The last time we caught up with Canadian sensation Jeffery Straker, he was opening for Spice Girl alumna Mel C during Toronto Pride and had just released his latest album, Vagabond. The single from his 2010 album, “Hypnotized,” however is the one currently making waves internationally and has just made him a boat load of cash.
The Viña del Mar International Song Festival, an annual singing competition hosted in Chile, is one of the biggest — and most influential — events in Latin America. Past headlining acts include Daddy Yankee and Nelly Furtado, and Straker can now count himself one of the contest’s illustrious winners. Performing “Hypnotized” in true cabaret fashion, Straker tamed “El Monstruo” (what the festival calls its audience, which is both an amazing and terrifying moniker) and took home the grand prize of $50,000, becoming the second Canadian (Sierra Noble was the first) to make it to the top.
Be sure to catch the winning performance above. In true Latin American–television fashion, it is dramatic, over-the-top and sheer perfection.
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