JUNIOR WORLD HIT FESTIVAL 9 - JWHF9 - CONTEST THREAD

by **Northern Beepee** » Sun Aug 29, 2021 9:20 pm

Koori-TV in association with Beepeean Occassional News Corporation and the International Broadcasting Alliance are pleased to present, live from Melaleuca in tropical Northern Beepee, the 9th Edition of Junior World Hit Festival.

OFFICIAL WHF THEME

OOC THREAD | DRAFT THREAD | PLAYLIST

We start tonight with a flight over Northern Beepee from the deep red sands of the interior. The hot arid centre of Northern Beepee, and over the majestic desert sands, the highly iron-oxidised dirt gives off a red-brown hue which gives us the colour theme for tonights show. Flying over the iconic sandstone domes and their deep ochre reflecting in the sunlight. How heading over the forested plains with steep sandstone escarpments, barren and bare, protuding for miles and creating disconnected water basins in remote area. Now, over lush tropical rainforests. Flocks of native birds, startled by the overhead helicopter noise, take to the air in flight, filling the sky with noise and colour. Now, heading towards the capital city of Northern Beepee, Melaleuca. A gleaming metropolis on the edge of the Huawan River; the suburbs rising to the shimmering city centre, over the tower blocks to the edge of the Huawan and the Karlu Exhibition and Conference Centre.

Inside the arena, the 4,000 strong crowd wait axiously watching the large rear LED screen show the pre-recorded flight. The camera then cuts to the edge of the stage, where a group of local indigenious Larrakin elders, highlighted by a single spotlight, begin to smoke the leaves, twigs and bark of the local gum. Plumes of white smoke rise from the small fire, and they waft across the area, perfuming the auditorium with sweet and smoky aroma. Traditionally, the ceremony is used to ward off bad spirits and to cleanse the past, for tonight it wishes good luck on our contestants.

On the LED Screen at the rear of the stage, a video of a local Larrakin elder plays, speaking in the native tounge. The subtitles read

"I acknowledge the Larrakin peoples, the traditional owners of Melaleuca. We pay our respects to the Larrakin elders past and present."

The rear LED screen darkens again and from the darkness, the slow rumble of the traditional didgeridoo, begins to raise.

The stage lights come on... on stage are local indigenous dancers, painted in the totems of their clans, in clay, charcoal and animal fat, begin to dance in a modern traditional manner.

A marimba beat, begins to kick in.

OPENING ACT - AURORA AUSTRALIS and the LARRAKIN DANCE ENSEMBLE - 'In Melaleuca'
To The Tune of 'Terra Australia' by Beatrice Egli

Aurora walks onto stage, carrying one of the symbols of this year's contest a twig from the melaeluca myrtle tree. She wears a matching outfit in Green and gold, the national colours of Northern Beepee. As she begins one of the male backing dancers approaches her and she gives the gift of the twig to the dancer, who takes the twig backstage. She begins...

Ten-thousand miles between you and me
If it feels too far from you
Just grab your ticket and in just one day
You'll be right next to me

The Melaleuca Dance ensemble dance around her in the traditional manner, in a joyful expression. As she sings the next stanza, Aurora joins the dancers around the smoking leaves. she warms her hands by in front of the fire. Many will recognise this as the symbol for budawa - to warm ones fingers by the fire and then to hold as a symbol of welcoming and friendship.

I have a heart full of love just for you
I've been waiting for you
Let me warm your hands in the fire of my heart
and believe me when I say

With the Chorus beginning, the backing LCD screen shows images of people from around Melaleuca and Northern Beepee interspersed with building, sights and tourist shots of Melaleuca. Faces of children from across the land, smiling and happy, beam out across the television screens to the multitudes watching at home. In front of the LCD screen, Aurora and the ensemble smile and dance about the wonders of Melaleuca.

Here in Melaleuca
Theres a place for you here
Just like a boomerang
You'll soon come back
Here in Melaleuca
It is the centre of my heart
and it's waiting for you to come

Dancing in the street
hear them sing oh-eh-oh
Walk along the banks
Of the mighty Huawan
All the people smiling
singing oh-eh-oh
And they've been waiting for you to come
Melaleuca

As she sings of walking along the banks of the Huawan, the LCD cuts to a pre-recorded segment showing Aurora walking along the river and interacting with the nature that can be found there. Before showing more sights and sounds of the city. Aurora has matured since the last edition of JWHF, she is more assured and more confident in her performance and she has been rehearsing heavily for tonights performance.

And when you get here we'll walk in the sun
Can you imagine the fun?
Its a place where we can fall in love
I've been waiting so long

The Northern Beepeean director shows shots of the audience as Aurora's song comes across crisp and clear. Flags of the 18 nations competing tonight flutter in every direction as the audience's anticipation of the show grows. Some of the audience have painted their faces in their national colours, or are wearing t-shirts with their favourite representatives. The Beepeeans and Northern Beepeeps alike are clearly enjoying Aurora's performance, filled with national pride at the singer's performance.

And once you get here
We'll spend the day
Wrapped around each other, its the best
I'll show you the world and I cant wait to say

The shot returns to Aurora and the ensemble, Aurora has been practicing her dancing and now dances in time and rhythm with the Ensemble, hoping from one foot to an other and kicking her heels across the ground. She carried on dancing as the chorus, once again begins...

Here in Melaleuca
Theres a place for you here
Just like a boomerang
You'll soon come back
Here in Melaleuca
It is the centre of my heart
and it's waiting for you to come

Dancing in the street
hear them sing oh-eh-oh
Walk along the banks
Of the mighty Huawan
All the people smiling
singing oh-eh-oh
And they've been waiting for you to come

As the chorus continues Aurora encourages the audience to sing along with the Oh-Eh-Oh's, the audience, predominantly the Beepeean and Northern Beepean members, seem only too happy to endulge Aurora. The Oh-Eh-Oh's echo around the rotund Karlu auditorium. The audience's anticipation building as they can feel the festival edging closer.

Dancing in the street
hear them sing oh-eh-oh
Walk along the banks
Of the mighty Huawan
All the people smiling
singing oh-eh-oh
And they've been waiting for you to come
Melaleuca

Earlier, some of the other non-native visitors seem a little perplexed by the audience participation in the song. But Now, as the song is ending, the audience has become swept up in the moment and the whole audience helps Aurora with the Oh-Eh-Oh's, which now boom around the Karlu.

Oh-Eh-Oh
Melaleuca
Oh-Eh-Oh
Melaleuca
Oh-Eh-Oh
Melaleuca
Oh-Eh-Oh
Melaleuca

by **Northern Beepee** » Sun Aug 29, 2021 9:21 pm

by **Northern Beepee** » Sun Aug 29, 2021 9:22 pm

1. |Malta Comino Gozo
Katerin ft Andreas Malosa - "Excited Feelings"
Language(s): English
Tune: Song
Lyrics: Izaak Musci and Cikku Latteo
Music: Nestu Montesin and Lawrenz Bongailas

Paul, Beatric (both dancers), Katerin and Andreas

Katerin Cassar was born on the 17th February 2009. From a distinctively young age, she was keen to perform and thus was encouraged to go to karaoke along with her grandfather.

When she turned 8, she took up some singing lessons. Her tutor at the time thought that it was best to train Katerin in country music, a genre which was very much altered as soon as she enrolled at La Voix Academy where Amy Attard noted the potential available to the performer. She entered a number of local competitions and was always given one of the top prizes, including the overall winner prize.

At this point in time, Katerin was an in-demand artist with several local marching bands asking her to accompany them during the traditional feasts. Her debut in this line of performing came during Good Friday 2013 alongside the H'Aqqara Marching Band, led by Maestro John David Zammit, one of her mentors. This led to an extremely busy summer, where Katerin was serenading the public and honing her skills further.

With the JWHF coming, it was revealed that Katerin had been chosen by MCG1 to represent Malta Comino Gozo at the Junior World Hit Festival held in Northern Beepee, a task which will definitely fill her up with courage.

Andreas Malosa, who is 13 who will be singing alongside is a male vocalist and is who always had a niche for music, and most importantly hitting the all-important notes during a performance. At the tender age of 8, he joined "La Voix Academy" under the tutelage of Amy Attard, and started to learn about the various types of singing techniques available. His favourite genre is Rap.

Since then, he has taken part in several local competitions, whilst also attending a series of workshops, all aiding his progress in the art of vocal training. At the end of 2013, Andreas became a household name in MCG, after reaching the finals of the singing competition "Io Canto"
Following his appearance on "Io Canto", Andreas has been touted as one of the most prolific child vocalists and also upcoming rap artists to grace the local music scene.

"Excited Feelings" features an instantly captivating ear-catching uptempo musical instrumental that perfectly reflects the fiery nature within the lyrical aspect of this song & generates a feel-good atmosphere that listeners can easily connect to.
Katerin delivers a sassy vocal performance that reflects the energetic vibrancy behind the song & showcases the unique qualities behind her incredible vocalised temperament. Alongside Katerin, Andreas adds a level of supreme energy that resembles Katerin's dynamic spirit and exhibits the passionate essence that the song possesses.

Katerin Andreas

The audience cheers as the postcard ends. The stage is black. The spotlights above the stage race around as the opening begins. Katerin is stood centre of the boomerang stage with her two dancers. Her hair is tied back and she is wearing a neon white and pink top and a glowing jacket and white jeans. She has beautiful olive skin and her blue eyes shone brightly. Her two backing dancers are dressed in white. They start curled up on the stage floor and rise like King Cobra's either side of her being charmed by the music. The LED's change from black to a series of colourful neon shapes as she begins to sing. Katerin stays centre stage and sings as the camera starts from a stage shot and cuts to a facial shot. Katerin looks hyped. She turns as she sings to face each dancer as they carry on King Cobra dancing next to her. As she sings "Something is happening now" the spotlights behind her turn more colourful.

Something is happening
It is exciting and bewildering
You have to know why
Whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh
Something is happening now
I can't think of anything else
All these excited feelings now
Whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh

The camera switches to a stage shot from a boom cam that swings inwards towards the impressive stage. The dancers dance excitedly around Katerin who sings towards the camera. The lights on the stage light the stage white. The background LED turns blue and the floor turns bright green. We have a body shot of Katerin as she sings the last line joyously towards the camera.

We are enlightened beings
Come alive with me
We've got excited feelings
Excited feelings

We then switch to an onstage camera that pans from the right to left around the 3 people on stage as Katerin interacts with each of her dancers. There is something so intoxicating about an excited child. They bounce, they pounce, they smile and they run. As their grins get wider everyone around them starts to smile. That's how Katerin and her two dancers are as if they all are bursting with liquid sunshine from within. As the chorus ends huge balls of fire shoot quickly out of the edge of the stage, lighting up the stage and front of the arena in a hot glow. The audience roars and cheers. Katerin and her dancers all dance on the spot for the instrumental. The dance routine is characterized by energetic movements.

I've got mad gigantic feelings
Red and frantic feelings
About most everything
We've got excited feelings
Excited feelings

We have various close up stage shots, and wide stage shots for the next verse as Katerin and her dancers continue to dance. Their moves are full of glee and joy. The spotlights in the area flash blue for each "Whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh". Katerin points towards the audience as she sings "All you guys and gals everywhere" Centre-stage, she stood with her back arched and her hands stretched to the sky, as if in submission. The lights on the stage turned bright and the rhythm started to pulse into her. Her foot tapped to the steady beat. Back and forth, she swayed as the beat picked up pace.

I get so excited, I can't stay in my seat
Excitement fills the air
Let's rock the world with inspiration
Whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh
All you guys and gals everywhere
Come along, and join in the fun
Were at a theme park of joy, of joy
Whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh

The camera zooms in from the back of the hall towards the stage and the spotlights in the area flash blue for "Whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh". The camera switches to a stage shot from a boom hovering above the crow before it cuts to an on stage shot.. The dancers dance excitedly around Katerin who sings towards the camera. The lights on the stage light the stage white. The background LED turns blue and the floor turns bright green. We have a body shot of Katerin as she sings the last line joyously towards the camera.

