Halle Bailey, the star of Disney's new live-action remake of "The Little Mermaid," made musical magic at Disneyland Sunday night.
Fully embracing her status as a Disney princess, Bailey took center stage in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle in California's Disneyland to sing "Part of Your World," her character Ariel’s iconic song from the movie. The production was all part of Disney Night on ABC's reality talent show "American Idol," in which contestants perform songs from the Disney music catalog.
Bailey's stunning performance begins as the camera slowly sweeps toward the star singing in front of the castle that illuminates the night sky. A massive crowd is holding blue lights to lead the way. Wearing a full-length shimmering blue gown designed by Michael Fausto, Bailey fills Disneyland with her beautiful voice amidst a background only Disney magic could create, complete with lighting, special effects and even some fireworks.
In a May 14 tweet, Bailey shared how special this performance was for her.
"First time singing 'Part of Your World' since filming," she shared. "Thank you @AmericanIdol for giving me the chance to do so on stage at Disneyland."
Making Disney magic actually takes a lot of hard work, according to Bailey. In her tweet, Bailey also revealed that the performance was filmed at 3 a.m. in freezing cold temperatures, which she described as "no joke." The late hour was a must because the filming of a production number like this cannot happen during normal park operating hours. But, based on the final result, it looks like the challenges were worth it.
Here's the performance, as posted to YouTube by Walt Disney Records:
Bailey's performance in the new version of "The Little Mermaid" earned rave reviews from the original Ariel, Jodi Benson, at the May 8 Hollywood premiere of the film. Benson, who voiced Ariel in the 1989 animated version of the movie said she was "so proud" of Bailey and her performance.
Disney's "The Little Mermaid" opens across the U.S. May 26 and also features Melissa McCarthy as Ursula, Javier Bardem as King Triton, Jonah Hauer-King as Prince Eric, Daveed Diggs as Sebastian, Jacob Tremblay as Flounder, Awkwafina as Scuttle and Noma Dumezweni as a new character, Prince Eric’s mother Queen Selina.
This story was originally published by Marie Rossiter on Simplemost.com.
