When Bailee Nathan woke up on the concrete outside RAC Arena on Tuesday morning, she sensed it was going to be a day to remember.
And she was right.
Not only was she attending her first Zara Larsson concert, but the 19-year-old had a feeling she was going to be the one out of tens of thousands of fans who would end up on stage with her musical idol.
Bailee joined the throng of fans dressed in colourful, bedazzled outfits for Larsson’s official return to Australia after more than 10 years, and the Swedish pop sensation’s first time as a headline act.
One of the most anticipated moments of her concerts is when a fan is chosen to be Larsson’s “Lush Girl” and gets the chance to dance with the star on stage while she performs her song Lush Life.
Bailee was hoping to be ‘that fan’, so she wanted to get as close as possible to the front of the stage as she could. To do so, she and her friends camped outside the arena on Monday night.
“I woke up, and I was like, ‘it’s going to be me’ for some reason, and then we got in there, and when the dancers were choosing, we were just all going crazy. And when she looked at me, I nearly burst into tears. She’s so cool, and she’s just really awesome,” Ms Nathan told PerthNow. “It was honestly insane.”
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Bailee said getting to meet Larsson and dance with her was “the best thing that’s ever going to happen to me”.
“I literally, like, blacked out, but then I hugged her and I was so happy,” she said. “It literally does not feel real.
“I seriously have looked up to her for so long, and that happening was, like, probably the best thing that’s ever going to happen to me.
“And it was insane. I love her so much, and I appreciate what she did. And seeing the crowd from her perspective was insane.”
Bailee said she practised the Lush Life dance ahead of the concert after learning the moves that have become a viral dance trend on TikTok.
She said another special moment of the night was when Larsson complimented her “sexy, gothic” outfit, despite straying from the singer’s brightly coloured mermaid-esque aesthetic.
“I wanted to create Zara’s asymmetrical-top style in a colour that I want to wear, which is black, so I went to Spotlight with my Nan, and we made that top,” she said.
“And then the skirt was a fail when we made it, so I had to buy one. And then we made the socks too.”
Bailee, a sales representative, said she loved Larsson for her vulnerability.
“I just genuinely think she’s so open,” she said.
“Just the light that she’s bringing recently to a not so great world is awesome. Like Midnight Sun, that whole album literally saved my life. Like genuinely, I love that album so much.”
Bailee said when she returned home on Tuesday night she couldn’t wait to share the news with her mother who was “so happy for her”.