On Saturday, the CFL confirmed that Canadian up-and-coming singer-songwriter Alessia Cara will be headlining the Freedom Mobile Halftime Show at the 2018 Grey Cup in Edmonton.
Cara, 22, released her debut album, Know-It-All, in 2015. She has made the Canadian and U.S. Billboard charts several times now and is a four-time Grammy nominee. In 2018 the Brampton, Ont., native won her first award — a Grammy biggie — for Best New Artist.
She sat down with ET Canada‘s Carlos Bustamante to share her excitement about the Grey Cup performance and why she’s a little nervous.
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Cara said the bar was set very high in 2017 by Canadian country-music icon Shania Twain, who pulled in more than 4.3 million viewers for her Grey Cup halftime performance.
When asked if Twain offered her any Grey Cup advice when they met at the CCMAs, she said, “No. I should have asked. We talked for like two seconds and took a picture. Then she had to leave and go back onstage again, so I didn’t get to talk to her. But maybe if I can find her online I’ll ask her.”
The musician wasn’t afraid to admit she was nervous.
“It’s so cool, but it’s very intimidating to know that millions of people are going to be watching you live. Hopefully, everything will go well.”
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As of this writing, the current CFL standings show the Ottawa Redblacks at the top of the East Division, and the Calgary Stampeders dominating the West. It’s too early to say who will go head-to-head in the 2018 Grey Cup, but Alessia Cara will be there for an explosive performance.
The 106th Grey Cup presented by Shaw is scheduled for Nov. 25 at 6 p.m. ET
adam.wallis@globalnews.ca