PORT McNEILL — Sunday night was must-see TV for Craig and Deborah Murray, with two of their children performing nearly simultaneously for international audiences on a pair of programs.
Clifton Murray and his fellow Canadian Tenors performed during the Emmy broadcast from Hollywood, as Georgia Murray sang as one of eight finalists in CBC’s music competition series Cover Me Canada from Toronto.
“We had on the Emmys, and we kept flicking back and forth to Cover Me Canada because we didn’t know when they were coming on,” proud mother Deborah Murray said.
“We ended up getting to see both of them.”
Earlier in the day, father Craig also performed, teaming with Gordon Henschel for a tea party show at the A-Frame Anglican Church. He and Deborah then raced home, pulled down their large projection screen and turned their room into a theatre.
“The Emmys started at 4 p.m, so we taped our whole house with plastic bags so we could watch in the dark,” Deborah said.
Clifton and the Canadian Tenors sang Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah as part of the Emmys’ memorial segment, as images of entertainment professionals who have died in the past year were displayed on a large screen.
Georgia, backed by a live band, sang the Shania Twain hit Up as her first-round selection in Cover Me Canada, which runs for 10 weeks before a winner is selected.
She was one of eight finalist selected from more than 1,000 auditions, in the process extending what has become a family tradition. Clifton Murray also competed in a televised music competition, and his career received a boost from his run to the semifinals of Canadian Idol in 2007.
A panel of judges will eliminate one contestant from Cover Me Canada each week, but online viewer votes through YouTube, Facebook and Twitter can provide “immunity” to singers. Deborah Murray hopes Vancouver Island residents will help keep Georgia, now living in Victoria, in the running for the top prize of $100,000 and a recording contract.
“All my children have been a huge pleasure and joy to me,” Deborah said. “I just want to keep Georgia going. We need everybody on the North Island to Victoria to vote.”
To find out how to vote in the contest, visit www.cbc.ca/covermecanada