(HARLINGEN) – Texas State Technical College student Christopher Briones has become a local celebrity with his first-place win during the Texas Music Café PBS TV Show and TSTC’s Talent Search, bringing the award home to Harlingen for the third year in row.
Briones, who started singing five years ago in high school and currently sings at a local church, was awarded a $2,500 recording contract with E-Cleff Productions, Inc. after his award-winning performance during Wednesday night’s finals held at TSTC’s Waco campus.
It was there where the 19-year-old belted out the notes to “Resurrecting,” by Elevated Worship.
“My worst fear during this contest was rejection. Rejection because of my choice of songs,” he said. “But my love for the gospel and worship ended up being received well and led me to a new chapter in my music career.”
The San Benito native first auditioned for his spot at finals during Harlingen’s Texas Music Café and Talent Search regional competition event last month, singing “Reckless” by Cory Asbury.
To earn a spot at finals, Briones had to be in the top five among 33 performers from TSTC’s campuses across the state.
Briones earned more than 300 “Likes” on YouTube and qualified to join Brooke Baily from TSTC Abilene, Caroline Herman from TSTC Marshall, Samuel Self from TSTC Waco and Brandon Felts and John Ward from TSTC Fort Bend County at the competition’s finals.
“I never expected to make it this far, much less win first place,” said Briones. “There was so much talent in one room. I was shocked, surprised and excited when I heard the judges call my name. I couldn’t believe it.”
In the coming months, Briones will travel back to Waco for his session in the recording studio with an assigned producer. He will record two original songs, one titled, “The One,” an ode to God for never leaving his side and a second one that is still a work in progress.
“I started working on these songs immediately after arriving from Waco, same night actually,” he said. “I’m excited to share my songs with the world and I hope they can make an impact in someone’s life.”
Briones’ tracks will be featured on the Texas Music Café website, radio program and PBS. He will also have the opportunity to perform as the opening act for a live taping of Texas Music Café.
“This is about to take my music career to a new level,” said Briones. “I hope this opens up other performance and recording opportunities. This is a dream come true.”
Student Life Coordinator Belinda Palomino said she is proud of every contestant who participated this year.
“Every year I am amazed at the amount of talent we have on campus and across the state,” she said. “I would seriously hate to be a judge. It’s a hard decision for them every time.”
She said the partnership between TSTC, Texas Music Café and its executive producer Chris Ermoian is invaluable because of the opportunities it presents to students. They have been working together since 2016.
“As a technical school many think we have no musical talent, but this lets us showcase what we have and get our students’ names out there and expose them to a world they may not get the chance to see in the classroom or outside of these walls.”
Palomino said she is excited to see the partnership continue to flourish and she hopes someday every TSTC campus can host a show and that the number of participants continues to grow.
As for Briones, he said he is thankful to TSTC and Texas Music Café for this opportunity, but even more thankful to his family and friends who pushed him to do it in the first place.