Jesse Lamont’s walk into the musical life was not planned. In fact, it was a total fluke dating back to high school.
“I told him that he should do the musical because it’s a great way to get to know people and it’s really fun,” says Zoe Stradeski, Lamont’s older sister. “He said, ‘No thank you, I want to keep my lunch money.’ So I signed him up without him knowing.”
The 23-year-old is now an award-winning performer, claiming gold at the 2026 Penticton Elvis Festival after 18 months as an Elvis tribute artist.
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Lamont who is based in Regina, says it was fate that he was actually good at performing.
“The talk at the dinner table that night was ‘Jesse can actually sing,'” he says.
Following that, Lamont threw himself into the local musical theatre community, starting by getting himself a voice teacher to hone his craft and also getting involved with Sask Express, a group dedicated to shaping performers.
“This Elvis stuff, it came as a bit of a fluke as well. They made me do an Elvis number and one night I’m singing karaoke at a bar and someone comes up to me and shakes my hand and we start talking,” he says.
He was offered a unique opportunity to perform at a fundraiser, but there was one catch: he had to perform as Elvis and he’s been doing that ever since.
“My entire family has been really supportive and really proud of me, which is great,” he says. Lamont adds that his mom has even helped create his onstage outfits and he hopes to keep growing and fostering his craft.
Sania Ali has more details in the video above.
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