Many children dream of being rich and famous one day. While it remains just a dream for most, the possibility is well and truly alive for eight-year-old Teodora Birtasevic, of Brookfield.
“When she was two she started watching The Phantom of the Opera and she kept on watching it over and over,” mother Lana Birtasevic says. “By the time she was five she was having singing lessons, and at age six she was in a girls’ choir with over 1000 singers.”
In 2012, her parents’ decision to have her sing individually led to instant success.
“Channel 9 had a kids’ karaoke competition … she made the top three and ended up performing live on television for the grand final,” Birtasevic says. “The other two people in the final were nine and 10. The 10-year-old won.”
After this performance, Teodora was asked to audition for hit television show Australia’s Got Talent.
Unfortunately, she was too young to go further in the show, but it hasn’t stopped the Coburn Primary School pupil trying to get a head start on her dreams.
“She has performed at the Fast Track singing competition, which is run by the people who do The X Factor,’’ Birtasevic says.
“She has done a few whole-of-school assemblies in front of 700 kids and a duet with her music teacher.
“And now, she’s recently started playing an extra on the television series House Husbands.”
Teodora especially likes singing songs by Whitney Houston, Adele, Etta James and Christina Aguilera.
She hopes to one day sing professionally in France and Serbia. “It takes a lot of time, but we are trying to support her and she absolutely loves music,’’ her mother says.
“Her room is all about Paris, her clothes, bed, books, mirrors, boxes, bags, earrings and jewellery boxes.”