Tag: Eleven year old

TJ Prodigy Taking A Stand To Make A Challenge For Change!

TJprodigy

Quite often I’m referred to young talent that makes me take a second look, but not often do I find a youngster who is quite as multi-talented as eleven year old TJ Lasinski or better known as TJ Prodigy.  Not only is TJ a talented singer, rapper, and dancer, but also a powerful spokesman for a cause that is one of the most important issues of today’s society. Unlike many youngsters his age who are mainly interested in just building a musical career, you could say that TJ is a young artist who is on a life changing mission.  In fact his mission is called just that! (Challenge For Change)

TJ Prodigy Blue ShirtMany of the feature articles published here begin when a parent first noticed their child could sing, or showed some form of musical interest.  In TJ’s case you could say that he was born a true bouncing boy!  His mother shared with me that as early as the age of five TJ was bouncing on the trampoline.  However, he was not just bouncing but doing his very first back flips. At six years old he was already performing consecutive back flips. This could be where the bounce comes in his music which not only captivates his audience but also helps to communicate his message to others who may otherwise turn a deaf ear.

TJ has always been very close to his older sister Shelby age 17, who always enjoys having the camera rolling on her little brother. When TJ was 9, he found the benefit of YouTube and Google and began searching for tutorials on break-dance moves, such as the windmill, the coffee grinder, the pin drop, and the 6 step! He practiced and practiced every day, tearing the kitchen apart to turn it into his little dance studio. In February of 2011, TJ was asked to perform in the high school cabaret. He performed a break dance routine with his sister to the song “Dynamite” and also sang the song “Baby” by Justin Bieber. TJ was the only elementary school student in the entire show, and he enjoyed it immensely. This was his very first performance in front of people.

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Dalton Cyr Musical Prodigy (Cyriously Talented)

“I just want to make albums that make people happy.”

Dalton Cyr
Dalton Cyr (Click to Enlarge)

Last summer I visited Jacksonville Florida on my way back from Orlando.  What I did not know is that a few miles away, Jacksonville Beach was going to host a new video by another very talented young artist that is fast becoming a singing sensation in that part of Florida!  Sometime after returning home, I was browsing YouTube and came across a young man who not only captured my attention with his vocal skill, but exhibited personality and charisma in his videos that demonstrated true performing talent.

This young man is Eleven Year Old Dalton Cyr.

His Dad told me that Dalton has always loved music. At just three years of age he was already singing along to pop artists on the radio and frequently wanted to dance with his stepmother, Cindy.

He would learn all the songs for his school performances and then sing them over and over again at home. However, Dalton had terrible stage fright and would not sing when it came time for performances.  In second grade he was chosen for the role of “Johnny” in a school play. Most of the play involved singing with his classmates as a group as well as the key role of Johnny which he powerfully conveyed entirely through non-verbal communication.  Watching him sing and act it was evident, he loved singing and it seemed he had moved past his stage fright.  The music and acting bug had bitten Dalton.

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The Way It Should Be! Dalton Cyr

Please use this link also to go directly to his YouTube Channel so you can leave him a comment there as well as at the end of this article!

The same year, when Dalton was seven, he received his first guitar for Christmas. Dalton’s Dad, Frank, noticed Dalton’s great ear when Dalton became frustrated the very first day playing his new miniature Stratocaster guitar because miniatures aren’t tuned the same as a regular guitar.  After exchanging the guitar for a ¾ electric guitar that was too big for him, but tuned correctly, Dalton began his musical journey taking guitar lessons. He performed a few times with his guitar and in 2008, when he was 8 he also joined a local community children’s choir.

Dalton Cyr Riverwalk
Dalton Cyr (Click to Enlarge)

In 2009, just a few months before his 9th birthday, he saw a friend play the lead role in a local musical production of Beauty and the Beast. Inspired, he decided at that moment he wanted to audition for the following year’s production.

For an entire year he talked about how he wanted to audition and wrote it down as one of his goals for 2010. However, when the auditions came around in early February of 2010, Dalton was extremely nervous about having to sing in front of people during an audition. He came home and told his parents that he was just going to try out for a speaking part.  Then the following day, he came home and told his parents he was just going to be a stagehand. Suspicious, his parents inquired why he would change his mind when he had been talking about being in the musical all year.  As it turned out, the only way to be in the musical even as a stagehand, required you to sing as part of your audition.

Wanting to help Dalton fulfill his dream of being in the musical, Dalton’s dad spoke to the musical director and asked for tips. One tip was to sing wearing headphones so Dalton could hear himself. So Dalton’s dad set up a place for Dalton to sing with a microphone and headphones. Each night Dalton would practice for an hour or more.  The day of tryouts, he was so nervous he made himself sick!  But the directors let Dalton try out an alternate day and he did the audition for Willy Wonka. The audition went well and Dalton got the part of Mike Teevee.

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