Stef Smits from Best will be in the spotlight on Saturday evening. The 14-year-old is participating in the final of the Junior Song Contest with his boy band Level Up. During the live broadcast, it will be decided which act will represent the Netherlands at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest: ‘That seems super cool to me.’
Stef is no stranger to dancing and singing. He attends school in Venlo, where he follows TOP classes in addition to his regular secondary education. These are classes for pupils with a specific talent. In his case, musical theatre. ‘Every week, I have dance lessons, musical theatre lessons, singing lessons and music theory lessons.’
To get to school on time, Stef gets up at 5:45 every morning, catches the 7:00 train to Venlo, and often doesn’t get back to Best until around 7:00 in the evening. Of course, he does it for a reason. Stef has travelled all over the Netherlands for roles in various musicals.
Level Up
Now the teenager is embarking on a new adventure. ‘I hesitated for a long time before deciding to participate,’ says Stef. After much deliberation, he decided to sign up for the Junior Song Contest, and successfully so. He was selected to participate in the finals. All those selected are placed in different acts by the organisation. For Stef, this turned out to be the boy band Level Up, which he is in with four other boys.
Stef and his boy band will compete against three other acts. The winner will travel to Georgia, where the Junior Eurovision Song Contest will take place. Stef is excited about this: ‘So many people watch it, I think it’s super cool.’
Stef doesn’t dare to say anything about how likely it is that Level Up will win. The boy band’s song, called Rule The World, has already been listened to more than 120,000 times on Spotify: ‘That’s the most streams of all the acts, but that doesn’t mean much.’
Translated by: Vanya
Source: Studio040/ Anna van Lith