We are enlightened beings
Come alive with me
We've got excited feelings
Excited feelings

The camera then focuses mainly on Katerin, a huge grin on her face as she sings towards the camera. She waves her left arm around in a motion whilst she sings, encapsulating the energetic feel of the music. The LED's are colourful neon shapes. At the end of the verse, we have a boom camera shot that swings outwards from the edge of the stage. Katerin's two dancers leave Katerins side and make their way towards the left side of the stage.

I've got mad gigantic feelings
Red and frantic feelings
About most everything
We've got excited feelings
Excited feelings

Huge cheers roar out as Andreas comes into view on the far left of the stage. He has teutonic-golden brown hair. It was a casual jumble sometimes but mostly neat and flowing. His crescent-of-moon eyebrows were thin and narrow. He carried an imperious nose well and his angular cheekbones carved down towards a flinty jaw. Unusually for his age, he had a tall muscular physique. Everyone loved the way he glided with an athletic grace without skipping a beat. His mariner-blue eyes were orb around and darted constantly, a-gleam with delight and the vigour of youth. They were soft. Everyone commented on his vivacious character and his gentle nature. His voice could be foghorn loud when he was booming out a guffaw but it was normally mellifluous. His gap year clothes always made him appear younger than his years. The spotlights centre towards him and light him up in white. He makes his way slowly towards the middle of the stage. Katerin slowly bops towards him.

Andreas and Katerin!
I’m super excited, as if I could fly
I’m so overjoyed that I nearly could cry

The two dancers accompany Andreas on both sides with elaborate choreographies. The camera is out in front of him but slightly to his side and follows him as he walks towards the centre of the stage. All four of them meet centre stage and Andreas sings towards Katerin whose smiling playfully. There is an upper-body shot of them both. They both bend and arch their back moving with the beat. Every now and then Katerin supports Andreas with a subtle "Umm Hmm".

It’s such a sensation, I’m having today!
I’m whooping and cheering and shouting, Hooray!
A weight on my shoulders was instantly lifted
It suddenly seems like a gift I’ve been gifted
My mood is improving
My spirits are lighter

The camera pans outwards and we have a shot of the stage glowing blue. The LED's flash dark blue and light blue mixed with neon pink and purple dots. The floor is glowing light blue. The camera focuses on Andreas as he raps.The audience is loud and clapping. On the last line the pair walk towards the edge of the centre stage.

It feels like the future is bound to be brighter.
The spring in my step is apparent to all
My head is held up high
And I am standing up tall!

We have a huge explosion of pyros as Katherin sings "Excited feelings" as pyros shoot out the edges of the stage. The stage changes to colourful neon shapes. Spotlights rush around the hall. Katerin points excitedly towards the audience encouraging them to join in. We have a back of arena view as the camera rushes towards the stage. We can hear Andreas supporting Katerin between her lines. The background LED is now covered in pink hearts and animated fireworks.

HEY COME ON!
Excited feelings
We are enlightened beings
Come alive with me
NORTHERN BEEPEE
We've got excited feelings
Excited feelings

Katerin and Andreas point at themselves as they sing I've got mad gigantic feelings before pointing towards their dancers who have dispersed to either side of the stage jumping and waving their arms encouraging the audience to bop along.

I've got mad gigantic feelings
Red and frantic feelings
About most everything
We've got excited feelings
Excited feelings

The camera jumps between an onstage view and a stage view. The dancers join Katerin and Andreas centre stage on the left and right. The state is a huge array of lights and colours. Pyros continue to shoot upwards around the edge of the stage.

We've got excited feeling
Excited feelings
Ahhhh Ahh Ahhhhh
Excited feelings

he camera hurtles towards them all on stage from the back. The two dancers pose next to them, the boy dancer makes an exciting face on Katerin's right and waves his hands and the girl dancer on Andreas's right makes a heart shape with her fingers. As the song finishes all four of them hug and screak excitedly and jump and squeeze their hands with excitement.

I've got mad gigantic feelings
Red and frantic feelings
About most everything
We've got excited feelings!

"THANK YOU!" They scream with joy and delight. The crowd is on their feet cheering.

by **Northern Beepee** » Sun Aug 29, 2021 9:25 pm

by **Northern Beepee** » Sun Aug 29, 2021 9:25 pm

2. | Adab
The Cool Combo - "Girl, I Love You"

Language(s): English
Tune: The Jackson 5 - ABC
Lyrics: Benji Akiya, Kinan al-Salaman
Music: Benji Akiya, Kinan al-Salaman

Background
“I never knew you write children’s songs,” the old voice chuckled down the line. Age had chipped away somewhat at the firmness that was the hallmark of that voice. It was deeper now, particularly when he was speaking and not singing, but also softer and occasionally at the verge of sounding out of breath. Maybe he had caught him at a bad time, health-wise. Maybe he was just lacking in rest.

“Well, I’m trying,” Benji Akiya chuckled back. “I mean, you know I do occasionally write songs – never for international contests until now, though! – and my uncle, too, if you remember. It’s just that this is the first time I’m doing this for an international contest. I’m definitely not doing this for WorldVision and the senior WHF!”

“Nothing wrong with trying,” came Kinan al-Salaman’s assuring reply. “So these boys you’re talking about, I’ve watched some of their videos on MyTube and I think they have potential. Your lyrics aren’t too bad, either, as long as you and the boys are really in it for the fun of it.”

A brief silence, and then he resumed, clearing his throat before starting again. “I’ll see if I can come down to the city, then we can work on the music and lyrics. Been awhile since I was last there.”

The time has come for the 9th Junior World Hit Festival, and the first such event during Benji Akiya’s tenure as Director-General of the Adab Broadcasting Corporation. Benji did not take too long to confirm Adab’s participation in the contest. As usual, he emphasized to the ABC Board and the general public that Adab’s aim is not to win the contest, but to introduce the multiverse to the country’s hottest musical talent and “have fun in the process”. “It would be too cruel, in my view, to subject these young people to the pressures of having to perform well and achieve a good placing or even win,” he stated. “The most important thing is that we have an international audience for our music.”

Indeed, Benji was determined to have as much fun as possible in the contest, to the point of enlisting himself to write Adab’s JWHF entry. With no high standards placed on him, Benji – who had been a (very) occasional songwriter – quickly set to work on a new song. Within a few days he had completed the lyrics. He and the ABC Board had agreed to give Adab’s JWHF spot to the Cool Combo - a rising act consisting of the 14-year-olds Elijah Bennett and Markus Sliwa, 13-year-old Anwar Abbas, and 12-year-old Mehmet Demir which had just recently been signed to the newly-inaugurated ABC Records – and Benji wrote lyrics which he felt suited the group’s style.

But Benji soon changed his mind, feeling that his lyrics were rather substandard and “too boring” for the group, and he could not imagine a melody that would suit the song. Not wanting to ditch his creation in favor of something from other songwriters, Benji knew he needed help, and he knew just who to ask.

And he got that help much easier than he expected. Kinan al-Salaman had begun writing and recording again in his Jabal al-Druze villa, though he had not shown any interest – publicly at least – in touring again, his recent cancer battle perhaps inducing him to stay close to home. Nevertheless, the veteran artist agreed to assist Benji in revising the lyrics and composing the melody. It helped that al-Salaman had always had a soft spot for children and teens and had recently endorsed a national mental health campaign targeted at them. Assisting in writing Adab’s JWHF entry was his way of further engaging with those age groups as much as his health and desire for privacy allowed him to.

Though he was still largely reluctant to leave the isolation of his villa, he made an exception this time, coming down briefly to Adab City to assist Benji with the music and lyrics, as well as visit his residence there, the Alwalid, for the first time in over a year. And when the job was done, he immediately returned to the hill country, leaving Benji with a completed song. Now it was the Cool Combo’s time to breathe life into that song on the JWHF stage.

The Performance
The lights turned on across the stage at the Karlu Conference and Exhibition Centre, revealing the entirety of the LED screen with “THE COOL COMBO” written across it in all-caps golden letters. As the Adabians in the crowd cheered and applauded their contestants, Mehmet Demir and Anwar Abbas appeared at the far end of one of the boomerang’s wings, with Elijah Bennett and Markus Silwa on the other wing. They both marched forward to the center of the boomerang, where microphone stands had been set up for them. Elijah and Markus were holding a guitar and a bass, respectively, and they took over the two microphone stands at the back. Elijah and Markus stood at the front, taking the mics off the stands.

As the opening chords rang out across the venue, Mehmet advanced to the edge of the stage, with Anwar just slightly behind him. The two of them began moving excitedly, gyrating, pointing to the crowd as they sang, especially Mehmet.

(Italic bold means everyone else singing)

Mehmet:
A la-la-la-la-la
A la-la-la-la-la

Mehmet:
You and your jet-black hair
Got me dreaming, dreaming, dreaming, girl

Anwar:
What do you like, where’d you wanna go girl

Mehmet:
Every time your red shoes swirl
But how can I get close to you (To you, to you)
All the time and more (All the time)

Anwar:
Stay ‘round here, wanna see you
Anything you want, I’d give it to you

With one hand still on the mic, Mehmet put his free hand over his head, mouth wide open, signifying his desperation to get the attention of the girl he has fallen for. With every “girl” he said, he pointed to the nearest girls he could see in the audience. Behind him and Anwar, Elijah and Markus shook their hips somewhat as they strummed on, smiling widely and bobbing their heads.

Mehmet:
Girl, girl, girl
Don’t you know I love you?
Wanna get close to you
Girl, girl, girl, it’s so hard, you’re driving me mad girl

Girl, girl, girl
Don’t you know I love you
Wanna get close to you
Girl, girl, girl, it’s so hard, you’re driving me mad girl

The center of attention was now on Elijah and Markus, Mehmet and Anwar turning around and pointing at them as they sang their part, their smooth voices echoing across the building. When it came to Anwar’s part, he himself turned once again to face the spectators, followed soon after by Mehmet. The Adabians in the crowd cheered them on, some of them waving the tiny national flag they had brought along with them.

Elijah:
Open your heart to me, girl, please, please, please, yeah

Markus:
Open your heart to me, girl, please, please, please, yeah

Anwar:
Girl, girl, I can show you a whole new world

Mehmet:
Come on, come on, girl now
I can’t stand it, you’re driving me mad

Mehmet and Anwar once again made their way to the front edge of the stage, turning to each other as they sang their parts, before again facing the audience as they got to the “Your bright eyes” part.

Mehmet:
You’re sitting there like you don’t care
Thinking you’re complete when you’re alone

Anwar:
But I can make you even more complete, girl

Mehmet:
Your bright eyes got me feeling like
F-f-f-falling, falling for you (For you, for you)
All the time and more (All the time and more)

Anwar:
You and me (You and me girl)
Listen to me girl, I’m the one for you

Mehmet and Anwar’s eyes were now squarely on the audience, as Elijah and Markus played on just behind them, letting the groove carry them away. Mehmet’s voice was clearly tinged with sheer anguish and desperation. The backing vocals grew increasingly louder and more energetic.

Mehmet:
Girl, girl, girl
Don’t you know I love you
Wanna get close to you
Girl, girl, girl, it’s so hard, you’re driving me mad girl

Girl, girl, girl, don’t you know that you can be with me now (With me now)
If you’d just say “I love you” (Don’t you know I love you)
We’d be happy forever
We’d be happy forever
You and me singing together (We’d be happy forever)
Forever, together

The backing voices receded away, and Mehmet now fell to his knees at the edge of the stage, with Anwar taking a step back just to ensure that the spotlight was fully on Mehmet. The latter banged his chest several times, his voice rising to a hoarse shout, more begging than singing. But the best moment was when that shout receded back to his normal singing voice and everyone on stage joined him, together singing the “come on, come on” part.

