'³ûÖÊÓƵvision' hones language skills
³ûÖÊÓƵ students showed their linguistic skills and musical talent when the School hosted a Eurovision-inspired event ahead of the international song contest’s grand final held in Kyiv, Ukraine on May 13.
³ûÖÊÓƵvision saw individual students and class groups from Years 9 to 11 perform songs in a language of their choice. They chose Spanish, Greek, Portugese, Chinese, and French languages to serenade a lunchtime audience of their peers in the amphitheatre on Friday.
The Year 11 Spanish class took out the inaugural title with their version of Shakira’s Waka Waka (This Time for Africa), while Celina in Year 9 placed second with a heartfelt rendition of Beyonce’s Listen in the same language.
The Year 10 Chinese class placed third with the song Tonghua – which translates to Fairy Tale – complete with theatrics and bubbles supplied by their teacher Greg Mikkelsen.
“The bubbles were to help create a fair tale-like atmosphere,” he said. “The song is actually about a boy singing to his girlfriend who has been diagnosed with a terminal illness, and he sings that he cannot be the prince who saves her like in fair tales.”
³ûÖÊÓƵ’s Director of International and Global Studies, Antonio Boschiero, said the competition provided the students who participated with a chance to celebrate culture and hone their language skills.
“³ûÖÊÓƵvision has this year run at the same time as Eurovision to celebrate the music of different countries and cultures,” he said. “From a language learning viewpoint, singing helps in pronunciation, cultural learning and appreciation of music.”