https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74EHf_GxNGc
Nimbin Central School student Taita Thaiday-Shinn is hoping her rendition of Adele’s This is the End is going to get her over the line at the 2015 AIME’s Got Game finals in Sydney next month.
Taita joins Khawana Roberts, Iesha Torrens and Jasmine Laurie from Alstonville High School and George Johnson from Southern Cross Ballina, Jasmine Mason from Tweed River High School, all of whom are hoping to glean enough online votes to head to the finals.
The Northern NSW students are finalists in AIME’s Got Game, which showcases a generation of talented Indigenous youth who want to send a message to Australia that is filled with hope, positivity and success.
The 50 final acts were selected from over 1,500 students who completed the AIME’s Got Game workshops as part of the AIME program, which supports Indigenous students to finish high school and transition to university, employment and further education at the same rate as all Australian students.
The event is run each year by the Australian Indigenous Mentoring Experience (AIME).
AIME CEO, Jack Manning Bancroft, said AIME’s Got Game is a chance to get behind the new generation of Indigenous youth and help realise a brighter vision for Australia.
Manning Bancroft founded AIME in 2005, when he and 25 students at the University of Sydney began mentoring 25 Indigenous high school students in Redfern.
Pat Orme, AIME Program Manager at Southern Cross University in Lismore described Taita’s performance was ‘spellbinding’.
‘George is set to take Nashville by storm, Khawana was born to move and Iesha could rival Jess Mauboy,’ she added.
If they receive enough votes to reach the top 10, the students will all be flown to Sydney in November to work with industry mentors, perform for huge crowds and record the official ‘AIME Anthem’ for 2015.
Voting in AIME’s Got Game opens on Wednesday 7th November and closes on Friday 23rd October.
To vote for your favourite and help them get over the line, head to the AIME’s Got Game, website. www.aimesgotgame.com