Mehmet:
Come on, girl!
Turn around and look at me!
Please!
Come on, girl!
Just say you love me!

Come on, come on, girl now, come on now

Everyone:
Come on, come on, girl now, yeah yeah
Come on, come on, girl now, yes
Girl, girl, girl, just say it, come on
Girl, girl, girl, say it, “I love you”
Girl, girl, girl, just say it, please

Mehmet:
It’s so hard, you drive me mad

Mehmet:
Girl, girl, girl, don’t you know that you can be with me now (With me now)
If you’d just say “I love you” (Don’t you know I love you)
We’d be happy forever

Mehmet now rose to his knees, stepping back towards his microphone stand. He put his mic back in the stand while also letting his mouth come closer to the mic, dancing and swaying in the process. Anwar too retreated to his own stand, though he still held on to his mic, shaking his hips.

Anwar:
Girl, girl, I can show you a whole new world

Mehmet:
Come on, come on, girl now
I can’t stand it, you’re driving me mad

Girl, girl, girl, don’t you know that you can be with me now (With me now)
If you’d just say “I love you” (Don’t you know I love you)
We’d be happy forever

Anwar:
Girl, girl, I can show you a whole new world, whole new world, whole new world!

Mehmet:
Girl, girl, girl, girl now!

Everyone:
Girl, girl, girl, don’t you know that you can be with me now (With me now)
If you’d just say “I love you” (Don’t you know I love you)
We’d be happy forever

At the conclusion of the last line, the lights all dimmed, though still (barely) bright enough to allow the audience to see the performers. The crowd cheered, led by the Adabians who were by far the loudest in the hall. The LED screen went dark, and with it went the all-caps THE COOL COMBO. Having secured their mics to the stand, Elijah, Markus, Mehmet, and Anwar gathered at the edge of the stage for a final bow to the audience before leaving the stage.

by **Northern Beepee** » Sun Aug 29, 2021 9:29 pm

by **Northern Beepee** » Sun Aug 29, 2021 9:30 pm

3. | Alezian Union
Andi Faturazzi Makarina - "Harapanku"

Title Transcription: -none-
Title Translation: My Wish
Language(s): Indonesian
Tune: My cover of Amar Pelos Dois oh god.
Lyrics: Andi Faturazzi Makarina
Music: Andi Faturazzi Makarina, Harlazmarimmi Harun Dasic

A R T I S T - I N F O

Andi Faturazzi Makarina or known sometimes as LAZULI is an Alezian singer, composeras if I can compose anything., Indonesian poem reader and English storyteller. He was born in Pa'are'u, 20 kilometers out of Bucinnois, Pantabang Islands in 30th of January 2005. He's the youngest of three children. Growing up in a musical family, he always know music as a great source of motivation and learning. In 3rd grade or when he was 7 years old, he and his family moved from Pantabang Islands to North Alezia, specifically Kota Basna in the region of Basna. However, as his father entered retirement last year, the family returned to Pa'are'u.

Faturazzi has been singing since he was 4, making small performances in front of his family, although the voice quality isn't as refined as it is now, of course. He has been writing songs since he was 10, making super simple music once in a while, only to never finish it. He has tried musical instruments such as violin and the keyboard, however, it just never sticked with him even with his previous experience on learning the violin in Junior High School. However, he does have the ability to play the recorder.

In his school life, he's known for singing and listening to music to himself when the teacher is not in the class, and drawing thank my school for giving me so much boredom that Countryvision was born. While his drawing "ability" went unrecognized, his other abilities got found. He won various awards together with his choir friends representing their Junior High once, and his Senior High once.

Other than singing, In his Elementary School life, he is known for being a great Indonesian poem reader, he represented his Junior High School in an English Spelling Bee competition once, only for him to get robbed at the grand final and earn fourth because he spelt "Feud" wrong. at one point I was even pissed at myself for this wth, but glad I can do a spelling bee once in my life. And then, he also read a poem in English in front of the public twice, once in a talent show, the other time in a competition where he didn't win.

In the aspects of education, Faturazzi completed kindergarten a year early, making him younger than his classmate by months. sometimes I feel strange about it ngl. Other than that, he did his work, got good grades, and such, et cetera. He even stunned everyone in Junior High School when he unexpectedly earned the 7th highest grade in his entire school, earning 552 from the maximum 600. He said that it remained in his top 10 best moments.

Lately, Faturazzi also participated in the competition known as "Alezian Student Competition" representing his school for the one spot representing Bucinnois in the competition. However, Faturazzi was sick throughout the competition and thus he can't sing properly. Unfortunately, due to this, he has to accept sixth place, and to leave the nationals behind him.

SONG INFO

The song "Harapanku" talks about a part of Faturazzi's history when he was 7 (2012), due to his father's work, he had to move to Basna which is very far from Pantabang Islands, leaving his friends behind. While he tried to stay fine about it since he kind of knew of it being inevitable, he can't help but remember his friend who lived next door. At their last moments together, they enjoyed an apple they took from the other side of Faturazzi's old neighbour's tree, playing the swings, before he jumped into the car with his family and left his old town for a flight to Kota Basna. Years later when he returned to Pantabang Islands, He reconnected with his old friend Harlazamarimmi Harun Dasic last year and they made this song together.

After his defeat in the Students Competition, ABA unexpectedly contacted Faturazzi about representing the Alezian Union in the Junior World Hit Festival. Feeling recovered, he agreed to it and sent three songs and their demos. In the end, Harapanku was selected out of the bunch.

RP

LISTEN TO MY INTERVIEW IN ALEZIRADIO PROGRAMME ONE!

sidenote: please wear headphones or crank your volumes up. The thing is, I tried to make my voice louder using my programs and stuff but my laptop kept crashing and acting up so I had no choice

(( My apologies

(Andi Faturazzi Makarina at the Bucinnois International Airport Terminal before flying to Zafizamarrah for his connecting flight to Mellaleuca.)

DIARY POST:
Dear Diary,
Hoo God, the time finally arrived.
I'm representing the entire country for the Junior World Hit Festival, and this is the first time I'll be flying overseas... Outside of Indonesia.
I'm so nervous.
ABA is nice, they gave us an Airezia Charter Plane to Mellaleuca. So all I need to do is fly from Bucinnois to Zafizamarrah then Zafizamarrah to Mellaleuca. Looking at those skies made me happy, seriously, I like planes. Although I'm not interested to be a pilot... Especially considering that I'll probably have to learn a lot of charts and physics stuff so nuh-uh lol.

Speaking of airports, oh jeez, I like the things they sell there, especially that coffee bread, add that with those Oreo Iced Drinks, OH GOD. You got beauty. But I can't really drink ice too much lately, I need to keep my voice tolerable. Although, have I talked about Airport Tax? Those really drag the prices in the airport, ESPECIALLY MKN. MKN really got high prices that I think I might want to close my jaw "manually"

Eup, there we have my plane call. Imma go in with my family (since they deserve the small vacation as well), my great team and Head of Delegation, and my friend Harlaz. Wish me luck.

(Me on the way to Mellaleuca)

DIARY POST:
Dear Diary,
Here I am, in Mellaleuca. And oh god, there's a lot of things to do here.
Like, I mean, my brother literally got a boomerang to bring home. How cool is that?
And then, we got to go to the city's cinema. We got to watch their classic of "Top-End Funeral", which while funny, all of us looked at each other and can't help but make the similiarities to a film we get back home that is an Alezian CLASSIC called "Sadness Gone Wrong"... Maybe I'm wrong, or the writers got the same idea.
And then we got back to our hotel, because I have a rehearsal going on, where I'm going to meet other singers from all around the world...
I wonder how they'll perceive me? Will the-
Actually scratch that.
No matter how they think of me, I'm going to do well.

DIARY POST:
Dear Diary,
Okay I think I might have an internal breakdown.
Firstly, all these international people, DAYUM they're tall. They're nice and friendly to talk to (I kinda lowkey hoped we had a discord chat group or something), but occasionally I have to look up to talk to singers that are the same age as me. I guess it's true then, I heard people around the world comment about how a lot of Alezians are short...

But I forget about those things after talking to the artists from MCG, Beepee, Kalosia, etc. I think I've talked about all of them in my interview with AleziRadio Programme One.

Today, me and other countries are getting our rehearsals done... And...
GOD THEY SING BETTER THAN ME.
I started to look visibly worried, but my HoD calmed me down telling me that "You have something they don't have."
Hopefully he's right. Harlaz looked confident... (probably because he didn't sang it, he'll stood beside me and play the violin, while I'm standing behind the microphone, and the cameras going to point at me mostly...)

Also, my school's principal called me, telling me "Good luck" and that whatever result I have in the Live event, they'll stay proud of me. But still, God I don't want to end up in last place...

PERFORMANCE

(The postcard ends, the audience applaused the Alezian entry, the view changes to an aerial view of the stage where two people can be seen on the center of the stage. In the wide LED, you can see a dark forest under a night starry sky.

In the middle of the stage, Harlaz is located behind Andi, holding a violin. In front, is the main singer himself, Andi. The view first points at Harlaz playing the violin as the instrument starts. Then the view changes to Andi singing behind a standing microphone.)

Terpisah jauh,
Berbentang laut,
Ku, berdoa, untukmu

(The view changes to the aerial view again, but it's more zoomed in thus viewers on the television can see the duo performing, with flag of the Alezian Union and other countries slowly waving to the slow beat.)

Sua-tu saat,
Dibawah bulan
Kuberharap yang t'rbaik untukmu

(Under the duo, a slow animation of water moving starts to play on the floor LEDs.)

Nanti,
Kita bertemu nanti
Kau sahabat terbaikku
Jangan kau lupakan aku

Nanti,
Kita kan bicara lagi
Kau sa-habat terbaikku
Aku tak lupakan kau

(As the instrumental kicks in, the view changes to a close-view of Harlaz playing his violin before changing back to Andi for the chorus again.)

Nanti,
Kita bertemu nanti
Kau sahabat terbaikku
Jangan kau lupakan aku

Nanti,
Kita kan bicara lagi
Kau sa-habat terbaikku
Aku tak lupakan kau

(The camera changes its view to close up on Andi, singing the song as Harlaz played on his violin. Slowly, a steadicam walks and views the duo moving around the two.)

Mungkin, mungkin saja
Suatu saat nanti...

Doaku terkabul
Untukmu, teman
Dimanapun kau,
Ku harap yang terbaik untukmu

(Andi holds his hands as if he's praying, then he put his hands on the place where his heart is as he sung the last sentence.)

Oh Tuhan, maha baik
Dengar ha-ra-pan-ku...

(The audience applaused, as Andi calmly said to the audience "Shukran Kasiira, Maha'la'ie, Thank You So Much. Attho'i" before calling Harlaz to bow together with him to the audience, both left the stage at the same time.)

by **Northern Beepee** » Sun Aug 29, 2021 9:31 pm

by **Northern Beepee** » Sun Aug 29, 2021 9:32 pm

4. | Pemecutan
Chantika - "Liburan Ceria"

Title Translation: Happy Holiday
Language(s): Indonesian
Tune: Cyn - Moment of Truth
Lyrics: Andriarto Gunawan
Music: Gus Teja

Dewa Ayu Maya Chantika Dewi or known for her stage name, Chantika is a 14 years old singer from Muding, State of Kauripan who begin her career at a very early age. She begin to have interest in singing during her elementary school when she was joined her school choir team. Her school went to won several local choir competition. Entering middle school, she begin to explore her hobby in singing. She represent her school for the local Students Sports and Arts Games although she didn't win. But her performance attracted a music talent who was watching her performance. She was then being approached and given a record test in one studio in Ubung. The record demo was pick up by Wirama Indah Records which then contract her for 4 albums.

