Hamilton musician Darcy Mitchison wows crowd at ‘Canada’s Got Talent’
Darcy Mitchison believes it was a case of nothing ventured, nothing gained, by his appearance on the TV show Canada's Got Talent."
The 27-year old musician - Hamilton's only entrant in the program - played one of his own compositions in the fourth episode of the show broadcast on Citytv April 11.
It was called What a Drag" and it was something the baritone singer wrote in 2020 regarding living through lock downs during the pandemic.
Unfortunately, his keyboard piano performance wasn't liked by three of the four judges on the program - they buzzed him - and that meant he wouldn't be moving on to the next phase.
A shot of the audience, however, showed people clapping along with Mitchison's song. Then, there were dropping jaws when the judges began turning on the 2020 graduate of Centennial College's music and arts program.
Comic Howie Mandel appeared to mock Mitchison by imitating his deep voice, perhaps believing it was a put-on and not his real voice. Later he got Mitchison to say Hello Ladies" and that caused comedian Lilly Singh to joke about changing her vote for the singer. He already had wrestler and actor Trish Stratus in his corner, but not rapper Kardinal Offishall.
Mitchison, who attended Delta and Westdale high schools, called the experience a fun opportunity." He joked, the female judges seemed to like me."
He has already had gigs around Hamilton and Toronto over the last few years. His performance was taped last October at the OLGC Stage at Fallsview Casino in Niagara Falls. It's the biggest venue he has ever played in.
It was a cool experience being able to play in front of a crowd of 3,000," Mitchison said. I got them to clap along. It was nice to hear. That's a win enough for me to have been able to play before 3,000 and they like it."
Mitchison has been around music all his life, and can also play guitar, saxophone and the harmonica. His father, Paul Mitchison, is a retired elementary school teacher, who taught music for a few years. He plays the guitar, is a devoted Beatles fan and was once in a band called The Pistol Whips." His mother, Melanie Cummings, is a communications officer at the Hamilton Public Library. They took their son to piano lessons from the age of six.
Family and friends gathered at the Mitchison home on Blake Street to watch Darcy's performance. Family were on hand also when he performed in Niagara Falls. Darcy has a brother, Riley, 31, and a sister, Molly, 23.
His parents were disappointed their son did not progress in the contest, but are proud of him.
He showed grace under pressure and kept smiling and laughing," noted Cummings. The crowd loved him."
The show runs every Tuesday at 8 p.m. on Citytv until May 16 when there will be a two-hour finale. The winner takes home $150,000 and the chance to perform in a Las Vegas show.
On the same evening as Mitchison, singer Katherine Lynn-Rose of Burlington performed. She moved on to the next phase.
You can hear songs by Darcy Mitchison on his YouTube and Instagram accounts.
Director Eli Roth's horror picture Thanksgiving" filmed on the east Mountain last week. The movie, starring Patrick Dempsey as a sheriff dealing with a killer, filmed at the County Fair Plaza at Mohawk Road East and Upper Sherman Avenue. There were police cars for the fictional Central Plymouth sheriff's department, plus a truck for the fictional MASS TV channel. Last month, the film was at Waterdown District High School.
The hit Korean family saga Pachinko' spent last week shooting in and around The Cotton Factory. The Apple TV Plus show filmed here in February at Denninger's Foods of the World in downtown Hamilton. It stars Oscar winner Youn Yuh Jung (Minari") and Lee Min-ho, South Korea's answer to Brad Pitt.
Daniel Nolan is a freelance writer who writes about film for The Hamilton Spectator. He can be reached at dannolanwrites@gmail.com