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Perth’s Gisella Colletti is doing her best to bring home the Australian Idol crown — not just for herself, but for all her supporters who believe she can become the first singer from WA to win the grand final.
The teen singing sensation — who celebrated her 17th birthday on Wednesday — said she “definitely” had butterflies about the final, which airs on Sunday and Monday.
“I would love to be the next Australian Idol, but also, especially the first Australian Idol from WA,” Gisella said.
The Year 12 schoolgirl is up against 17-year-old Iilysh Retallick, from Culcairn, NSW, and Queensland’s Marshall Hamburger, 19, in the quest to win enough audience votes to secure the $100,000 prize and a studio contract.
While performing may look effortless for her now, Gisella revealed how hard she has worked to overcome debilitating stage fright.
She pushed herself to enter singing competitions from the age of 12, to “step out of my comfort zone”.
“I had this fear of being on stage, and I couldn’t control my nerves, they would just take hold of me,” she said. “So I decided to put myself on the spot and just go for it. And I guess it’s really helped me become the artist and the person I am now.”
While Gisella may have her nerves under control, her parents Luke and Sharee will still be struggling with their emotions as they watch from the audience.
“I’m terrible, I’m a mess,” her mum said.
“I’m sitting there, holding my breath, waiting for the note, waiting for her to get through. People watching on TV see Luke crying and they see me terrified.”
Gisella said she has “always had music around her”, beginning dance classes when she was just four.
“People noticed I was singing while I was dancing — I used to get into trouble for it,” she said.
“And then by Year 1, I got a stereo, and I was playing music, like, every second of the day, performing concerts for my family. Singing is just everything to me.”
Ms Colletti recalled how eager six-year-old Gisella was to join the choir at Thornlie’s Sacred Heart Primary School — but it didn’t allow students until at least Year 3.
“And so, because she couldn’t do choir at school, I took her to her first singing lesson,” she laughed.
“She started in Year 2 and she hasn’t stopped since.”
Gisella revealed that Idol scouts first approached her two years ago, but she decided not to audition then.
“I didn’t want to put myself out there unless I was completely ready,” she said.
Her mum said she had also worried about the negativity being in the public eye could bring. But Gisella has courageously taken that in her stride, urging her fans to ignore the doubters in their lives.
In a recent Facebook post, she thanked supporters while reminding social media users to “always be kind” instead of putting others down.
“That’s quite important to me,” Gisella said. “I want to be a role model to young people and I want them to know they can do anything and nothing should stop them, especially young girls.
“I just want kids to know they should be confident in what they do and someone saying something nasty online should not be the end of their goal or their dreams.”
Gisella said her friends and teachers at Corpus Christi College in Bateman had been incredibly supportive.
“They’ve been really backing me,” she said.
“I wouldn’t have been able to do a lot of what I’m doing without my school, my family and just the whole entire WA community. They’re really getting behind me, and it would be so awesome to bring Idol home to WA.”
Perth’s Gisella Colletti is doing her best to bring home the Australian Idol crown — not just for herself, but for all her supporters who believe she can become the first singer from WA to win the grand final.
The teen singing sensation — who celebrated her 17th birthday on Wednesday — said she “definitely” had butterflies about the final, which airs on Sunday and Monday.
“I would love to be the next Australian Idol, but also, especially the first Australian Idol from WA,” Gisella said.
The Year 12 schoolgirl is up against 17-year-old Iilysh Retallick, from Culcairn, NSW, and Queensland’s Marshall Hamburger, 19, in the quest to win enough audience votes to secure the $100,000 prize and a studio contract.
While performing may look effortless for her now, Gisella revealed how hard she has worked to overcome debilitating stage fright.
She pushed herself to enter singing competitions from the age of 12, to “step out of my comfort zone”.
“I had this fear of being on stage, and I couldn’t control my nerves, they would just take hold of me,” she said. “So I decided to put myself on the spot and just go for it. And I guess it’s really helped me become the artist and the person I am now.”
While Gisella may have her nerves under control, her parents Luke and Sharee will still be struggling with their emotions as they watch from the audience.
“I’m terrible, I’m a mess,” her mum said.
“I’m sitting there, holding my breath, waiting for the note, waiting for her to get through. People watching on TV see Luke crying and they see me terrified.”
Gisella said she has “always had music around her”, beginning dance classes when she was just four.
“People noticed I was singing while I was dancing — I used to get into trouble for it,” she said.
“And then by Year 1, I got a stereo, and I was playing music, like, every second of the day, performing concerts for my family. Singing is just everything to me.”
Ms Colletti recalled how eager six-year-old Gisella was to join the choir at Thornlie’s Sacred Heart Primary School — but it didn’t allow students until at least Year 3.
“And so, because she couldn’t do choir at school, I took her to her first singing lesson,” she laughed.
“She started in Year 2 and she hasn’t stopped since.”
Gisella revealed that Idol scouts first approached her two years ago, but she decided not to audition then.
“I didn’t want to put myself out there unless I was completely ready,” she said.
Her mum said she had also worried about the negativity being in the public eye could bring. But Gisella has courageously taken that in her stride, urging her fans to ignore the doubters in their lives.
In a recent Facebook post, she thanked supporters while reminding social media users to “always be kind” instead of putting others down.
“That’s quite important to me,” Gisella said. “I want to be a role model to young people and I want them to know they can do anything and nothing should stop them, especially young girls.
“I just want kids to know they should be confident in what they do and someone saying something nasty online should not be the end of their goal or their dreams.”
Gisella said her friends and teachers at Corpus Christi College in Bateman had been incredibly supportive.
“They’ve been really backing me,” she said.
“I wouldn’t have been able to do a lot of what I’m doing without my school, my family and just the whole entire WA community. They’re really getting behind me, and it would be so awesome to bring Idol home to WA.”
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