Melina Hazewood- Performing.
Melina Hazewood is a breath-taking singer who is captivating to watch but do even the best singers suffer with pre-show nerves?
I asked Melina weather she gets nervous when performing and she explained that once she starts to sing all the worries and nerves leave her head. However, sometimes, right before she goes on stage she gets nervous. So how can you deal with these pre-performance jitters?
When Melina gets nervous before going on stage she takes deep breaths from her stomach to calm down. She mentioned that if she gets nervous during the performance then she tries to just focus on the song and imagine that no one is watching her. Someone once told Melina that, most of the time, when someone is watching your performance it is because they wanted to come and see you therefore, the audience is quite forgiving. This is something she keeps in mind before and during a performance to help herself not get worried.
During the performance Melina thinks about the feeling and emotion of the song and what the song means to her. She also makes sure to always engage with the members of the audience to make them feel involved with the song. She finds that as soon as she starts to sing all the nerves slip away.
According to Melina, being on stage is the most incredible feeling. When on stage Melina feels alive, as she feeds off the audiences energy while performing. You can see as Melina performs, that she is giving everything she has to the performance and the audience can feel the emotions in the song.
After asking Melina: where has been your favourite place to perform? She replied that she loved to perform at the Croisetter of Cannes by the Côte d’Azur, in the south of France, as it holds many memories of holidays as a child. This was where she competed in the Golden Voice International Competition. It was the first time that she performed one of her own songs for a large audience and the reaction was incredible.
The largest audience she has sung for was 250 people! This was for the school musicals where in 2022 she played the lead role of Sandy in Greece and in 2023 one of the main roles, Morticia in the Addams Family. Melina explained that these where two very unforgettable experiences. Although, to my surprise Melina says that she finds it harder to sing for a smaller audience of people she knows, as the reactions feel more exposed!
Melina performs because she loves being able to share her passion of singing. Performing songs live is much better than showing a recording as you can feel the connection with the audience. For Melina each performance is precious, as the audience will never be the same each time. Every performance is like a sacred moment of complete emotional connection to hundreds of people all at once.
Follow Melina on Instagram @melina_hazewood.