The song Liburan Ceria or Happy Holiday is her debut single which was released about a month ago via streaming. It is a light and energetic songs about the excitement to go into a vacation with their whole family. The song is quite acceptable by the critics which saying that the song is a breeze of fresh air for child music. It is a widely known phenomenon that child music is a rare genre in Pemecutan and not very commercial. But this song is getting a notice from the people and even make it into top 10 most streaming song in the country. With this result, UBC as the official broadcaster of World Hit Festival, decided to pick up the song as the country's representative in the upcoming Junior World Hit Festival which will be held in Melaeuca, Northern Beepee.

Drawing as number 4 in the competition makes Chantika a little bit nervous. She is waiting patiently at the backstage as the representative from Alezian Union almost finished his performance. She is wearing a long black cardigan with a black round neck t-shirt and an army printed knee length trousers. She is looking quite casual for her tonight's performance. With a hard breath, she neters the stage as the postcard of Pemecutan can be seen on the big screen as the host announcing her name. The stage is pitch black while Chantika standing at the center of the stage. The lights finally on, brighten up the stage with different colors as she begin to sing the first verse of the song. She moves her body lightly following the beat of the song. While the camera swing nicely to capture her every moves. Once in a while, she interact to the camera as it approaching her showing her closed up face.

She moved excitedly as she enters the chorus. Engaging the audience to move with her. She walks energetically to every corner of the stage while makes a contact with the audience wanting them to follow her to the holiday vacation just like what's her song is about. The camera capture the cute face that she makes while she sing the "Na na na na na na..." part.

Kini saat nya kita berkumpul bersama
Untuk nikmati hari cerah minggu ini

Ajaklah semua kerabat serta
Siapkan semua jangan tertinggal
Gunung, sawah, lautan kemana pun bisa
Asal kita selalu tetap bersama

Paman bibi telah datang
Kakek nenek juga turut serta
Dalam liburan liburan ceria
Ayo segera berangkat
Menuju tempat tujuan kita
Dalam liburan liburan ceria

Na na na na na na
Na na na na na na na na....
Dalam liburan liburan ceria
Na na na na na na
Na na na na na na na na....
Dalam liburan liburan ceria

She casually seat on the right corner of stage as she sing the second verse where there is a set of picnic blanket and picnic box. She mimicking the way she eats and drinks while on holiday with her family. She gives a happy expression that is capture nicely by the camera. She then walk to the center of the stage while capturing picture from the phone that she is carry as she sing the chorus. She moves energetically going left and right while waving to the audience. Then she just seat at the center of the stage while the camera make a close up view of her face as she sing another "Na na na na na...." part.

Canda dan tawa menghiasi suasana
Masa bahagia saat ini tak terganti

Dan nikmati makanan yang tersedia
Minuman yang dingin jangan dilupa
Indahnya pemandangan menjadikan latar
Untuk diabadikan jadi kenangan

Ayo segera merapat
Mari kita berfoto bersama
Dalam liburan liburan ceria
Janganlah cemberut saja
Ayo bersenang senang sejenak
Dalam liburan liburan ceria

Na na na na na na
Na na na na na na na na....
Dalam liburan liburan ceria
Na na na na na na
Na na na na na na na na....
Dalam liburan liburan ceria

She is dancing happily during the interlude. Swirling around and smile happily. She then seat on a high chair that suddenly appear in the center of the stage. She is looking sad as she sing the last chorus. But then her expression changes into happiness as she sing the "Na na na na..." part. Get up from the chair and waving her hands high to the audience. Until she back to the high chair again and sing the last part of the song as the music is slowing down. She drop the mic as the music stop and all the lights goes off.

Waktupun berubah senja
Saatnya kita kembali pulang
Meninggalkan liburan ceria
Tak usah bersedih hati
Masih ada saat yang lainnya
Untuk liburan liburan ceria

Na na na na na na
Na na na na na na na na....
Dalam liburan liburan ceria
Na na na na na na
Na na na na na na na na....
Dalam liburan liburan ceria

Na na na na na na
Na na na na na na na na....
Dalam liburan liburan ceria
Na na na na na na
Na na na na na na na na....
Dalam liburan liburan ceria

The audience gives a positive feedback as the sound of applause can be heard in the venue. The camera spotted Chantika who is standing in the center of the stage, smiling widely. The host once again congratulate her for her energetic performance. Chantika goes back to the backstage as the host announcing the next performer from Carrelie.

by **Northern Beepee** » Sun Aug 29, 2021 9:34 pm

by **Northern Beepee** » Sun Aug 29, 2021 9:35 pm

5. | Carrelie
Antonia & Moonlighters - "Måneskinnet himmel"

Title Translation: Moonlit Sky
Language(s): Dentrician, French, Danish, Arianosien
Tune: Trine Dyrholm - Danse i måneskin
Lyrics: Antonia, Jéânne Lètïne
Music: Jéânne Lètïne, Achille Résétée

Background

Junior song contests aren't a very large thing in Carrelie. The nation only made its début in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest in 2020, and since then little mind has been paid to the competition. However, upon hearing of the Junior World Hit Festival, Radio Dourie decided to enter the contest, holding a national selection to decide their song. However, the odds weren't exactly fair. Accusations of vote rigging in the favour of Radio Dourie favourite Jacques Plesse plagued the competition. Out of the ashes, a new band rose and blazed through the preselection...

Who are Antonia and Moonlighters?

From left to right: Achille Résétée, Antonia, Lou Çâlïsme, Jéânne Lètïne

Who is Antonia?
Antonia is Andlin's youngest star! Born out of an affair of the great Discoteaux family, Antonia has always been determined to claim a legacy of her own outside of the Discoteaux conglomerate. With courage, compassion, a great singing voice and a Carrelian JWHF entry, nothing could possibly stop her!

Excerpt from Hit Magazine's Artist of the Month.

Born on April 12th, 2007, Antonia Gocen is a 14-year-old with big dreams. Born a bastard child to a young Marien Gocen and film star Aron Discoteaux, Antonia suffered a great deal after her parents' affair was covered by the media. Growing up in a family of two with little to spare wasn't easy, but Antonia was determined to find her own way and would often sing with her mother in their downtime. With a loving mother and many friends behind her, Antonia is sure she'll be able to forge a path of her own.

The Moonlighters are a group of three of Antonia's choir friends who hope to help Antonia achieve her dreams. They're her most loyal pals and her greatest allies in the world of music. They'll always be along for the ride with Antonia!

Måneskinnet Himmel

Måneskinnet Himmel is Antonia's first foray into the world of music production. With an 80s-style beat and perky vocals, it's no wonder this blazed through the preselection. It may be her first song, but we're sure it'll be her first of many!

Performance

All is quiet in the arena after the postcard finishes. On the stage now sits a small mound covered in fake grass and a display of stars stuck to the ceiling. When the music starts, Antonia and her trio of Moonlighters run up onto the stage, with Antonia wearing a rather striking dress patterned with stars. The short intro is filled with all four of them dancing in the centre stage, minding the hill. This short intro gives way to the bulk of the song, and Antonia begins to sing the lyrics.

Joúrse ë lôngë, fatïgé,
É ve çanmï’r oú sôlïtée,
És vïent toújoîrs bänçée, bänçée,
Ônde çe’ië un plâce oú v'arréte és,
Ôvrë ve cobaçée, lóîn,
És toújoîrs ve mömente allée
És ne vïéndre toújoîrs bänçée, toújoîrs,
Car il y a toujours quelqu'un.

As the first verse progresses, the Moonlighters climb atop the hill, pointing at and admiring the stars which stand above them. Meanwhile, Antonia strolls around the hill's base, sitting on top of the hill as the verse ends.
The transition from the first verse to the chorus is near instant, giving Antonia barely any time to breathe.

Måneskinnet himmel,
Çés rêvë moúrronte né,
Féänë âvé çe,
Noúïlle réâlïté.

During this chorus, Antonia sits on top of the hill, facing the stars strewn about the stage while regailing about this faraway land. Heads swaying from side to side, the Moonlighters join just behind her, also sitting down and admiring the stars. At the last line of the chorus, Antonia jumps up and stretches out her arms.
It's another short transition between this chorus and the next verse, during which the Moonlighters follow Antonia's lead before dispersing down the mound.

Ôvrë ve cobaçée, çése joúe
É toús ve gáïë biënvénée,
Çése toújoîrs accéptée, -éptée,
Çoús toújoîs biënvénée à joúe.
Et dans les moments les plus durs,
Souviens-toi où tu peux aller,
Çése toújoîrs accéptée, -éptée,
Nous ne fermerons jamais!

Throughout the second verse, Antonia struts down the mound at a moderate pace. In the middle of this verse, Antonia almost fails to switch languages between Dentrician and French, though she ends up pulling it off with minimal muck-ups. Just after this, the Moonlighters re-join just behind her, with Jeanne coming to her side to sing with her until the chorus begins, at which point she promptly steps back.

Ynder yn lunelyme sky,
Toise yn rhymes nyvir dye,
Sou cyme away wyf mye,
A nyw realytiy!

Soú en cél clär luniér,
Toúen bièntôt allée,
Quoî çoú réte-pas é çe,
Déçoúvrïr réâlïté.

A new language and a key change encompass these two choruses. However short they may be, Antonia still finds the resources to make them as energetic as possible, joining with her companions and singing her heart out.
Then the instrumental comes, the majority of the staging of which includes Antonia & the Moonlighters running about the boomerang stage, interacting with the stars that lay above. Near to the end, they all run up to the hill and, to the surprise of the audience, a bar drops down from the roof, with Antonia gripping it. As she begins to sing the next chorus, she swings on the bar over a small contingent of the audience, who look on in awe.

Måneskinnet himmel,
Çés rêvë moúrronte né,
Féänë âvé çe,
Noúïlle réâlïté.
Måneskinnet himmel,
Çés rêvë moúrronte né,
Féänë âvé çe,
Noúïlle réâlïté.

As this chorus closes and the song draws to the close, Antonia jumps off the swing onto the hill, standing upright with her left arm outstretched as the Moonlighters stand behind her.
The audience cheers after the end of the song as Antonia and the Moonlighters join together and bow.
"Thank you Melaleuca! Love you all!"
They then leave the stage, leaving it for the next act.

by **Northern Beepee** » Sun Aug 29, 2021 9:37 pm

by **Northern Beepee** » Sun Aug 29, 2021 9:38 pm

6. | Caryton
The Young Gospel Voices of Bridgeson Ensemble - "We Can Change The World! (Our Savior's Plan)"

Title Transcription: -
Title Translation: -
Language(s): Carytonic English
Tune: tune
Lyrics: Molly Hogan
Music: Molly Hogan

-

Look forward, we can change the world, yes! We can change the world!
In these harsh times, we can pray and serve and endure to the end, yes!
We can change the world! We can change it, look on and smile-
And you'll start to see our-! our Savior's plan!

A lone girl, one of the youngest, is seen clutching a microphone under a dim amber spotlight. She initially looked nervous, but as her muscle and vocal memory strengthened their resolve, a relaxed look came about her face.

Look forward, we can change the world, yes! We can change the world!
In these harsh times, we can pray and serve and endure to the end, yes!
We can change the world! We can change it, look on and smile-
And you'll start to see our-! our Savior's plan!

The group would join in at this point, that lone amber spotlight brightening to include them, only the group shown in golden glory, everything outside of their dim circle completely black.

Forgive others- and He'll forgive you too!
Be honest, and He'll tell you what's true!
Give all you can, and He'll pay you in due!
We can change the world! We can change the world! We can change the world, yes we can!

The group momentarily faded into obscurity, only flashlights from them lighting the stage as the LED's showed a montage of various singers from the six-person ensemble helping others. The original singer is seen stopping a bully. Another helps an elderly woman across the street. Another distributes pamphlets outside the church in preparation for the sunday service. Another takes the trash out, another recycles and waters plants, and the final one (the oldest) is seen locking up the store he works at at night with a look of conviction.

