Uprising singer Sharon Nicholls, known as Shazza, has clarified her ‘body positivity’ comments during a recent interview with ABC Australia following critics judging the way she looks during her shows.
“The whole idea that I put out on my interview was to give feedbacks and respond to my critics,” she said.
“I am not implying that everyone should wear short skirts or tank tops, that’s not what I meant in my interview, what I was trying to say was directed to my critics.
“Women should feel comfortable in whatever they are wearing; I’m not forcing anyone.”
She apologised, saying it was not her intend to say something that would create an uproar on social media but to spread body positivity and being confident in your own skin, based on her own experiences as a young female artist.
“I think in the cultural aspects of things, there’s going to be people saying that I shouldn’t wear this or that, or I should be wearing a cultural attire.
“Whenever I’m on stage, I make sure people see me as I am, it’s a stage performance.
“I am proud to be a Ni-Van woman and going out there and representing my country, there’s so many people who can do that and I’m so happy that I’m paving the way for them.”
The singer said as a female artist who’s been exposed to the music industry at a very young age, it is very hard to get an opinion of herself.
“I’m not sure about other female artists in Vanuatu and their experiences but I am really trying.”
Shazza also added that when reading through every backlashing comments on social media, she noticed people comparing her to renowned singer Vanessa Quai, nonetheless she is a huge fan and looks up to her as a role model in the music industry.
“I hear people talking about branding, I still do not have that money to make that on my own, it is a long-term thing that would probably happen in the future, but for now, I still don’t have my own brand or merchandise.
“Right now, I’m focusing on how I would set the tone for Shazza and how I would represent Shazza to the world.”
She implied her own focus was to be unique from everyone in the music industry.
“There’s so many styles of music and musicians, there’s so many ways that you can portray your story in your music but Shazza is a whole different vibe.
“We can’t keep following the crowd, needless to say, my audience is mostly youths since the music that I make, young people listen to and I completely understand that our elders won’t agree.
“In order for our country to progress forward, we need to see change, we need to start living in this kind of lifestyle.”
She said most of her critics was received from the people in the country.
“It is sad to see how we are putting ourselves down instead of supporting each other,” she stressed. “However, I am always reminded that social media is not a safe place, I keep myself grounded because there is always going to be someone that says something different and that is okay.
“Everyone will take it from a different angle and that’s totally fine.
“I love the constructive criticism and no disrespect to the culture and the custom, my performances are entirely different to when I am at home with my family.
“If I wanna wear an island dress, that really depends on the occasion and many of my shows have its own theme, so I dress accordingly to what I’m comfortable with and what tone I’m trying to reflect on.”
“Because no-one else is going to help me move in this music career except for myself, so when I do speak in those interviews, I’m encouraging myself.
“The whole point is, I’m a big girl, there’s no other big girls in the music industry here and all I’m trying to do is protect my integrity.”
She acknowledged all her friends, families and fans who were very supportive to her since day one.
“When I started this career I wanted to get exposure and be connected with everyone in the music scene, even though this is the first of many interviews (with ABC) I’m gonna do it again and no-one’s going to tell me what to put on my body.”
SOURCE: VANUATU DAILY POST
