Well it is that time of year where the Top of the Country contest reveals it’s 8 semi-finalist. The Top of the Country winner receives $25,000 and the other finalists will get $10,000. The contest has seen some notable winners and finalists over the years and can help launch careers. Names like Matt Lang, Tyler Joe Miller, Hailey Benedict and Sacha have taken home the title, while names like Tim and the Glory Boys, Josh Ross were finalists who have gone on to make names for themselves. The most recent winner was Zach McPhee, who saw his single “Who Knew” go top 40 shortly after being declared the winner in Edmonton back in September.
From coast to coast, the 2025 Top of the Country semi-finalists are:
- Sully Burrows – Parry Sound, Ontario
- Annika Catharina – Deroche, British Columbia
- Allison Daniels – Quebec City, Quebec
- Noeline Hofmann – Bow Island, Alberta
- Braden Lam – Halifax, Nova Scotia
- Brettyn Rose – Okotoks, Alberta
- Jake Vaadeland – Cut Knife, Saskatchewan
- Mitch Zorn – Kelowna, British Columbia
Names like Mitch Zorn, Allison Daniels will be familiar to our listeners as they have been played regularly on the station and names like Brettyn Rose and Jake Vaadeland have been names that have been heard on River Country Rising Stars, with Jake a few years ago played the The North Country Fair. If the semi-finalist don’t advance there have been some like The Prairie States and Tony Stevens who have found success shortly afterwards.
The list of 8 will be narrowed down through fan voting to get it down to 3, where they will perform and a winner will be declared during Country Music Week in the lead up to the CCMA Awards in Kelowna. This will be interesting to see who the final 3 will be when it comes time for that announcement, fingers crossed for the Alberta talent.
– Everett