Look forward, we can change the world, yes! We can change the world!
In these harsh times, we can pray and serve and endure to the end, yes!
We can change the world! We can change it, look on and smile-
And you'll start to see our-! our Savior's plan!

The group carried on their chorus as the light returned, the director in the front row smiling as she conducted the group, the displays behind them simple, a gray bokeh and dim spotlights casting a contemplative look, only to change dramatically when they reached the final chorus...

Only you can change the whole world, yes! You can change the world!
In these troubled times, we can sing and warm and lift each other, yes!
We can change the world, we can change it, look on and smile-
And you'll start to see our-! our Savior's plan!

The group began a gospel-style step touch, smiles bright as the displays flashed towards a glittering gold, displaying the members running through a Carytonic oat field, helping out various children and farmers in the shot, culminating in a shot of them bearing crosses up a golden hill with a lone tree, providing the visuals for the last line as they transitioned yet again.

We can change the world! (Our Savior's plan!)
We can change the world! (Our Savior's plan!)
We can change the world! (Our Savior's plan!)

Praise our Savior! Praise our Lord...!

The ensemble of six would power through the final chorus, arriving at their ending. Two sang the "change the world" lines, while four echoed. The group's smiles grew even larger as they shook in their gospel step-touching, They raised their hands and shook them as they compelled the crowd to sway their arms and lights from the left to the right. Sparkling yellow LED's cast an elegant gold glitter over them as they sang their last line, mentioning the "Lord" casting a bright white light on the group, ending the song on a whiteout and a bombastic vocal harmony. The screen depicted a portrait of Jesus on that golden hill, a look of satisfaction on his face.

by **Northern Beepee** » Sun Aug 29, 2021 9:39 pm

by **Northern Beepee** » Sun Aug 29, 2021 9:40 pm

7. | Achaean Republic
Cuarto 315 - "Vuelve Temprano"

Title Translation: Come Home Early
Language(s): Spanish
Tune: Ventino-Vente Conmigo
Lyrics: Lucero Avilés, Maritza Colón
Music: Eduardo Duhalde, Mariano Santiago

They said they met at The Breakfast Club. No, really—they’re too young to know the reference. But for some reason, they know.

Colegio Pontificia La Guadalupana has always been one of Corola’s famous elite schools, making Elite Way look like child’s play. Educating the city’s proud and wealthy criollo elite since 1712, the formerly boys-only, now co-educational Catholic school has been the prep school for Achaea’s cream of the crop: politicians, mathematicians, scientists, singers, thinkers and even sports icons have passed through its gilded halls, being blessed and saluted by the gorgeous state of the Virgin of Guadalupe—gilded in copper and imported with the gold coming from the mines of Mexico’s San Luis Potosí—to everyone that enters. Being a highly selective and highly competitive school, only the best of the best were worth to enter the school’s storied walls and become part of the guadalupano elite.

These four teenagers, however, were anything but. They barely knew each other. They barely cared for each other. They didn’t even stand each other, only exchanging passing acknowledgements and accusatory glances as if they were ready to fight one another. It wasn’t that a cold war was brewing within the Guadalupana over who can observe the greatest level of piety—no sane privileged teenager, barring those with nothing else to do, would be bothered with the genuflections and the Luminous Mysteries and the correct position to wear a veil pre-Vatican II. Nor were they attempting to guilt each other on their privilege or lack thereof, on who was the loneliest or the trendiest or the simplest or whatever petty arguments teenagers in elite private Catholic schools can get to.

Instead, they simply could not worth together for the school science fair, the worst type of project the curriculum could deign to have invented. As if studying for the LSAT’s, all-English school courses, AP classes and International Baccalaureates alongside dozens of extracurricular activities designed to entertain them rather than to educate them, they were also forced to create a science project and apply the scientific method like amateur researchers while ensuring that each team member pulled their part of the project. Even more so, they needed to create a worthy-enough thesis and carry out an experiment with enough scientific precision to move on to high school.

For this reason, the four teenagers were locked in Room 315 on a hot Saturday morning, the science class where Mother Superior Elsa used to punish naughty kids to pray on a bed of long-grain white rice, now doubling as a laboratory. The AC was blasting on a warm February morning as the quartet tried to argue and judge and headbutt their way through a project. One of them was locked in her cellphone, talking to some rich Internet boyfriend from Saudi Arabia. Another one was sitting in a chair, reading the latest manga she borrowed from a friend from a friend from a friend’s cousin. Still another was pacing up and down around the room, pacing maniacally, pacing as if she were worried somebody would catch her doing something she shouldn’t have been doing. Then there was another one who tried to yell her way and impose some order into things.

To better distinguish each teenager: The talker was named fourteen-year-old Maritza. Her father was a one of Corola’s most hated politicians, but she was popular enough that everybody wanted to be her and even more paid to be with her. The reader was Lucero, better named Lucy, a fourteen-year-old becada who received a prestigious scholarship to study in Guadalupana and wanted to become a biochemist. The pacer was Alina, a fourteen-year-old hypochondriac who was also the daughter of a well-known psychiatrist (who was well-known for making some money off of Manamma’s sanity). The leader, or so she wanted to be, was named Jenna, a half-gringa fifteen-year-old that was also head of the school watch, the school patrol (they were not the same thing in Guadalupana), and head of the Teenage Rosary Club, creating rosaries and selling them to fundraise many charities the school was involved in. They barely spoke to each other in class, let alone work in a project. How could they work together on a stupid science project they wouldn’t even remember in three weeks!?

And then Lucero, lost in her manga, ignoring her insufferable teammates’ bickering, started humming a song. “Ta-ta-ta-ra, ta-ta-ta-ra…,” Lucero went as she hummed. The other teens, quietly noticing the humming—“¿Qué le pasa a ésta?,” Maritza muttered to herself—and were intent at learning the words. They heard it once before someone quickly noticed the song. Oh! Someone finally caught the tune!

“Your eyes of true I painted in the starlight,” sang Alina, stopping from making grooves on the floor.
“Your smile I knew reminding me I’m alright,” then sang Maritza and Jenna, making an impressive harmony with each other.
“Your cheeks of rose, your soul that brings the sunlight,” all three then sang together, standing growing closer together, standing closer to each other, trying to gently coax Lucero into singing the next verse. She knew it.
“I’ll…I’ll always love you…mom?” There was some doubt in her voice at the sudden turn of events. But she closed her manga and stood up. Then she let out her beautiful voice once more, “I’ll always love you mom!”

The four teenagers forgot about the project, forgot about their irreconcilable differences, and gave each other a hug. They finally made it.

And thus, Cuarto 315 was born.

The trip to Melaleluca was long and boring, involving several flights and following international safety protocols. For most of the girls, this was their first international trip beyond Disney World or New York City, and they took great pains to prepare for the trip alongside the AS1 delegation. It was their first trip in the Southern Hemisphere winter, to a country much drier than what they were used to in tropical, humid Achaea. But they needed to also secure quarantine permissions and exemptions—every member was required to have been vaccinated, and their parents must have consented to do so—so they could make it on time.
Maritza’s dad’s friend’s friend’s cousin of a friend had a connection to AS1, who then was interested in the group when he saw a couple videos of them harmonizing some covers of popular (and age-appropriate) songs on TikTok. He invited them over, parents included, to a recording session on the AS1 Center and he was enchanted with their voices and musical aptitude at such a young age. He wanted to manage the group personally and give them a catchier name such as “The Nice Girls” or “JMLA” (a K-Pop style abbreviation of their first initials), but the girls were adamant at naming themselves Cuarto 315, the number of the laboratory where they first met. So the name stuck, and so did their first album, Pasitos (“Little Steps”), of which Vuelve Temprano (“Come Home Early”) was their first single on airplay and, coincidentally, the song selected to represent the Achaean Republic at the World Hit Festival.

There was much to enjoy between the lush, tropical Melaleluca and the arid outback that distinguished its surrounding environments. The quartet, however, enjoyed shopping in the trendy, artsy galleries on the Central Business District; went to a day trip to the famous Larrakin reservations, and escaped the sharp bites of crocodiles and poisonous snakes at the Kakkiedoo Regional Park—it seems that everything in Melaleluca was meant to kill the band. They also gave short interviews and teased some dances that became quick fads on TikTok, the same movements that led them to enjoy viral status in the Achaean Twittersphere. The small city became like their little playground to climb and enjoy.

And now they had to perform.

The stage was set for the Achaean entry. The four teenagers were nervous—and righteously so. It was the first time performing outside of the country, with the eyes of the Multiverse watching them, judging them, looking at how worthy their performances are. Not that they’re not use to judgmental eyes; after all, they did go to one of Corola’s elite private high schools, where rich people judge other rich people based on how rich they looked. But all they could do at this time was breathe in, breathe out, clutch their rosaries, and have fun on stage.

In the music video, the teenagers were singing and dancing atop of colorful boxes in a diamond-like pattern: Maritza in the farthest back, Lucero on the viewer’s left, Alina on the viewer’s right, and Jenna up front. There were different ways you could group them: Maritza the melancholic, Lucero the phlegmatic, Lucero the sanguine, Jenna the choleric. Each of them were dressed in their typical Guadalupana uniforms, the same blue-white jumpers that went unchanged since the fifties. They did, however, attempted their best at distinguishing each other with ties, ribbons, designer shoes, brand-name backpacks, copies of half-read [/i]manga[/i] and K-Pop CD’s, pink pencil cases…They did what they could to stand out from the rest without trampling over each other’s style. On stage, though, the team couldn’t afford the luxury of placement and practice, despite the many hours of exhausting rehearsals committed to the delegation for the performance. There was only so much the team could handle at once, more so the girls.

The girls stood atop of similar boxes like the ones shown in the music video and they roughly wore the same uniforms (they tried to convince the delegation, albeit unsuccessfully, that they wanted to wear street clothes for the performance). This time, though, they were spread a bit further to comply with social distancing and regulations. Maritza was in the farthest left side; Alina beside her, in the center-left; Lucero, in the center right; and Jenna, in the farthest right. The curved LED screen in the back was black. The stage went dark. The young, prepubescent (and post-pubescent) crowd was waving flags, cheering on for the Achaean entry. They were ready to begin.

A thud could be heard. The cameras focused first on Maritza, who was singing in her corner and miming her words. Then, she stepped outside the box and continued to sing. If there was something uniquely precious in her, it was her charisma and melisma—hands on her hips, slyly adjusting her microphone and setting up the harmony for the rest. She was charming, effortless for her age.

¿Sabes cuánto anhela hoy mi corazón?
Tantas son las ansias sin la sensación
Cuántos más son los sueños que me hacen fuerte
Lucho día y noche para poder verte

Then, the cameras focused on Lucero and Alina as they were dancing and cris-crossing their paths while singing. Lucero came first with her richer, deeper melisma, something that somewhat came natural to her unlike the rest of the group (singing every Sunday at her small church definitely helped). But her shyness and aloofness gave her an aura of relatability, one that endeared her to many at school.

Alina, meanwhile, was afraid about everything, overanalyzing her steps and trying to time her voice right. A pure Virgo (or so did the Revistas Tú horoscopes she bought at the farmacia used to say), she always timed herself and tried to maintain enough precision with the tones of her voice. Studious to a fault (she takes after her mom), Alina always had an issue with letting go and just having fun. It took a while to take her out of her shell—and a lot of panic attacks—, but it was worth it. For her friends.

