Bella Paige‘s first rehearsal was a Voice Kids winning masterclass and the performance shone on stage. Australia‘s second rehearsal saw a consistently improving vocal and choreography that is simple but highly effective. A significantly stronger vocal than most of the other ballads and the novelty of being in the competition should help it sky rocket up the scoreboard.
Watch Australia’s second rehearsal
WHAT WE THOUGHT OF HER FIRST REHEARSAL
Bella Paige is in it to win it and she certainly went for gold today, starting her performance with a golden shower of sparks cascading down her LED. She continues the theme with a shimmering golden dress with black top, and two backing dancers — also kitted out in black and gold. The “girls” she sings about join her centre stage for the first chorus and appear to perform water aerobics. By the second minute they’re flapping their wings. It sounds strange, but it really works: it keeps the focus on Bella but adds movement and dynamism to help her fill the space. The LED screen includes plenty of exploding supernovas, reminiscent of the flames Conchita had en route to victory back in 2014. Vocally Bella was faultless. She didn’t just hit the high notes: she added texture to the song and remained in total control in every register. It’s not the most kid-friendly performance — no circus act here! — but the song screams “radio hit” and Bella delivers it with ease. Elegant with just the right amount of urban edge, it feels very X Factor season finale, which suggests it could pull in viewers — and votes.
JUNIOR EUROVISION 2015: AUSTRALIA’S FIRST REHEARSAL
READ ALL OF OUR REHEARSAL REVIEWS HERE
READ OUR JESC 2015 SONG REVIEWS HERE
FOLLOW ALL OF OUR JUNIOR EUROVISION COVERAGE HERE
Photo: EBU (Credit: Elena Volotova/Vladimir Dudakliev)
oh hey an unintended consequence of Australia in ESC 2016 presents itself here
Paige can’t win off of the novelty factor of the ~last Australian participation ever~ anymore
Her song is now just a simple power ballad in a field of other occasionally more relevant contenders–Australia might have lost the JESC over this
Who is the Junior Eurovision aimed at?
Is it just for kids?
Australia wili be winner , thank to sing in english, and manypoints vote from juries, they wili be overrated by juries like Sweden at adult Eurovision 2015.
Am I the only one who absolutely don’t like the dress ????
Careful with those guttural vocals. It’s getting a bit aggressive when there’s really no need to overstretch your voice that way.