Listen to George Alice’s winning song here
A 16-year-old high school student from Gawler has won Triple J’s Unearthed High competition.
Solo artist George Alice will now fly to Triple J headquarters in Sydney to record her music with mentorship from The Jungle Giants frontman Sam Hales.
Triple J’s Ben and Liam surprised the Year 11 student with the news at her school, Faith Lutheran College.
The radio presenters snuck up behind Alice during school photos to capture the moment.
media_cameraTriple J presenters Ben Harvey (left) and Liam Stapleton surprise George Alice at Faith Lutheran College
“The principal and a couple of teachers came out to the oval, a big crowd of people were watching me get my photos taken — I thought it was so strange,” she said.
“All of a sudden Ben and Liam were next to me — I couldn’t think or move, everyone was screaming.
“Everyone was just crying all day, all my friends were crying.”
It has been “very, very crazy” coming to terms with the news.
“I didn’t think I could ever be a finalist, let alone the winner.”
Her debut single Circles — about being lost in a relationship — won the judges over.
“I just wanted to change it up, my George Alice career was all an experiment,” she says.
“I wanted people to listen to the lyrics and feel the emotions and be able to move to it.”
Her win has landed her a place among other Unearthed High alumni including Gretta Ray, KIAN and Japanese Wallpaper.
Triple J Unearthed music director Dave Ruby Howe said it was “impossible to dislodge” her voice from his head.
“In George Alice we’ve found a prolific performer and writer and we reckon that this 16-year-old is ready for very big things,” he said.
Based on the results of an online survey, Triple J has decided to change the date of its Hottest 100 countdown from Australia to the 4th Saturday of January of each year.
