The Bendigo Weekly wrote this beautiful article about Remy Juliana, one of the talented winners of Clare’s Winter Secrets Competition:
Young Bendigo performer Remy Juliana can now call national acclaimed Clare Bowditch a fan of her work.
On July 13 the 17-year-old shared the stage with Bowditch during her Ballarat concert, after the youngster won a competition which allowed local performers to submit a clip of their talents, and possibly join Bowditch on stage.
It almost didn’t happen on the night though.“We were staying at a friend’s house and as soon as we arrived there I began to feel so physically sick with nerves,” Remy says. “I crawled into bed and told my mum that I didn’t want to go because I was too scared.”
“I decided to man-up and get ready to head down to a rehearsal with Clare and as soon as I met her I immediately felt relaxed. She’s absolutely lovely.” After meeting with Bowditch’s tour manager, she found out she had to perform the third song from the set list.
“I was shaking really badly and Clare kissed and hugged me and told me that I was going to be fine and it all ran really smoothly,” she says. “It really did feel like I was dreaming.”
Remy won herself two new fans that night. “Lanie Lane (Bowditch’s support act on the night) told me that I was her favourite of all the winners and Clare told me that I was a natural and I ‘had it in my bones’,” she says.
“It made me feel really good about myself and my singing ability and it took away a lot of the nerves I had prior to the rehearsal.”
“I felt so lucky that these amazing singers were complimenting me.”
It wouldn’t have happened if it hadn’t been for her elder sister Casey’s insistence. Remy quickly sang a capella straight into her laptop, and hit send, within an hour of the competition closing.
A few weeks later, she got the good news. “I really didn’t expect to win it at all,” she says. “My sister however, had a lot of confidence in me winning the competition.”
“The morning I read the email telling me that I had been successful in the competition, I jumped up from the laptop and squealed and considering I’m not the girly squealing type, this was a big deal.”
“It didn’t feel real at all, I was completely shocked but proud and excited.”
The Bendigo Senior Secondary College student moved to Bendigo from Hobart five years ago. A place where her music skills were first honed. “People always ask me ‘when did you start singing?’ and I find that a really odd question because I can’t remember a time when I didn’t sing,” she says.
“I’ve always been musical, whether it’s just humming around the house or singing in the shower, I’ve just always sung.” Although without any formal training, she’s received a few months of singing lessons from Bendigo music identity Albert “Skip” Skipper. “Skip really helped me to build confidence in myself and in my singing ability,” she says.” “He taught me how to project my voice properly and he also inspired me to teach myself guitar.”
It led to her first public performance at the Newmarket Hotel, a brief three song set. “It really excited me to have the experience to show people what I could do,” she says.
“I was congratulated by so many people that I had never met after my performance and it really boosted my confidence and made me want to be on stage more often.”
Juliana plans to continue her music education in Bendigo. “I’d love to sing with a band at some stage too so if anyone is looking for a lead singer,” she says.
“I guess I’ll just see where the road takes me and in the mean-time I’ll play some other gigs around Bendigo and hopefully collaborate with other musicians.”
Winter Secrets Comp
Young Bendigo performer Remy Juliana can now call national acclaimed Clare Bowditch a fan of her work.
On July 13 the 17-year-old shared the stage with Bowditch during her Ballarat concert, after the youngster won a competition which allowed local performers to submit a clip of their talents, and possibly join Bowditch on stage.
It almost didn’t happen on the night though.“We were staying at a friend’s house and as soon as we arrived there I began to feel so physically sick with nerves,” Remy says. “I crawled into bed and told my mum that I didn’t want to go because I was too scared.”
“I decided to man-up and get ready to head down to a rehearsal with Clare and as soon as I met her I immediately felt relaxed. She’s absolutely lovely.” After meeting with Bowditch’s tour manager, she found out she had to perform the third song from the set list.
“I was shaking really badly and Clare kissed and hugged me and told me that I was going to be fine and it all ran really smoothly,” she says. “It really did feel like I was dreaming.”
Remy won herself two new fans that night. “Lanie Lane (Bowditch’s support act on the night) told me that I was her favourite of all the winners and Clare told me that I was a natural and I ‘had it in my bones’,” she says.
“It made me feel really good about myself and my singing ability and it took away a lot of the nerves I had prior to the rehearsal.”
“I felt so lucky that these amazing singers were complimenting me.”
It wouldn’t have happened if it hadn’t been for her elder sister Casey’s insistence. Remy quickly sang a capella straight into her laptop, and hit send, within an hour of the competition closing.
A few weeks later, she got the good news. “I really didn’t expect to win it at all,” she says. “My sister however, had a lot of confidence in me winning the competition.”
“The morning I read the email telling me that I had been successful in the competition, I jumped up from the laptop and squealed and considering I’m not the girly squealing type, this was a big deal.”
“It didn’t feel real at all, I was completely shocked but proud and excited.”
The Bendigo Senior Secondary College student moved to Bendigo from Hobart five years ago. A place where her music skills were first honed. “People always ask me ‘when did you start singing?’ and I find that a really odd question because I can’t remember a time when I didn’t sing,” she says.
“I’ve always been musical, whether it’s just humming around the house or singing in the shower, I’ve just always sung.” Although without any formal training, she’s received a few months of singing lessons from Bendigo music identity Albert “Skip” Skipper. “Skip really helped me to build confidence in myself and in my singing ability,” she says.” “He taught me how to project my voice properly and he also inspired me to teach myself guitar.”
It led to her first public performance at the Newmarket Hotel, a brief three song set. “It really excited me to have the experience to show people what I could do,” she says.
“I was congratulated by so many people that I had never met after my performance and it really boosted my confidence and made me want to be on stage more often.”
Juliana plans to continue her music education in Bendigo. “I’d love to sing with a band at some stage too so if anyone is looking for a lead singer,” she says.
“I guess I’ll just see where the road takes me and in the mean-time I’ll play some other gigs around Bendigo and hopefully collaborate with other musicians.”
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