Pues tú no sabes que te extrañé el jueves
Y te fuiste con tu amigo el viernes
Por favor, baby, vuelve temprano, vuelve temprano

Yo era tan culta y tú un payaso
Eramos tantos rumbos al fracaso
Por favor, baby, vuelve temprano, vuelve temprano

The front cameras provided a wide pan of the arena, with the quartet in the center of the stage and the flag-waving crowd surrounding them. The LED screens showed stickers and decorated laptops with pictures and images that were quite anachronistic of modern-day tweendom. They had phrases in Spanish and English and French, aliens, fruits and vegetables, a cross and maybe a Virgin with a Rosary—they were Catholic teenagers, to be fair—and other tchotchkes you could find. The quartet was dancing in front of the screens. They tried to adjust their microphones without much of the crowd noticing. They were also trying to portray the lyrics: first placing their arms and forearms and wagging their fingers at the cameras; then, arching the same hand beside their temples and circling their heads; then, blowing a kiss and shimmying their shoulders left and right. It was a simple dance, but trendy enough that it became a TikTok success and accidentally became a way to promote the song. And many in the crowd loved it.

Y no te prestaba caso, tú me convenciste
Mi amor, no me dejes que te quiero verte
Pues me besaste y tu amor me prometiste
Mi amor, no me dejes que te quiero verte

Jenna sang the next part with the help of Alina’s backing in certain aspects. Her voice was considered the most tender one, yet the rawest—nothing bad, but certainly something that needed to put some work on. It was soft, yet powerful; pretty, but unwieldy. Which is why it made sense to put her up last, soaking up the charm and spreading it across the room with her smile.

She placed the palm of her hand in her forehead as if she were fainting. She used anther hand to wave to the crowd. She also pretended to ring the phone with her fingers, dialing an air-number that could be beeped-booped-bopped in the imaginary dials. She covered her shoulders with her arms as if she were shivering—the venue felt a bit colder than usual, so warming herself was more than warranted in these circumstances. But it was also important to engage with the crowd.

Cuando tú me saludas, me desmayo y pienso
Tanto lo que deseo ir contigo tan lejos
“Te ves tan hermosa, te ves tan hermosa”
Hoy te quiero ver

Uno con dos, y dejé de ser cínica
Es tanto el abrazo que tan lejos no puedes estar
Sin ti siento que yo iré a fracasar

It was Alina’s turn once again. When she sang the bridge the first time, she was distant and aloof. Not that she didn’t know the words, mind you—she was too much of a perfectionist to mentally disassociate herself from the performance. But this time, her voice sounded much more confident and relaxed. She looked looser and wider, trying to engage with the audience and looking very interested into making eye contact with them—especially with the cute, tanned Northern Beepeean boys eyeing at her.

Pues tú no sabes que te extrañé el jueves
Y te fuiste con tu amigo el viernes
Por favor, baby, vuelve temprano, vuelve temprano

Yo era tan culta y tú un payaso
Eramos tantos rumbos al fracaso
Por favor, baby, vuelve temprano, vuelve temprano

Once the chorus was again in full swing, the front cameras panned out the quartet and exposed them doing the famous TikTok dance that got viral buzz in the runup to the contest. Place the arms and forearms and wag their fingers in disapproval (except Alina who was wagging her finger at the boys looking at her). Arch the temples and circle their heads without getting dizzy and faint. Blow a kiss and shimmy shoulders. The choreography was simple enough—it was an inside joke the girls made for themselves and spread around like wildfire. At least they weren’t privy on gossip—but they did have fun talking about it afterwards.

Y no te prestaba caso, tú me convenciste
Mi amor, no me dejes que te quiero verte
Pues me besaste y tu amor me prometiste
Mi amor, no me dejes que te quiero verte

They first grabbed their hands and kicked their right legs to the air, as if they were doing a smaller version of the can-can. Each teenager had a bit of their personality in their shoes: Maritza had the red Chuck Taylor All Star Converse shoes with rainbow-colored shoelaces she bought from Vans. Lucero had semi-worn black school shoes (the preferred schools by the Guadalupana) that were cheap, yet stylish and her mother got those for her in a thrift shop. Alina had red winter boots that—according to her vision—protected her from germs and viruses and the coronavirus and they also were also a good luck charm from her divorced father. And Jenna just had some fashion wedge sneakers she got somewhere in California. They also smiled at the same time while they shook their heads to the left and then to the right. Then, they moved to a side and began waving their arms to opposite directions where they tilted their heads. Then they did the movements to their inverse direction, all the while shuffling towards the cameras and the floor. The boomerang-like LED screen kept showing lyrics and stamps and stickers tweens and teenagers would have installed in their personal stuff. The choreography they had to pull was confusing and not that TikTok-worthy. But many in the crowd, especially those two boys ogling at Alina, who were trying to copy their moves.

Dios sabe que te quiero ahora, ahora
Bailo toda la noche, toda, toda
Por favor, baby, vuelve temprano, vuelve temprano

Dios sabe que te quiero ahora, ahora
Bailo toda la noche, toda, toda
Por favor, baby, vuelve temprano, vuelve temprano

The lights faded and the quartet stopped moving. The LED screen behind them tuned off and went quiet. The cameras were focused on a wide pan, then a zoom out, then a zoom in. Now, the stage lights would focus on the group while they placed themselves stoically, like statues, in the limelight. Maritza, the spunky one, was due to sing the final bridge of the song. She did that while posing at the camera, posing at the audience, looking headstrong yet vulnerable—she was a teenager, after all, trying to find herself and explore love, or whatever she thought that was. The girls beside her crossed their legs, lightly touched their chins with the palms of their hands, or crossed their legs while looking intently at the camera. It was time to end the performance.

Pues tú no sabes que te extrañé el jueves
Y te fuiste con tu amigo el viernes
Por favor, baby, vuelve temprano, vuelve temprano
¿Cómo tú estás? Quiero conocerte

Once they were finished, the Northern Beepeean crowd cheered at the Achaean quartet. They had a chance to quickly hug each other—in a dire, but momentary violation of social distancing protocols imposed by the delegation—and waved their hands and blew kisses at the crowd. They were happy to be done with the performance. They hoped they made Guadalupana proud.

by **Northern Beepee** » Sun Aug 29, 2021 9:43 pm

by **Northern Beepee** » Sun Aug 29, 2021 9:43 pm

8. | Barhe
Kim So-Yeon (ft. D-Ark) - "Get Out, Beat It!"

Language(s): Korean, English
Tune: "Aloha Oe" - Cherry Bullet
Lyrics: Barhe(Empire of Joseon), D-Ark(Empire of Joseon: Rapper)
Music: Cherry Bullet(FNC Entertainment)

Get out, Beat it, you dumb!
Get out, beat it, you dumb!

In the name of friendship you approach me,
In the name of kinship you inspire me,
With generosity, you bind me,
Mentally, to down, you keep me.

In the name of companionship,
You compare me to friends,
Friends whom you have fun,
Friends with whose feasts that never end.

Get out, beat it, you dumb,
I don’t want you, you dumb?

Stars under which we live,
I want you no more,
You, I demand,
You be out the door, door, door!

CHORUS MELODY

Beat it, beat it, beat it, ah yeah, yeah, yeah!
Beat it, beat it, beat it, ah yeah, yeah, yeah!

With wealth, you put your taunts in disguise,
You storm into me, with your group of guys,
To embrace you, I’m too young.
To embrace you, it feels so wrong.

You record me as a second,
To accept it, it’s just, I can’t,
Without you, there’s nothing for me,
All I can do is nothing, except to rant.

Get out, beat it, you dumb,
I don’t want you, you dumb?

Stars under which we live,
I want you no more,
You, I demand,
You be out the door, door, door!

CHORUS MELODY

Beat it, beat it, beat it, ah yeah, yeah, yeah!
Beat it, beat it, beat it, ah yeah, yeah, yeah!

Our lives we can go separately,
I won’t touch you, as it’s not my fate innately.
Let’s not meet together,
I’d leave your zone, I’d rather.

Get out, beat it, you dumb,
I don’t want you, you dumb?

<RAP(D-Ark)>
누가 널 건드리는거야?
니가 성장하고 키도 커야,
이런 찌질한 무리들 해쳐낼 수 있는거야,
그날이 올때까지 안 보는 거야.

들어보니까 니보고 옷 잘 입으라는 거야,
집도 넓게 잘 살으라는 거야,
지가 제일 후지게 입었으면서 뭐라는거야,
지도 별볼일 아닌데 그딴 소리를 하는거야.

주눅들지 말고 훗날을 기약하라는 거야,
성공해서 날려버리라는 거야,
빈 수레가 요란하다고 생각하라는 거야,
꽉 찬 그릇으로 날려버리라는 거야,

니 뒤에서 내가 있을 것이라는 거야,
넘어질 때 내가 있는다는 거야,
뻔뻔하게 냉정하게 가라는 거야,
그것들 뛸동안 넌 날거야, 알아?

(ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF RAP:
Who’s bothering you?
If you mature and grow taller,
You can eliminate those worthless group of people,
Until that time, you shouldn’t contact them,

I heard they tell you to dress better,
I heard they tell you to live in better houses,
They don’t know how to dress up, so what are they saying?
They aren't much of a thing, so what are they saying?

Don’t feel weakened, and think about the future.
Become successful and live better than those people,
A dish without water can get noisy,
So become a dish with water and show your might!

I’ll be behind you always, that’s what I’m saying,
When you fall, I’ll be there to lift you up,
Be brazen and decisive,
While they run, you fly, you got it?

Stars under which we live,
I want you no more,
You, I demand,
You be out the door, door, door!

CHORUS MELODY

Beat it, beat it, beat it, ah yeah, yeah, yeah!
Beat it, beat it, beat it, ah yeah, yeah, yeah!

The crowd show their appreciation with strong applause, and in anticipation at the next entry from the home nation... Northern Beepee.

by **Northern Beepee** » Sun Aug 29, 2021 9:45 pm

by **Northern Beepee** » Sun Aug 29, 2021 9:51 pm

9. | Northern Beepee
Dinewan - "And When"

Language(s): English
Tune: "Flügel" - Egon
Lyrics: Otto Tune, Dinewan
Music: Otto Tune, Dinewan

DINEWAN

Dinewan was born to poor parents in a small nomadic tribe who wander through the red heart of Northern Beepee. Growing up and constantly moving meant that Dinewan did not have many friends except his siblings and the other clan members. In the times they stopped by in small villages or hamlets, they were often treated as outsiders by the village folks or shunned by the others, which led Dinewan to teach himself to be cautious of strangers and difficult to read.

At the age of 12, Dinewan's father died after being bitten by, what was suspected to be, a snake in the desert. His mother, consumed by grief left him and his two younger siblings with an aunt and headed off into the desert. She has to this date not returned. This left Dinewan with a deep sadness.

Dinewan's aunt was not a good surrogate mother. She would often get drunk on fermented fruit wine and would leave Dinewan and his siblings alone in their tents. At the time, Dinewan's brother and sister were 4 years and 8 years old, respectively. Dinewan would care for them, feeding them and singing to them to soothe their fears at nighttime. This is when Dinewan first realised the power of his voice.

That is not to say that Dinewan did not understand the power of music or not sing before this time; he had after all listened to the storyline of his people which had been told in song for from a childhood age. Rather it was at this time that he learned that his voice could touch and move people. He began singing whilst carrying out his daily chores within the tribe. Any who clapped along and sang with him. The only songs he knew were the stories of his mob.

After a year under the 'care of his aunt one of the tribe elders convinced a villager at a small outpost to take Dinewan and to look after him. The elder knew that Dinewan needed more than his tribe could provide and had seen the way his aunt had stifled his creativity. The small hamlet of Brendelton became Dinewan's home. He was taken in by the local pastor.

The pastor was a gentle man, and an educated man. He taught Dinewan hymns and told him the stories of religion. He also listen to Dinewan when Dinewan told him the stories of his tribe. The pastor taught Dinewan many things, mathematics, English, religion and art. On the sabbath, Dinewan would go to the temple with the pastor. He would sing the hymns the pastor had taught him. The congregation was small no more than 10 or 12 most weeks, however it was still most of the village.

