He plays four instruments and sings so it is no wonder that 12-year-old Logan Simpson was among the ten winners of the Guyana Talent Search Competition, which wrapped up last month.
From the inception, Logan wowed the judges and audience with piano playing and his sweet voice. When he first began singing, his voice was beautiful but soft and the judges time and again requested him to sing louder. By the end of the competition, he evolved to doing exactly what was asked of him.
With the help of his mother, Michelle Singh, Logan shared how he learnt of the competition and his experience throughout. He said the contestants made his time in the competition fun and memorable and on a number of occasions when his nerves got the better of him backstage, they encouraged him, including his favourite competitor, Cassie Adams. She was often his focal point when he performed and knowing this, she sat in the wings offstage where she was always in his view.
Logan was five years old when he first began playing the piano under the guidance of Christian and Jeremy Sobers, co-directors of Music Unlimited. Since then he has also learned to play the ukulele and drums, and he recently began learning to play the violin at the music school. He has only been singing for a year now. Michelle said that to boost his confidence, she recorded him singing which helped him in this area.
Earlier this year when his music teacher, Christian informed Logan and his mother of the Guyana Talent Search Competition, they both agreed that he would audition. At first they wondered if he would manage the competition and prepare for the National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) but were certain he could do it if he remained organized and had a balanced schedule. They went ahead and sent in a video of Logan playing the piano and singing a cover of John Legend’s “Conversations in the Dark” to the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports. This past week, the New Guyana School pupil sat his NGSA exams.
Michelle, a single mother, shared that she tried encouraging Logan’s brother, Lucas who is 13, to enter the competition as he too can play three instruments, but he could not be persuaded. At the moment, Lucas, who is attached to STEMGuyana and STEM Program – Voluntary Youth Corps Inc, is representing his school at a robotics competition.
Following the audition, the ministry took a while to get back to Logan about whether he had made the cut and at one point they assumed he had not been selected and moved on with their busy lives, only to receive official word that he had been selected. Overjoyed that he made it, Logan and his family immediately began trying to find the song he would sing on the first night. “Because the children are home because of the pandemic, it was a wonderful distraction for him,” Michelle pointed out.
Logan likes watching “The Voice”, “American Idol” and “America’s Got Talent” and therefore had an idea what Guyana Talent Search might be like. He can do excellent impressions of Bruno Mars and John Legend, but since other contestants were choosing their songs, Logan steered clear of them. His last performance was Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean”, which was relatively new to him, but which he sang and played like he had known it forever.
Before he became a wonder child to the judges and viewers, Logan was wooing relatives and friends with his skill. With seven years of playing the piano under his belt, he can learn to play a new song on the piano within half an hour.
Prior to COVID when schools were open, Logan, who is a member of his school band, played his instruments at worship time every morning at the beginning of school. His teachers and the headmistress always encouraged his playing. No one could be sure what instrument he would play; some days it was the ukulele, others the piano and so on.
Rehearsals for the competition were held at the National Cultural Centre (NCC) and Logan had the joy of playing the NCC’s grand piano during them as well as . Whenever it was his time to get up onstage during rehearsals, the piano would be wheeled out for him to practice on. It was the same piano he played during the competition.
His favourite part of the competition, he said, like contestants Curtela Lewis and Nia Allen, was the Flag Raising Ceremony, for many reasons. The rehearsals for the ceremony drew everyone closer and Logan said he felt privileged to perform at an event where the president and other prominent people were present. The fireworks was another reason it was his favourite; being right on the scene where they were launched was even more magical than seeing them from afar, he said.
Michelle and Logan said the contestants and the organizers were wonderful. Michelle said that they were understanding and gave leeway for them arriving after rehearsals began, when her work ran late or Logan’s lessons clashed with the time. However, in the end, it all worked out.
Logan was recently part of an advertisement for the Caribbean Premier League, which is yet to be released. He said he had very little issue working with producers of the ad having had the experience with camera setups, angling of his face and dealing with sound systems during talent search.
Though he has a lot of time before he decides on a career, Logan has contemplated becoming a lawyer who sings and plays instruments.
In his free time, he likes to play chess and read mystery/adventure novels like Goosebumps, and Diary of a Wimpy Kid. He also likes to play Minecraft, and romp with his dogs Rocky and Gremlin.
Since the competition, many have reached out to Logan to let him know of their support; he has been nicknamed ‘Lil Piano Man’.
After the competition ended, Logan wrote a card to the Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport. It read, “Dear Honourable Minister Charles Ramson, Thank you so much to you and the ministry for providing a platform to showcase talent in Guyana such as mine. Thank you too for your kind generosity, love and support to myself and all the Top Ten contestants of the Guyana Talent Search. You fulfilled a lot of dreams that night! I will be putting my prize money towards a university fund. Respectfully, Logan ‘Superstar’ Simpson.”
The minister posted a picture of the card on the ministry’s Facebook page and shared how touched he was and happy to know that Logan chose to save his money for his university fund.
Logan likes the colours blue, red and green and loves eating any kind of curry.
He is slated to sing and play the piano on the Ministry of Education’s television game show, “Whiz Kids” on August 28.
