Impersonator, comedian and sound designer Geneviève Côté won the Golden Buzzer on Canada’s Got Talent, which allows her to go directly to the semi-finals of the popular Citytv show.
The multi-talented Lavallois surprised the show’s judges with her incredible performance. On stage, Geneviève Côté made monkey, flute and bird noises, then ended her performance with a powerful vocal flight. Howie Mandel stood up, pressed the famous Golden Buzzer and gave Geneviève Côté a huge emotional moment. “I’m so proud, you’re the reason I’m doing this show and I can’t wait for the world to see you,” said Canada’s Got Talent judge actor Howie Mandel.
The show features magicians, singers, dancers, impersonators from across Canada. The grand prize winner will take home $150,000.
“My life has just changed, literally the phone is ringing, I’m getting so much love from the public, but also proposals! I do not sleep anymore ! I mourn my life, ”says Geneviève Côté, 47, very enthusiastic and moved, in a telephone interview. “I even have calls from France, from the United States, I have never seen that! “, she is surprised.
“But I thought why not, I filled out the form, I worked hard on my number, maybe it’s the right door that will open and the magic worked that night, it It’s incredible ! »
Her repertoire is vast, she can imitate up to 300 different voices and sounds, including those of Maria Callas, Celine Dion, Whitney Houston and Ginette Reno, but also the sounds of animals, birds and musical instruments such as trumpet and guitar.
Born in Montreal, Geneviève Côté grew up in Laval. Since her childhood, she has been passionate about sounds and voices, she was inspired by the American actor and sound designer Michael Winslow who was in Police Academy, but also by Rock and Belles Oreilles, as well as by Weirld Al Yancovic. Over the years, she participated in the Just for Laughs festival, she opened for Mario Tessier, Guy Nantel, Éric Lapointe, then she presented her show Inimitable across Quebec.
Geneviève Côté confides that she has not had an easy life. “My mother committed suicide when I was 11, I raised my son alone, who I had very young, at 20, I worked in restaurants for a living, I went through a therapy that gave me back my confidence, because too often I was told: “It won’t work your business!” “, she says.
Obviously, we can not help but draw the parallel with the singer Jeanick Fournier who, at this time last year, lived the same thing. She had earned the Golden Buzzer and then won the Canada’s Got Talent final. “I don’t know Jeanick Fournier, but I find her so inspiring, so natural, I cried watching her performances, I think of her and hope to meet her. She guides me,” she said.
Geneviève Côté knows that she must now surprise the four judges again for the semi-finals, which will be presented on May 2 and 9 at 8 p.m. on Citytv. The show has already been taped, but it can’t give away absolutely anything.
It takes patience to do this job and if she has one message to convey, it is to never give up. “I have always believed in myself, you have to believe in your dreams, there have been very difficult times, there is also a lot of work, but it takes perseverance, again and again. »
The Canada’s Got Talent Grand Final will air live on Tuesday, May 16.
