VIDEO: Singer’s TV special set in Niagara Falls wins top honours in New York

After she performed two songs live from Niagara Falls for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert last July, Brampton-based singer Alessia Cara wasn’t done there.

Less than a month later, she released the TV special “Alessia Cara Live from Niagara Falls” which aired across Canada, as well as on MTV in the U.S.

However, she also released it on her YouTube channel and saw a additional 220,000 hits. Cara is also a regular on The Late Show with Jimmy Fallon where she participates in the contrived but hilarious “Wheel of Musical Impressions” whereby she and Fallon do their takes on other singers belting out oddball tunes.

The special, which is half-interview, half-music, got an unexpected pay-off last week as it collected gold in the branded documentary category at the Storytellers Gala of the New York Festivals TV & Film Awards.

At the time on her two-song performance on the Colbert show, Niagara Falls Mayor Jim Diodati couldn’t have been more enthusiastic. “It was incredible to see and hear Canadian singer-songwriter Alessia Cara perform her two newest singles in Niagara Falls last night!”

With the New York win, it was Niagara Falls Tourism president Janice Thomson praising the exposure the singer gave the Falls with her TV special.

Thomson praised the professionalism of the production, start to end, and said the singer had brought a huge boost to the tourist attraction.

On the special, Cara can be seen singing in front of the Niagara Skywheel, as well as the Oakes Garden Theatre.

Cara, who just turned 25 last July, was born Alessia Caracciolo before adopting the stage name Cara and is the only Canadian to win a Grammy for Best New Artist, a feat she accomplished in 2018.

If you have 37 minutes, here’s the special in its entirety.