SACHA, Born in the Eighties Added to CPL Fan Fest 2023, Nicolina to Perform National Anthem
October 27, 2023 - Canadian Premier League (CPL) News Release
Toronto, ON - SACHA, one of Canada's fastest rising stars, and local Hamilton party band Born in the Eighties will bring their talents to the Volkswagen Electric Stage at Fan Fest ahead of the 2023 Canadian Premier League Final on Saturday, Oct. 28 at Tim Hortons Field, the league announced on Friday.
They will be joined at Saturday's match by Nicolina, a Vaughan-raised singer who became the first Canadian to reach the top five on American Idol during last year's season 20, who will wow the crowd at Tim Hortons Field with her rendition of O Canada ahead of kickoff of the match between Forge FC and Cavalry FC.
A native of Ontario, SACHA has experienced a meteoric rise in the Canadian country music scene since the release of her EP, The Best Thing, in July 2020. The emerging talent was named Future Star by iHeartRadio and joined Country Music Television's (CMT) Next Women of Country class of 2021. In early 2022, SACHA released her sophomore EP, We Did, cementing herself as a talented storyteller and performer, and earned her first Platinum-certification and Canadian Country Music Association (CCMA) Award with her track "What The Truck" alongside The Reklaws. She has toured within Canada, the U.K., and the U.S., including more than 15 cross-country dates on CMT's Next Women of Country tour with Maddie and Tae.
Earlier this year, SACHA performed the Canadian national anthem at the 2023 NHL All-Star game, and her latest single "Confident" at the 2023 CCMA Awards with singer-songwriter, producer, and actor, Tyler Shaw, who was recently announced as the 2023 CPL Fan Fest headliner.
"I can't wait to get on stage at CPL Fan Fest this weekend," said SACHA. "Performing at sporting events is an experience like no other. I am excited to share my music with the fans at Tim Hortons Field and join Tyler in getting the party started ahead of the game."
Nicolina released her viral TikTok ballad Way Out earlier this year and recently followed it up with Pretty, which landed her No. 1 spot on the singer-songwriter charts on iTunes. Her powerhouse vocals and emotional storytelling has delighted audiences from the stage and on TikTok, where she boasts more than 625,000 followers.
"The chance to perform our national anthem is a special opportunity, especially ahead of such an important game and for a totally Canadian league," says Nicolina. "I'm looking forward to being on the field and hearing all the fans sing along."
Born in the Eighties (BITE) will bring the best of eighties dance party hits and nineties pop classics to the Volkswagen Electric Stage. No stranger to the Hamilton music scene, BITE, armed with a keytar, drum machine and an extensive song library, has performed all over the greater Hamilton area, including at Supercrawl and Because Beer.
"We love to surprise and inspire people to get out on the dance floor, and we are pumped at the opportunity to do just that on the Volkswagen Electric Stage," said Adam White, Lead Singer, Born in the Eighties."We can't wait to perform in front of another Hamilton crowd."
Fan Fest will be held in the South Plaza outside of Gates 1 and 2 at Tim Hortons Field beginning at 3:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, Oct. 28. Shaw and SACHA are two of several live music and DJ acts who will be featured on the Volkswagen Electric Stage, which makes its debut at the pre-match event in 2023 thanks to CPL founding partner Volkswagen Canada.
Supporters of all ages will have the opportunity to get in on the day's excitement early by attending Fan Fest, which will boast a variety of food and beverage options, interactive games and attractions and prizes, as well as the chance to meet CPL players and see the league's new North Star Cup up close before it is lifted for the first time by this year's champions.
Following Fan Fest, longstanding rivals Forge and Cavalry will face off in the 2023 CPL Final at 6 p.m. ET, with Nicolina kicking off the match with the singing of O Canada. The marquee event of the 2023 CPL season will be broadcast live on dedicated soccer channel OneSoccer, available as a linear channel on Optik TV (Ch. 980), the pay-TV service operated by Telus, one of Canada's "big three" telecoms companies, as well as on streaming service fuboTV Canada. OneSoccer is also offered as an affordable streaming service through the OneSoccer.ca website, via Roku, Chromecast and Apple TV devices and with the OneSoccer app for iOS and Android devices.
Fans interested in purchasing tickets to Saturday's match can do so here or contact a ticket representative at 905-527-3674 or tickets@forgefootball.club. Forge surpassed 10,000 tickets sold ahead for the CPL Final as of Tuesday, Oct. 24, and is on pace to welcome the largest sold attendance at any Forge home match.
Canadian Premier League Stories from October 27, 2023
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