Brendelton itself had had a chequered history. Originally a religious outpost, the town was abandoned and used as a layover for smugglers transporting moonshine to across Northern Beepee. After the alcohol trade became less lucrative, again the town was abandoned. A gold rush then saw the town reformed and it expanded rapidly to a few hundred people, services were installed a bank, a hotel, a pub a post office. But when, the gold rush ended the town started a slow and inevitable decline. Now, only a handful of people live there. The town has retained some buildings and its a stop off on the arduous drive through the desert, surviving mainly on tourism income.

The pub and hotel, which merged into one some time ago, was run by a jolly, fat man with a long ginger beard and bald head. He heard Dinewan sing at church and asked him if he would like to perform for his patrons one evening. The pastor protested, a public bar was not a place for a young impressionable boy. Dinewan begged the pastor to attend and reluctantly, and against his better judgement, the pastor agreed.

Dinewan went to the bar and the landlord had set up a small stage and microphone stand. It was unusual. Dinewan had brought his didgeridoo. Ad the bar began to fill with the village coming in for drinks or a light meal. The landlord introduced Dinewan to a light ripple of applause.

Dinewan was nervous, but seeing the pastor, who was sitting in the front of the house, calmed his nerves. He began by singing a hymn he had sung in church, and whilst his voice was strong and deep, the crowd did not seem impressed. The pastor however applauded loudly at the end of the song.and Dinewan smiled. A few shouts came from the bar, demanding Dinewan sing something else, something better. He picked up didgeridoo and blew and began a song of his tribe, but again shouts came louder. sing something new, something modern, something better. Tears fell from Dinewan's eyes. He felt like he had failed, and he ran out of the bar. The pastor followed him home and explained that the bar had wanted a different style of music. The next day the pastor brought home records, tapes and cds of a variety of music, schlager, country, dance, rock... the music was sometimes moving, sometimes terrifying, but Dinewan sat up all night playing the music over and over. Listening to the music and playing the chords on the pastors guitar.

The next weekend, Dinewan returned to the bar. The pastor had persuaded the landlord to give Dinewan another chance. The bar was filled again with the locals and a couple of tourists who were driving to Melaleuca. Dinewan had styled his hair like one of the singers of his now favorite music, he took a breath and he sang. He sang the songs he had heard that week. He sang the country songs and the rock songs. Noone shouted from the bar. He sang the schlager that got the bar clapping along. He beamed with pride.

At the end of his set, the tourists in the bar approached Dinewan and the pastor. They were musicians heading to Melaleuca for a concert. They had filmed some of the perofrmance on their phones and, when they could get decent reception they wanted to send Dinewan's performance to some friends who might want to contact him. Dinewan didn't really understand what the tourists meant, but the pastor agreed and thanked them.

A few days later, the hosue telephone rang. The pastor answered. Dinewan returned to his music trying to learn the chords to some more music the pastor had brought home. The pastor knocked on Dinewan's room door and asked if Dinewan would like to go on a trip. Dinewan agreed and the pair headed to Melaleuca.

Dinewan was amazed by the gleaming city before him. He had never seen a city before. He looked in every shop window, selling all kinds of goods. It was incredible. Dinewan and the pastor met with people and whilst they didn't always understand what they were talking about, it sounded like they wanted him to sing. So he did. And they applauded him. Dinewan was pleased. The people he met spoke with the pastor and then Dinewan signed some papers.

He had just signed his first music contract, he was going to be a musician.

PERFORMANCE

With the completion of the Barhe entrant a large cheer ripples through the crowd with the anticipation of the home town entrant. The small but enthusiastic crowd cheer and somewhere in the crowd Dinewan is sure he heard someone shout his name.

As the Barhe delegation clears the stage, stagehands rush on sweeping the stage and pushing on a large piano. The place the piano centre stage and one of the stage hand places a bench ready for Dinewan. An assistant presses the microphone into his hand and directs him to go on stage.

The partisan crowd cheers louder now.

Dinewan waves a little embarrassed at the crowd and sits down on the bench, and clips his mic into the stand.

He breathes nervously as he waits. Suddenly the LCD screen behind him flashes, and a dot painting circle in green and yellow swoops across the screen leaving the words "Northern Beepee" for a moment. The crowd cheers again.

This moment is as much for them as it is for Dinewan.

A million thoughts start to flood through his mind as the contest logo swoops across the LCD screen and the stage goes dark. A single spotlight highlights Dinewan at the piano...suddenly his mind goes blank and he feels the blood rush from his head. He breathes.

He presses down on the keys to start the song and the director instantly cuts to a shot showing Dinewan playing the piano. Dinewan breathes to the side before starting to sing.

Even though you're away,
You're never too far,
From me

Dinewan keeps his eyes closed during the first stanza worried about the many eyes focused on him. His voice waivers slightly with a little nerves that are caught in his throat. Tightening as he sang "from me". He tries to breath quietly away from the mic as he starts the next stanza.

No-one can hurt you now,
Although I tried to keep,
You safe

During the preceding, the director cuts between long views and mid shots of Dinewan at the piano. Dinewan opens his eyes as he sings "you safe", and looks out into the darkness of the auditorium. He's secretly glad inside that he can't see the faces of the 4,000 or so in the auditorium.

My heart may have stopped,
The moment I saw,
You there

The audience is however generally quiet as Dinewan sings his poignant song. The echoing of the piano and Dinewan's nervous voice around the auditorium is a little haunting and goes with the sentiment of the song and the lyrics.

I knew then and there,
That this world was cold,
And cruel

As what could best be described as the power part of the ballad, Dinewan shallows hard still trying to overcome his nerves. But as he sings the next parts his voice finds its power and strength and the little nervous quiver which plagued his opening stanzas vanishes.

And when the day comes, please forgive me,
I hope you'll come and see me then,
You'll visit in my dreams,
And I'll pray you'll stay,

The crowd cheers noticing the nerves slowly ebbing from the voice. They're hanging on every word, every line... willing their boy to have a performance he can be proud of.

A bank of lights behind the piano begin to glow in bright white as Dinewan sings the next lines.

Even if just for a moment, stay
You'll be forever in my heart.

Dinewans playing gets louder, as the emotion of his song begins to take over him. He fights himself to try and not become carried away with the perofrmance. He sings through gritted teeth "when no-one else remembers", desperate to hold in the anguish he feels inside.

On the LCD screen behind him, fading in and put are pictures of his life so far. Of his deceased father, his estranged mother, his siblings, his aunt, the pastor, of him at school, playing at the piano. Small snapshots of his life and his journey to get to this point.

And when no-one else remembers
When the world is cold and dark
In my final waking moments
Please come to me

As he sings the next verse, he plays the piano much softer and sings much more quietly. The audience follows his mesmerised by his solo performance at the piano.

And when the light is slowly fading
As it was for you today

As he sings "flashes before me", the LCD screen behind the sweeping stage changes to a bright white, flooding the auditorium with light. Dinewan can see now the rows of heads, the flags waving, the stares of the audience looking back at him. It causes his nerves to jump again, the quiver returning to his voice.

I hope I will recall you,
And as my life flashes before me,
You were my light
In the dark

The LCD screen goes dark again as Dinewan sings about the darkness taking him. And the solo spotlight is all that's left on ad he sings "stay", a note he has to reach to find.

And when the darkness takes me
And I just can't go on
Stay..

As his voice is struggling to contain the emotion and nerves of the song and the performance. Dinewan manages to song out the final line... the last words sticking in his throat.

You'll be forever in my heart.

Dinewan plays the final notes on the piano. Happy that his performance is now through, he breathes out deeply running his hands through his dark hair and wipes a small tear that was forming at the corner of his eye.

He stands as the audience begins to applaud. He nods politely at them before being called offstage and making way for the next entrant.

by **Northern Beepee** » Sun Aug 29, 2021 9:53 pm

by **Northern Beepee** » Sun Aug 29, 2021 9:55 pm

10. | Moorland
Saint - "Blinding Love"

Language(s): English
Tune: Lorde - "Ribs"
Lyrics: Caroline Hana Wexler
Music: Caroline Hana Wexler

The gibbering, jabbering crowd jockey with one another for the chance to edge ever closer to the start of the stage, drawing nearer to hear the great booming of the speakers. Whistles and cheers and shrill shrieks pierce the air with every conclusion. The sounds of a massacre. If only she should be so lucky, to slay a crowd in such a manner. Breaking a leg. Killing it. Phrases for performers were always so violent. Still, still, no matter how she flinched at every swell of the audience's voice crying out for more, she knows the true violence makes itself most felt in the silent moments. Those uncomfortable seconds between acts when the hungering hordes let their blood and breath run hot with palpable desire. The restless shuffling of thousands of feet, bodies shifting against one another as they wait for their supper. Are they human any longer, truly, truly? Their power seems beyond such a scope, widening its maw to consume her whole. She is on stage and they swarm before her. A sea, a sea of shimmering eyes dancing like waves. They glimmer and shimmer in the light of the spotlights, fading away as the house lights dim and she is left with only motes of light swirling in her vision against a wall of black. The audience is still there, she knows. Its breathing presses on her as one. It must be true, she thinks in despair. This is not some collection of humans but divinity itself made manifest. A ravenous god, devouring the souls of its loyal supplicants, sacrifices, passing judgement. Now she is here too, to offer up her own soul, a song. Muse, muse, can there be no mercy here? Can she not keep these for herself, those parts of her being, just one thing to hold and have and grasp as reality without the necessity of sharing it with the world, parading it like some prized ram before the slaughter? It all felt so innocent before, so silly and fun and exciting. Fame. Money. An intoxicating and freeing game that has left her stranded here in this grand temple, to be split open and dissected by her own hand. What will they see in her entrails, spilling out on marble floors? Truth or lies, it matters so little in the end. What narrative in the stars that shine so brightly in their faces, cast down on her mortal form? Music cues up unbidden by her own mind, the opening sonic landscape unfurling. It is too late to cry up to the heavens. Their judgement will come soon enough.

She sways in darkness, black turning slowly to gray as the volume increases on the opening notes that stretch themselves into mournful cries. Anticipation. Memories and regret. Pain and the present. They pool together on her tongue. Her first words drip with remorse. Dark brows draw down with the weight of it all, collapsing over her face at the ends until they feel like they'll break in half, sinking ships dragged into the depths. Tears flood into her eyes but refrain from falling, a small mercy.

Shivers in her body. A tightness. The beat gets in her bones and she can feel it pulling at her, deeper and brighter. It begins.

Solar eyes stare from up above, light and judgement on our love
I miss the shadows where we’d hide, but maybe now it’s the right time

She nearly gasps at the snap of the snare, a minute release as she lets the lyrics flow, falling helplessly, hopelessly, wholeheartedly into that feeling. The one that makes her feel like nothing else. Doubt, fear, pain. All fictions she wears in a cloak around herself, useless lies meant to delay whatever the gods demand of her. Let them rip into her flesh, read patterns into her bones. She is not of herself but something greater, this great swelling of emotion and memory that threatens to overtake her at every moment. She always fights, but for what? At times like these all she wants is to be overtaken and to come on the other side clean and fresh and better than she was before. The only way out is through, and so she dives.

Never gonna catch us, never gonna slow us down
We can make it out, won’t get caught up in this small town

She drowns in the sound of it all, her every breath a small death that takes her further from the stage. She senses her hair brush on the side of her face as she sways in the feeling of it all. She is lost and she loves it. She smells the air, not from this moment but a seeming lifetime of moments ago, that first night they met. Bubbling words and seductive darkness and cherry lips and dodging streetlights as they ran. So young, so free. She wanted that feeling back, and she had it here.

Young and reckless, we don’t care, let the disbelievers stare
You’re the only god I need, they once were blind but now they see

Young and reckless, we don’t care, let the disbelievers stare
You’re the only god I need, we once were bound but now I’m free

The dew of summer's night presses on her skin in a memory of this moment, wrought through time and space to be here through her words. She remembers how softly she spoke into those perfect ears, her lips pressing gently against them as she murmured plans for a future she was so sure of. Heartbreak would come. It always does, no matter how she tries to forget, twisting away at the frayed ends of memory as if hoping it would unravel entirely. Today she ignores it, clinging to those moments when the world was theirs to take together.

