Linguavision 2026

It’s not often you see lava lamps, soccer balls, and Kung Fu weaponry on the same stage, but these are just the kind of surprises that can happen at the Linguavision Singing Contest!

Tuesday night marked the 11^th year of the contest. This year, 20+ performers singing in 6 different languages for a chance to bring home a cash prize along with some fond memories.

This year’s contest took us around the world with covers of songs from artists in Colombia, Japan, Korea, Italy, France, Spain, China, and (surprisingly) Sweden.

Stef and Alex kicked things off with a soccer-themed tune to get us ready for World Cup 2026.  Chloé brought us an anti-oppression song from the rice fields of pre-1900 Italy.  Serena dipped into the vault to bring us a challenging song from the Enka tradition.  And a wisecracking Daniel (with his companion lava lamps) brought us an acoustic performance of a Japanese electronic music hit straight out of the 80’s.  You kinda had to be there. But here’s what it all looked like.

1st Half

2nd Half

Prizes went to:

• 1^st Place – Serena (Japanese)
• 2^nd Place (tie) – Julia (French) and Sophie (Spanish)
• 3^rd Place – Ben & Jacob (Japanese)
• Honourable Mention – Chloé (Italian)
• Judges’ Choice – Chi (Korean)
• Audience Choice – Keisha & Vipop (Korean)

Also making an appearance at Linguavision for the second consecutive year, the ASL Spotlight featuring students from our upper-level American Sign Language (ASL) courses.  At last year’s event, students showcased different styles of ASL poetry.  This year, they shifted their focus to three creative forms of Deaf visual-spatial storytelling in ASL literature: the ABC story, Personification, and the 123 story.  Which is how we found ourselves on a road trip in a hot car (you know how that feels) and Flo was VERY hungry (ABC story), watching the emotional lives of flowers (Personification), and going out on the worst date EVER (123 story) !

The evening flowed smoothly with last year’s 1^st prize winner, Archie Nath, at the podium.  Kind of the perfect way to celebrate his 20^th birthday, especially with his parents and brother (all the way from Mississauga) in the audience.

Speaking of audience, as always the audience was a huge part of Linguavision; super-supportive of all contestants and actively engaged in their performances.  Thanks to all the language instructors who came out in support of their students, thanks to all the classmates and the staff members and the administrators who took the time at a busy time of year to be a part of the evening’s event.  And especially thanks to all the parents who came out to cheer on their children at what we hope was a memorable event for everyone!

And, of course, racing around behind the scenes (and in front of them), thanks also to our awesome team of volunteers. Whether keeping things moving on stage, handing out programs, or counting audience choice ballots (and more), this event could not run without them.

Last but definitely not least, thanks a million to everyone who performed this year.  You put on a great show, a real celebration of language, culture, and music. Such fun to be a part of! And you came from all over campus too! A great reminder that language courses aren’t only for Linguistics students.  This year, we had students from:

And what about you? Are you thinking of learning a language?  If so, now’s the time! Your microphone awaits!

Photo Credits: Camille Barrette, Don Myles, Gartania Heslop, Jacob Gonato, Louis-Philippe “Rui” Baril, and Sharon Temerigha.