downhere vocalist wins Queen Extravaganza contest
NASHVILLE, TN—Just before entering the Queen Extravaganza contest, vocalist Marc Martel had second thoughts.
"After I'd recorded my first audition video, I was sitting in the living room with my wife, even second-guessing myself to that point. I told her 'I don't know if I can do this,'" the downhere vocalist recalled in a phone interview from his Nashville home.
"She said 'Marc, you're crazy. This has got you written all over it.' She was very encouraging, so I went for it."
Going for it meant an initial audition video that had over 5.5 million hits on YouTube and a guest spot on the Ellen Degenres Show. His second audition video garnered enough votes to get him to the live Los Angeles audition. And his live audition, judged in part by Queen drummer Roger Taylor, won him a coveted spot in the Queen tribute band.
Martel found out he was one of three Canadians to make the six-member band while sitting in the Minneapolis airport on a layover from L.A. to Montreal.
"It wasn't a big celebration for me, just relief knowing that [this] year is taken care of schedule-wise [and] financially," he says. "I've got a mortgage, putting a wife through school—this is provision for me in a really exciting way.
"If you look at the timing of this, it couldn't come at a more perfect time. Looking back at the last 11 years, the struggles [downhere has] gone through as a band, the highs and lows, there's been so many spiritual learning experiences, spiritual strengthening experiences," says Martel. "I really believe God has been preparing me for this sort of thing."
While Martel is still waiting for details, the Queen Extravaganza rehearsals will begin this spring. Tour dates are still being booked, but with three Canadians and Queen's own history in Canada—including its iconic 1977 concert at the Montreal Forum—Martel "wouldn't be surprised if we started in Canada."
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