Don’t think about days to come, what happens when we aren’t young
We have tonight and that’s enough, lose ourselves in perfect love

She shifts on her feet as the momentum of the song builds, carrying her with it. The god in the darkness drinks from her blood, getting into the full taste of it at last as she builds into the next verses. It moves its body forward in the wait, coming close. Too close, too close. She is no sacrifice to be devoured without price.

Never gonna catch us, never gonna slow us down
Turn out all the lights, lose the best worst days of my life

Gossamer-thin silk shimmers around her, shitting in the light as she rocks back and forth, an avalanche of need and desire doing its best to tear through the diaphanous dress of pale grey, thin layers of blue and purple beneath adding a wealth of dimension beneath the surface. She is a roiling force, the very same earth that is opening up to swallow her whole. Gods. What gods? Why should she feel beholden to something so small when divinity seems close enough to grasp, hidden somewhere in the winding beat that fuels her. She can sense a turn, a shift, a change in the air. The current shifts and she surges forward, grabbing hold of that endless feeling, yanking it into her with a snarl. She is the only god now. She is the one reaching out to devour the audience. They stand there, her devotees, worshipping to her sound, helpless to her power. She feeds on them as they once took from her and oh, oh, how she has so longed to feast like this again.

Know you’re scared and I am too, we’re dreaming of those skies so blue
But that can never be for us, fly by night, don’t make a fuss

Find somewhere that we can dance, let sunbeams play across our hands
We’ll revel in the morning sun, find ourselves in blinding love

She is alive, on fire, flames pouring from her mouth. Her dress burns bright under the lights, grey blackening into the brightest white under the pulsating lights as they dance across her flailing body, all sense of restraint gone as she rocks further and further into memories. The end is coming but she doesn't want it. She can feel it nearing, soon to come crashing down just as she has begun to soar. What more can she do but dance?

Now don’t look back (now don’t look back)
I know you’re sad (I know you’re sad)
But we found love (But we found love)
That’s all we have (that’s all we have)

Now don’t look back (now don’t look back)
I know you’re sad (I know you’re sad)
We’ll run away in night so black
Run from the moon, run from the stars, ‘til dawn comes

They run down her face and she feels them fall. Tears. They've finally come forward and she can't, won't stop them. She lifts her eyes to the constellation of lights above and sings to herself and to that one other girl, the one she can never forget. Those dark nights, those paper promises that peppered her cheeks, her lips, her neck. They would catch flame in the day and burn away, but in the light of the moon they felt like iron bonds securing their future. How silly, to think of it now, but she can't help but smile at it now.

I know we won’t miss this place (stop your tears, let them die)
Seized the day, hid in the night (find another big blue sky)
We’ll forget it if we try (We can do it if we try)
Promise that we’ll never cry (Keep it quiet deep inside)

I know we won’t miss this place (stop your tears, let them die)
Seized the day, hid in the night (find another big blue sky)
We’ll forget it if we try (We can do it if we try)
Promise that we’ll never cry (Keep it quiet deep inside)

The song fades and this time she moves against it, refusing to do the same. She murmurs the last words on whisper thin currents, a mother's lullaby to set the gods to sleep once more.

(Keep it quiet deep inside)
(Keep it quiet deep inside)
(Keep it quiet deep inside)
(Keep it quiet deep inside)

She is cleansed again, face streaked and voice raw. Another performance done.

by **Northern Beepee** » Sun Aug 29, 2021 9:56 pm

by **Northern Beepee** » Sun Aug 29, 2021 9:58 pm

11 | Estogium
Anthony Lavigne (15) - "Est-ce que tu m'ignorés?"

Language(s): French, English
Tune: Lenni Kim - Don't Stop
Lyrics: George Delacroix
Music: Geordain Gross, Slimane Tempest

Anthony Levigne: The young man is turning sixteen in a couple of weeks, so decided it would be a great birthday present to represent his country at the Junior World Hit Festival!

At the start of the song Anthony was on the stage alone. Anthony was wearing a white t-shirt, with a jeans and a jean jacket. He had a hand held microphone. As the song started, it was an extreme close up of the boy, slightly out of focus. After a while, we could see him with the camera moving outwards a bit.

Tu, ma chérie - c'est une chanson pour toi
J'ai écrit mon amour dans cette chanson donc tu savais,
Donc tu savais combien tu comptes beacoup pour moi

The song plodded along. It was time for the chorus now and with that some boys came onto the stage and started dancing - you know how it be. On the large LED screen in the background, you could see the faces of the three boys, dancing in their own little rectangle.

Donc, est-ce que tu m'ignorés?
Je ne peux pas continuer d'amour toi, d'amour si
Tu ne veux pas de moi
Ma princesse, parle-moi, oh allez, regarde-moi
Dis-moi qu'est-ce qu'il y a, qu'il y a?
Ne suis-je pas parfait pour toi?

As we moved on to the next part of the chorus, Anthony did flip the microphone up into the sky before catching it with his other hand. He sang the next chorus...

Donc, est-ce que tu m'ignorés?
Je ne peux pas continuer d'amour toi, d'amour si
Tu ne veux pas de moi
Ohhhh
Ma princesse, parle-moi, oh allez, regarde-moi
Dis-moi qu'est-ce qu'il y a, qu'il y a?
Ne suis-je pas parfait pour toi?

Ohhhh
Ne suis-je pas parfait pour toi?
Ohhhh
Ne suis-je pas parfait pour toi?

It was time for another verse.

Tu, ma chérie, do you like hurting me,
What have I done to deserve all this heartbreak?
Ma chérie, oh qu'ai-je fais de mal?
Tu veux me punir? I don't know...

We could see Anthony and some random girl dancing in the background in front of a wall of colour. The camera would focus on both them dancing on the LED screen and then Anthony dancing with the boys on the stage.

Donc, est-ce que tu m'ignorés?
Je ne peux pas continuer d'amour toi, d'amour si
Tu ne veux pas de moi
Ohhhh
Ma princesse, parle-moi, oh allez, regarde-moi
Dis-moi qu'est-ce qu'il y a, qu'il y a?
Ne suis-je pas parfait pour toi?

Ohhhh, Ooooh
Ne suis-je pas parfait pour toi?
Ohhhh, Ooooh
Ne suis-je pas parfait pour to?

Donc, est-ce que tu m'ignorés?
Je ne peux pas continuer d'amour toi, d'amour si
Tu ne veux pas de moi
Donc, est-ce que tu m'ignorés?
Je ne peux pas continuer d'amour toi, d'amour si
Tu ne veux pas de moi
Tu m'ign- m'ingorés?

Donc, est-ce que tu m'ignorés?
Je ne peux pas continuer d'amour toi, d'amour si
Tu ne veux pas de moi
Ohhhh
Ma princesse, parle-moi, oh allez, regarde-moi
Dis-moi qu'est-ce qu'il y a, qu'il y a?
Ne suis-je pas parfait pour toi?

At the end of the chorus, he blew out a kiss. "Wow! Remercio teis, merci everyone!". It was now time for Kalosia.

by **Northern Beepee** » Sun Aug 29, 2021 9:58 pm

by **Northern Beepee** » Sun Aug 29, 2021 10:00 pm

12. | Kalosia
Luísa Amadeó - "Viverë u l'amorë"

Title Translation: Live in love
Language(s): Kalosia
Tune: Bunda — Potret
Lyrics: Luísa Amadeó
Music: Luísa Amadeó, Timoteó Kruž

Following an open call by RTVK, 12-year old Luísa Amadeó submitted her own composition to the broadcaster for consideration for the 9th Junior World Hit Festival. She was eventually internally chosen to represent Kalosia at the competition, and her song was polished with the help of producer Timoteó Kruž.

The song, whose title translates as 'Live in love', is a collection of her thoughts regarding the kind of person she has become on her journey of life, and her visions of the future. What is to become of her? These are some scary times. But she hopes to do her part in achieving a loving world.

Anyway, for the big night she was wearing an emerald green dress (green is her favourite colour), the kind that exposed one shoulder. Her usually straight brown hair was curled for the occasion and draped over the exposed shoulder.

As the song began, there was a piano on stage and a boy who looked a few years older than her was playing the opening lines of the song. The stage was pretty dark at this time, and a camera focused on the boy's fingers as he played the opening notes. Not long after, it faded to black and switched to a close up of Luísa.

Kadë apru diáriu miu
E legu le paǧine
Naše unë storia di unë ǧovanë
Kë voľe kañarë lë mondu

Now the camera gradually switched to other shots, those that weren't as close up and intimate with Luísa. One could begin to notice that the stage lights were tinted blue and the background screen showed an animated illustration of a girl by her windowsill at night (the night sky was also visible, a staple of Kalosian staging).

U tudi penšeri moji
Unë temë apara
La vitë es brevë, në dovu spetarë
Lë tempu segiru

Now came the chorus, a simple two lines. The cameras hesitated less and less to use wider shots, although the song did not have a very significant buildup or crescendo. Luísa felt it didn't need one.

Vadu, sperandu kë ja pošu usarë mia vož
Pregu, kestu vjažu prendera mi ala luž

Returning to the verses, Luísa kept singing. She has been standing there, in the middle of the stage, singing into the mic attached to a mic stand.

Ule žornate ridu
Ed ule note ja planǧu
Kaña la vitë komë l'invernu e l'estat
Nintë rëmane senzë krešerë

Of course Luísa was emotionally attached to this song, as she made it herself and now had the chance to present it to an international audience. Her face showed so much sincere emotion as she sung, which was also reflected in her hand gestures and overall body language.

Ja skrivu unë leterë
Per mi stesë ula futurë
Sperandu kë ja diventaru
La personë u soñi moji

At this point, the lights started to brighten up a bit into a bluish-white. The camera chose to keep a distance from our performers, emphatically exposing the vastness of the stage, perhaps to go with the rather humble but ambitious tone that these lyrics have.

Vadu, sperandu kë ja pošu usarë mia vož
Pregu, kestu vjažu prendera mi ala luž

Now for the first post-chorus which really introduces to us the resolve that Luísa was aiming for in her message.

Imažinal kë kosë diventara lë mondu
Kadë oñë personë vive u l'amurë

What follows now is a short piano break. At this point, the camera focused on the boy as he continued to play the piano. Off-camera, not much was happening, as Luísa stood still, but of course she would be lying if she said she wasn't nervous. She looked downwards and took a few breaths to not become too overwhelmed.

As the piano break came to an end, she looked back up, just in time for the cameras to look upon her. It was time for one final verse. Luísa took a deep breath and kept singing.

Kadë ja ariva la
Ja perdonaru mi stesë
Sentu kë ja apartenu kosi
Ma n'es la finë maj

In that part, she declared that even if she achieves her dreams, her journey does not come to an end. She keeps going, as exemplified by repeating the chorus one more time.

Vadu, sperandu kë ja pošu usarë mia vož
Pregu, kestu vjažu prendera mi ala luž

Finally, it was time to wrap up the song. Luísa uses up all the energy she has to power through and sing the final lines of the song, the post-chorus one more time.

Imažinal kë kosë diventara lë mondu
Kadë oñë personë vive u l'amurë

The boy plays the final notes of the piano before the song comes to an end, but already the lights were starting to come back on. It was clear that Luísa was given more creative control over the song; a music producer would have presumably wanted a little more oomph throughout the song, including a climatic ending.

But anyway, the song comes to an end and the audience cheers. The boy gets up and both he and Luísa take a bow. "Moltë gražia!" she thanks the audience, before she leaves as the stage is to be set up for the next performance.

JUNIOR WORLD HIT FESTIVAL 9 - JWHF9 - CONTEST THREAD

JUNIOR WORLD HIT FESTIVAL 9 - JWHF9 - CONTEST THREAD

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