New Zealand’s Got Talent contestant Natasha Alexandra received mixed reviews for her semifinal performance last week, but the singer has learnt to stay strong when under fire.
After suffering an entire year of merciless teasing and bullying at school – an event that led to her writing Last Monday, the song that took her through to the semifinals on the TV One show – the 17-year-old says by facing the problem head-on and telling the world about it, she already feels like a winner.
Natasha’s latest performance didn’t quite go according to plan and the talented teen was clearly devastated when she was criticised on the reality show for being “pitchy” by judge Cris Judd. But despite the setback, the singer-songwriter insists that she’s a different person now, so didn’t let it get to her.
Seeing judge Jason Kerrison singing along to her catchy pop song Real World made her smile – and knowing that she had created happiness from a dark period of her life brings comfort.
In 2012, the talented Aucklander was singled out by a group of girls – what started as verbal abuse, quickly escalated into physical violence. But during this time the tormented teen found solace in music and channeled her experiences into song.
“It started as insults. The girls would call me “fat bitch”, says Natasha. “But when they saw I was impervious to that’s when it became quite physical. People would throw books at me, spit at me and kick my legs as I was walking to the counselor’s office.
“I don’t know why they singled me out – they just needed to find a victim – but the most upsetting thing about it was that none of my classmates would come forward to help because they were scared as well.”
Watching his daughter coming home from school every day upset and with bruises on her body prompted her father John to take action. He decided to cut off one of the sources of the problem and limit Natasha’s access to social media. Everyday after school John took Natasha and her brother Ryan away from the computer to Karekare Beach in Waitakere where Natasha would sit and play her guitar in the sand.
“When you come home from a day of being harassed and then you sit down on the computer and face more, it’s not good. So that’s why my dad started taking me to Karekare and that’s where I wrote Real World,” says Natasha.
“The song is about bullying through Facebook and using it as a medium to create dominance. Anything that happened during the day, the beach became a clear place to get away from it all.
“It was a horrible experience, but I’m kind of glad that it happened because I wrote some really good songs during that time. Music was my emotional outlet and I don’t really know what I would have done without it.”
Natasha says life has got better for her over the past year: The girls that bullied her dropped out of school and she now has more friends – including Kia, the only one that stood by her during the bullying.
Writing is still her way of processing her experiences – the talented teen has also written and self-published a 390-page fiction book called Walking With the Strangers (also about her experiences at school).
It was thanks to her mum Paula’s encouragement that Natasha auditioned for New Zealand’s Got Talent. She says since that first performance she has grown as a person – many people have approached her in the street and thanked her for raising awareness about harassment in schools.
“People have come up to me and told me about their own experiences with bullying and how the connected with the song. I’ve even had parents come and tell me their children had been through a similar thing.
“Getting up on that stage and hearing the judges say great things about my songs has given me a lot of confidence. That first TV appearance changed my life. I don’t want it to end, but whatever happens, I’m a different person. I’m really glad I went on the show,” Natasha says.
New Zealand’s Got Talent
TV One, Sunday 7.30pm
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