Australia has been a welcome addition to Junior Eurovision (well at least in our partially biased eyes), and we’ve enjoyed watching the nation present the best young Australian artists over the last 2 years. This year marks the third participation for Australia, and it will be Isabella Clarke who will be flying the Aussie flag with the song Speak Up. With their best result 5th place in last year’s contest, could this be the year that Australia breaks into the Top 3?
Out of the three Australian entries, I really think this is our best bid yet. I was never completely convinced on the 2015 entry My Girls, nor last year’s entry We Are. I’m loving that it’s an upbeat entry and not a ballad, and not only is it just upbeat, it’s ridiculously catchy. The chorus is memorable, but for me the highlights are the verses because they have such a unique melody. This song also sounds a lot fresher than our previous two entries, and although not as ‘cutesy’ as some of this year’s entries, I think the older viewers will appreciate this song as it doesn’t feel like a song exclusive for younger children.
Since the video clip for this song was seemingly done in one take, it would be cool to see some choreography with backing dancers this time around. It will lose a lot of the appeal if she is on stage alone, so this is a performance that should take advantage of the full ‘member on stage’ allowance. We’ve seen Isabella perform this live, and behind her were more dancers than would be allowed on stage at Junior Eurovision, and it was a really polished performance both in terms of choreography and her vocals. No one can deny that she’s a talented girl, and I think her vocals will shine on the night.
Overall, I think this is deserving of a Top 5 position. If we could manage a 5th place last year, this will surely match or even climb up into the Top 3. Although I’m a fellow Aussie, I always like to be objective with my reviews, and the last two Australian entries didn’t really do it for me but this really is third time lucky. I hope this does well!
I’m giving it a 9/10.
If you want to check out all the previous entries from Australia at Junior Eurovision, make sure to check out our Junior Best of the Bunch: Australia!
