Fans of Disney's The Little Mermaid got to witness singer/songwriter Halle Bailey's emotional vocals as Ariel ahead of the live-action film remake based on the 1989 animated film.
Bailey is part of the musical duo Chloe x Halle with her sister Chlöe Bailey and is also an actor in TV shows like Grown-ish.
On a May 14 episode of American Idol for the show's "Disney Night," Bailey made a special guest appearance singing the anthemic song "Part of Your World."
You can see her performance here:
But instead of performing live in-studio, she performed the number in front of Disneyland's iconic Sleeping Beauty Castle.
The first Disney park located in Anaheim, California was closed to regular park guests for the special taping featuring Bailey in a stunning cerulean gown singing in front of the iconic castle with digital mapping projections mimicking an oceanic realm illuminated with points of bioluminescent light.
With the live-action film about to make a splash in theaters on May 26, Bailey took to Twitter and shared the video of her pre-taped Disneyland performance.
She wrote in the caption:
"First time singing part of your world live since filming thank you @AmericanIdol for giving me the chance to do so on stage at Disneyland."
"Singing vocals in freezing cold weather at 3am while park is closed is no joke but we did it!"
"only 11 more days until you all can watch the film!"
\u201cfirst time singing part of your world live since filming \ud83d\ude2d\ud83c\udf0athank you @AmericanIdol for giving me the chance to do so on stage at disneyland ..singing vocals in freezing cold weather at 3am while park is closed is no joke but we did it! only 11 more days until you all can watch\u2026\u201d— Halle (@Halle) 1684115298
Her powerful performance had social media users reaching for the tissues.
\u201c@HalleBailey @AmericanIdol\u201d— Halle (@Halle) 1684115298
\u201c@HalleBailey @AmericanIdol You delivered that perfectly, incredible \ud83d\ude4c\ud83c\udffd\ud83e\udee7\ud83e\udddc\ud83c\udffd\u200d\u2640\ufe0f\u201d— Halle (@Halle) 1684115298
\u201c@HalleBailey @AmericanIdol what\u2019s the word? Perfection\u201d— Halle (@Halle) 1684115298
\u201c@HalleBailey @dezidoesit @AmericanIdol Joint gave me goosebumps. What a voice. Looking forward to watching it with my niece.\u201d— Halle (@Halle) 1684115298
\u201c@HalleBailey @AmericanIdol i smiled the whole time watching this \ud83e\udd79\u201d— Halle (@Halle) 1684115298
\u201c@HalleBailey @AmericanIdol This was AMAZINGGGGGGG\u201d— Halle (@Halle) 1684115298
\u201c@HalleBailey @AmericanIdol I HAVE GOOSIES YOU ARE UNREAL\u201d— Halle (@Halle) 1684115298
\u201c@HalleBailey @AmericanIdol I\u2019m fckn crying bro , that was so beautiful and I\u2019m proud\u201d— Halle (@Halle) 1684115298
\u201c@HalleBailey @AmericanIdol\u201d— Halle (@Halle) 1684115298
\u201c@HalleBailey @AmericanIdol we all are so proud of you halle! words can\u2019t describe how beautiful your voice is, a voice that makes people feel something when they hear it \ud83e\udef6\ud83c\udfff\u2665\ufe0f\ud83d\ude2dhttps://t.co/1fG6Utht7A\u201d— Halle (@Halle) 1684115298
\u201c@HalleBailey @AmericanIdol you are definitely the perfect Ariel, you were born to play there, you are my perfect Ariel, congratulations on your talent and your surreal beautiful voice \u201d— Halle (@Halle) 1684115298
"Part of Your World" was written by lyricist Howard Ashman and composer Alan Menken for the original animated film The Little Mermaid.
In musical theater parlance "Part of Your World" is known as an "I want" song–which is sung by a main character expressing their hopes and dreams which drives the plot towards achieving those goals.
The power ballad was originally sung by stage actress Jodi Benson who voiced the mermaid princess Ariel in the 1989 animated classic.
The song remains one of the best in Disney's extensive music catalog and has been covered by several notable studio artists across various genres of music–including Miley Cyrus, Bruno Mars, Carly Rae Jepsen, Olivia Newton-John and Sara Bareilles.
