Edmontonian, 13, to be official national anthem singer for Elks' 2025 season
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After moving to Edmonton just over one year ago, 13-year-old Suraiya Liapis will be the Edmonton Elks’ official national anthem singer for the 2025 football season.
Settling into a new city isn’t always easy. Liapis and her family moved from the U.S. to Edmonton, where much of her mother’s side of the family lives, in November 2023. But since getting to Edmonton, Liapis says she’s been making good friends and has already performed both O Canada and the Star-Spangled Banner for the Edmonton Oilers.
While singing for the Elks won’t be her first time performing at a big sporting event, the excited nerves still show up.
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“I’m feeling excited and also a little nervous because I have to learn the French-Canadian anthem too, and I have to sing it for two of the games. It’s not that stressful because it’s only two games, but I still am a little bit nervous because I’m not really the best at French,” Liapis said.
Liapis has been singing since she could walk. When her family lived in the U.S., she performed the country’s national anthem at several venues for non-profit organizations and a couple of minor league baseball games.
Her greatest music inspiration is country singer Kelsea Ballerini.
“I’ve actually always kind of wanted to be a singer. I’ve already written a few songs, and I’ve even recorded one back in California. But it’s just harder than I thought it would be, especially now that I’m a teenager to balance things like school and just in general life. But I still want to keep moving at it,” Liapis said.
In preparation for the season, Liapis said French is at the top of the list, but because she has performed in front of many crowds before, her trick is to not stress herself out and to start practising a few days before the performance.
On performance days, Liapis said about 10 minutes before, she usually gets some nerves in the pit of her stomach.
“My trick is I just let myself get to the highest level of nervous that I can be because then when I actually go out to sing, I don’t feel it,” Liapis said.
Her first performance will be at the beginning of the Elks’ season in June. The season ends in October.
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