ottawa, ON

Nicholas Durocher, also know as TALK, is based out of Ottawa, ON, and began his musical career as the bassists in a country music band. TALK has spoken openly about the loneliness of the COVID-19 pandemic, and how it sparked him to create his 2021 hit debut single Run Away to Mars.

The song went viral on TikTok the following year, and the music video has since amassed more than 23 million views on YouTube alone.

William Cloutier – Victoriaville, QC

Cloutier is no stranger to competition success, appearing on La Cour des Grands, a talent show for young Quebecois singers at age 12. He followed that up by winning the third season of Mixmania as a part of the group Heart Beat, and finally, by winning Star Académie in 2021.

On his website, Cloutier also bills himself as an actor and comedian, and his music has garnered millions of listens across multiple platforms.

Josiane – Dieppe, NB

Josiane Comeau, who uses just her first name as her stage name, has a distinct Acadian style that blends French, English, and Chiac into her music.

At just 19, Josiane won La Voix, the Quebecois edition of the massively popular competition show The Voice.

Josiane’s music has millions of listens online, and on a post to her Instagram she said getting to live the life of a musician is “a dream come true”.

Tyler Shaw – Vancouver, B.C.

Tyler Shaw is a veteran of the Canadian music industry with more than a decade of professional experience behind him. Shaw released his debut single, Kiss Goodnight in 2012, which was quickly certified as Gold by Music Canada, and would be the first of many songs and albums to do so.

Shaw has toured with acts like Selena Gomez, Shawn Mendes and Alessia Cara, and even performed at the 2017 Invictus games in front of Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, and then-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

His biggest success on the charts is With You, which went double-platinum and was top-5 on the Canadian Top-100 billboard. The accompanying music video has more than 43 million views on YouTube.

Rêve – Montreal, QC

Briannah Charlie Donolo, known as Rêve, is a certified multi-platinum artist and a 2023 Juno award-winner. Her single, CTRL + ALT +DEL took home the award for Dance Recording of the Year, and her debut album, Saturn Return received a nomination for Pop Album of the Year.

Rêve went viral in 2014 for singing the Canadian and American national anthems at a Montreal Canadians game, and garnered attention from music industry professionals. Despite the early attention, she went on to develop her style independently, working as a wedding singer and, according to her record label Universal Music Canada, even writing scripts for a pornography website.

Rêve called being nominated for the competition “the honour of my life” and compared the event to the musical equivalent of the Olympics.