Ekka crowds will help train Logan’s next generation of performers this month, as young singers learn to hold attention and connect with their audience amid the noise, movement and distractions of Queensland’s largest annual show.
Students from Loganholme-based Performance Studios will perform at the Plaza Music Stage on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday during the Ekka, which runs from Saturday 8 August to Sunday 16 August.
Studio founder and director Lisa Lockland-Bell said the performers had been given one deceptively simple measure of success.
“We’ve actually got a challenge for them all, and that is to make someone who’s walking past stop and lock eyes with them for five seconds,” she said.
“That’s actually a skill — to be performing and be present enough that you can connect with someone.”
Junior singers will bring family-friendly and Disney-style songs to Monday’s performances, followed by contemporary pop from emerging performers.
Older teenagers and adults will take over on Wednesday, before some of the studio’s most experienced singers perform on Thursday.
Ms Lockland-Bell said the students had spent up to three months preparing for more than simply singing their chosen songs.
They had rehearsed their entrances, introductions and transitions so they could respond confidently in the unpredictable showground environment.
“You’re not always going to get a theatre-style audience where everyone’s just sitting there and being quiet,” she said.
“You’ve got to be able to not get distracted. You might get people trying to heckle you, yelling out to you, or just not listening.
“That takes experience. That’s what we’re giving them — those experiences so they can develop that toolkit of going, ‘Okay, I know how to deal with that.’”
The appearances expand on the studio’s first Ekka performance in 2024.
Former Australian Idol Top 21 contestant Eva Ilov will also perform a 45-minute singing set and close the stage with five evening DJ sets.
Performance Studios has taken on another Ekka role this year by hosting a development workshop for finalists in the national Country Music Showdown.
Ms Lockland-Bell said 17 of the competition’s 24 finalists attended the Loganholme workshop ahead of the junior and open finals on August 15.
“For our performers, this gives them those experiences so their confidence really leapfrogs forward,” she said.
“They can have that sense of, ‘This is what it’s all about. This is what we’re working for, and that’s going to make me work even harder for next time.’”
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