Malia Afonso is reaching for the stars

By Mark Ribble

REGIONAL — The sky is the limit for 14-year-old Malia Afonso.

The Grade 9 student at Cardinal Carter Catholic Secondary School has come a long way in her short life and she’s poised to make a big splash in the music industry.

Malia came from humble beginnings. She was born in Ethiopia and was adopted by Lucilia Afonso at four months of age. In the orphanage, they called her the singing baby because she was always vocalizing.

Her mom, Lucilia, is her biggest supporter.

Malia Afonso, now 14, took the stage for the first time at four years of age, at the Portuguese Club.

“She fell in love with singing on stage at the age of four,” says her mom. “And she can sing in English, Portuguese and French.”

Malia’s talents don’t stop at singing. She’s a talented songwriter and is also an accomplished actress with parts in musical theatre productions locally and in Windsor. She’s also performed in Michigan, New York and Los Angeles.

She was a top five finalist in the Portuguese Eurovision competition when she was just 12 years-old.

She is currently a finalist in Season 15 of the Long and McQuade Singing Contest, hosted by well-known TV host, John Santos in Toronto.

“John is so great,” says Lucilia. “He doesn’t charge a fee for entry, and genuinely wants to help the singers.”

The Singing Contest’s Grand Finale will be broadcast live on You- Tube on Friday, May 28 at 7 pm. If you log in to that finale, you can cast a vote for Malia and help her in her quest to win the competition.

Malia Afonso performing at the Long and McQuade Singing Contest.

In addition to being a finalist at the Long and McQuade Singing Contest, Malia has recently released her first original song, entitled ‘Don’t Let Go’, available on all streaming platforms. She has also had airtime on Hear and Now on CKLW and Homegrown Hits on Mix 96.7.

The music video for Don’t Let Go was released last week and is also viewable on her YouTube channel.

Lucilia says her oldest daughter has so much to be proud of.

“I’m proud of her as a big sister and how she is with her grandfather,” said Lucilia. “But I’m also very proud of what she has accomplished with her music.”

Malia plans on pursuing a career in music and has plans to go to college to study musical theatre and classical music, unless her career takes off before the end of high school.

“A career in music is the only thing I’ve wanted to do since I was four years old,” she said. “I enjoy seeing the impact on other people’s lives with my music.”

The talented teenager is grateful to the community for listening to her music, as she prepares to release her second single, ‘I’m Sorry’, in the coming weeks.

“Thanks for listening to my song and I hope everyone enjoyed it,” she said.