Tommy's #1 SHANIA TWAIN SuperSite Message Board

Ultimate Shania fan meets idol

By Amanda Jess | June 27, 2014

Meeting our heroes can turn out to be a disappointment. For Jake Chisholm, it was better than he could’ve hoped after being brought on stage during a Shania Twain concert in Las Vegas, and getting to take a ‘selfie’ with the country singer.

Shania Twain is still the one for Jake Chisholm.

Her influence is present in many of his decisions, having admired her from afar since he was three years old.

The 19-year-old, who recently met his idol in Las Vegas, attributes his move to Pictou County from Ontario in August to the country singer.

He went on a road trip to Northern Ontario to see where Twain grew up, did some reflecting, and made the decision to move to Nova Scotia, aiming to go after his dreams like she did in Nashville.

“Why can’t Nova Scotia be my Nashville?” he asked.

Although he lived in Hamilton, Ont., he spent summers in Nova Scotia, growing to love the province.

After a rough Grade 12 year of high school drama, dissolving friendships, and uncertainty of what he wanted to do, Chisholm started researching college in Nova Scotia, picking NSCC Pictou campus, near his family in Antigonish.

He bought a house in Stellarton after seeing only photos and videos of it online, and started a two-year program in business administration.

“I believe in Nova Scotia,” he said.

In high school, he said nobody believed he would move to the province, but he decided to just go for it.

“If Shania can do it, why can’t I?”

Chisholm’s fascination with her is about more than her music, he says.

He holds a lot of respect for her because of the wholesome way she appears to conduct herself, comparing her to other celebrities who are pulled over for drunk driving.

“You just don’t see people like that in the public (eye).”

Watching her follow her dreams and make it through a “horrific divorce” are just two of the reasons he looks to her as a role model.

He’s followed her career through magazines, which he collects, her autobiography, her series with Oprah called Why Not?, a question he says he asks before many of his choices, and on social media.

His love for her started in part due to growing up with her music, thanks to his mother’s appreciation of Twain.

It only makes sense that when Chisholm got to meet his hero, his mother was responsible for getting him there. She purchased tickets for them to see Twain in Las Vegas.

Chisholm had very briefly seen her at a book signing in Toronto, but the concert offered a more personal experience as well as a chance to hear her voice.

He arrived at Caesars Palace at 6:30 p.m. for the 7:30 p.m. show, hoping to catch a glimpse of someone from her crew.

He eventually saw her husband, Fred, walking around, and asked him to give Twain a letter.

“Why don’t you give it to her yourself?” Chisholm says Frederic Thiébaud asked him.

Chisholm was ‘up in the clouds’ for the beginning of her concert, anxiously waiting to be put on stage with Twain.

Thiébaud finally approached him, taking him into a separate room to wait for a few others selected to go up, including another Canadian.

When it was finally time to go up, he thought he’d be nervous, but it ended up feeling natural.

“I felt very comfortable,” he said, adding that he shared his story of Twain’s influence helping him through a rough Grade 12 year and leading him to discover a life path.

The audience responded to his story, saying ‘aw’ and clapping.

Twain also asked him to stay on stage for three songs: Rock This Country, Come On Over, and the most fitting choice, Today’s Your Day.

From This Moment On has a whole new meaning for him.

http://www.ngnews.ca/Arts-%26amp%3B-Life/2014-06-27/article-3779876/Ultimate-Shania-fan-meets-idol/1