" " Words and Images: Time for stars to come out and shine

Pages

Time for stars to come out and shine

Saturday 29 June 2013

Time for stars to come out and shine
.............................. 
Talented pupils from Zwaanswyk High School, competing in their first “Thee Unseen Stars” competition have exceeded expectations by taking five of the ten places available in the final round of Season 3 of the competition.

Over a 150 pupils from the eight participating schools auditioned for a place in the increasingly popular talent competition to be held at South Peninsula High School on Friday 21 June. Started in May 2011 as a fund-raiser event for South Peninsula High School pupils wanting to attend the National Schools Festival in Grahamstown, the competition quickly went from a school event to an inter-school event. It was such a hit that last year the event was aired on local television stations.

“We have pupils competing in two of the four categories,” said Sanett Ziller, the Arts and Culture teacher at Zwaanswyk High School. “Our Glee Club act is in the final round of the singing competition as well as soloists Kim Samuels, 13, Nicole Speek, 14 and Leandra Abrahams, 15,” Ms Ziller explained.

Emile Peterson, 17, is through to the finals of the dancing category. “I am a hip-hop dancer and I have been dancing for seven years now. I saw Michael Jackson performing and I was inspired, so I just began learning,” Emile said, adding that he is looking forward to the competition. “It is going to be tough though, the other dance contestants all dance at a higher level than the intermediate level I am currently dancing at.”

The remaining two categories are the DJ’ing and band categories, which Zwaanswyk High School is not represented in. Unsurprisingly though, the three soloists are also members of the Glee Club. Only formed in 2012, the 15 person act, which puts its own acapella spin on modern songs, has already begun to excel, having achieved a grade of 86% at this years FACETS competition.

Leandra, who will be singing the song “Hometown” by Adele, said that she is just as excited about the Glee Club performance as what she is about her solo performance. “We are all excited about the Glee Club performance because it is a superb act,” she explained. 

Nicole agreed with Leandra. “Individually we all have wonderful voices but when they are combined they become all the more wonderful,” she enthused. The Glee Club will be performing a medley of the songs “Titanium”, by David Guetta and featuring Sia, and “Bills” by Destiny’s Child.

Performing “Clown” by Emeli Sande, this is the first competition that the young Nicole is taking part in. “I am looking forward to the competition,” Nicole said, “the competition is titled “Unseen stars” but we are going to be seen on TV, it is so exciting.”

The other schools competing in this years “Thee Unseen Stars - Season 3,” are Plumstead High School, Norman Henshilwood High School, Grassdale High School, Grassy Park High School, Steenberg High School and Heathfield High School.

“We intend to promote and develop Arts and Culture in schools through “Thee Unseen Stars,” said a spokesperson of the event, “and at the same time keep our children off the streets,” adding  that for many of the students who will benefit from the fundraiser, their trip to Grahamstown will be their first ever trip outside of the Western Cape. 
The youngest competitor in the Zwaanswyk High School team is Kim Samuels. At the tender age of 13, Kim is seeing this as an opportunity to grow in confidence as a performer. “I will be singing a song by my favorite artist,” Kim said, “it is called ‘Listen’ by Beyonce,” adding that she liked Beyonce because she could relate to her songs.

A special treat for contestants and the audience is that the event will be hosted by a top South African comedian and actor, Riaad Moosa. For more information, please contact the South Peninsula High School on 021 712 9318

No comments:

Post a Comment

 
Words and Images | by WITTSTOCKMEDIA ©2012