At 13, Langley singing sensation Cole Armour has been on the Ellen DeGeneres show, been crowned the province’s top amateur singer in the Red Robinson Talent Showdown, been asked to sing with some celebrities, and been invited to showcase his amazing talents at some of the province’s most prestigious entertainment events.

But he won’t be part of this year’s Variety Club Telethon.

it was announced early Thursday morning that the Grade 8 Langley Fine Arts student has withdrawn from the Variety’s Got Talent competition, due to complications.

Much to the shock of many local fans, he didn’t make it into the top 10 shortlist of the second annual singing competition.

But he still had a chance as a wildcard in the competition through the people’s choice award. It just meant fans had to go online, watch his Variety audition video, and vote for him.

Unfortunately, Cole’s father Ron Armour was informed Thursday morning, for unknown reasons Variety’s attempts to upload Cole’s video over the past 24 hours have failed.

Disappointed by the news, Ron told The Langley Advance minutes later that his son opted to step back.

“I guess this just wasn’t meant to be,” said Dad. “And he always wants to take the high road.”

So the family made a group decision to withdraw, rather than have it appear Cole received few or no votes by the deadline on Friday.

Ironically, Cole was too young to compete last year, but was invited as a special guest at last year’s Variety’s Got Talent Show.