Dubai: A musical plea for world peace by a Dubai schoolgirl is the only song from the UAE to be entered for a global music competition.
But for 15-year-old Siya Arora, the singer and writer of the song, Slow Down World, the work has only just begun.
To go through to the final round, Arora needs people to vote online for her song — and hopes for support from UAE residents. If her song gathers enough votes, a jury selected by contest organisers MasterPeace, a non-profit peace movement based in the Netherlands, will select the winning song from the top 25. The winner will then perform their song at a European music festival.
“Every day we read such disturbing news,” says Siya. The song stems from her simple belief: if the world would take some time to pause an “see what’s happening around us in the moment”, peace will soon follow.
Siya’s family have lived in Dubai for 11 years. She claims inspiration from her father, a professional singer. Starting at the age of nine, Siya trained in classical singing, but quit her lessons four years later after finding she was more interested in pop music.
Learning how to play the guitar from YouTube videos, Siya says she now plays and sings for hours every day. After she put Slow Down World on the internet in June, the simple black-and-white music video has been watched more than 120,000 times on Facebook.
“All my songs are really related to life, mainly of teenagers and youth right now, about insecurities, about standing up and making things right, and believing in yourself,” says Siya. “These are all the type of messages I want to share with people in Dubai.”
To listen and vote for Siya’s song, visit: www.masterpeace.org/contestants/slow-world-siya-arora/
