Little Mermaid star fascinated by Tobagonian's Under the Sea pan rendition

HALLE Bailey, the lead actress of Disney's live-action version of The Little Mermaid has lauded Tobago pannist Keishaun Julien's steelpan interpretation of the movie's theme song, Under the Sea.

Julien, a musician, arranger and educator posted the rendition on TikTok after one of his followers asked that he put his own twist on the track.

In the movie, the steel pan is the main background instrument featured in the original track.

Julien told Sunday Newsday, “I decided to play it without any backing track and I sort of accompanied myself while playing it. So that was kind of different for this song because most of the other covers were done with the backing track.”

Days later, Glamour, an online women’s magazine contacted him for an interview about his video. To his surprise, the interview turned out to be a blind reaction to Bailey viewing his video. Glamour then did a twist on the traditional reaction videos by contacting each person featured in the video for their reaction to what Bailey had to say about their piece. Julien was then featured among five others who had posted videos of different renditions of the popular tracks from the movie.

The video was posted on the Glamour YouTube channel on June 1 and has since attracted over 309,000 views and over 900 comments.

In the seven-minute 51-second YouTube video, Bailey watched and shared brief comments on what she loved about each rendition.

She smiled excitedly and grooved to the music as she watched the clip of Julien’s Under the Sea rendition.

In her short comment, she said, “I've never sung with the steelpan until I did on this song for the film, so it's really exciting but it's such a beautiful instrument.

In a message to Julien, Bailey said, "Keishaun, first of all, that was really cool version of Under the Sea. You on the steelpan is amazing that it's such a beautiful instrument. You killed it.”

Julien said, “Doing this stuff online, you never know who will see the concert and that has always been my goal – to share my talent, to share steelpan with the world and give it as much exposure as possible.

“Seeing her reaction, I was lost for words.”

He told Sunday Newsday the national instrument has opened many doors for him.

“It’s really great that it could be showcased and appreciated by people in the Hollywood film.

“I have been playing the instrument for 17 years, and it's always a good feeling when your work as a creative gains some recognition from people. We spend a lot of time as creative working hard on our craft just to become better.

“And when all that hard work pays off and people actually recognise all the hard work you have done, it’s always great for that.”

Julien hopes this acknowledgement is the beginning of something big.

“We never know what could happen so if she is looking for a steel pianist for her next song, or to be featured on her next album, I’m sure I’ll be one of those people in mind. You never know.

“I’m very optimistic and hopeful that stuff will come through as a result of this.”

Pan Trinbago president Beverley Ramsey-Moore described it as an amazing thing for the country and the steelpan.

"From what I see he’s doing, he’s one of those people who are ensuring that there is awareness throughout the world, and is playing his role as one of our artistes. We want to commend him for it.

“What I like about Keishaun is his drive. He’s not waiting on anyone to do something for him. He is out there promoting the instrument, and by doing that he’s promoting his talent and his skills and Pan Trinbago welcomes that. The awareness is good for us.”

To see Halle Bailey’s full reaction, visit Halle Bailey Watches 'The Little Mermaid' Fan Covers on YouTube | Glamour

HTTPS://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yD2YPJrO6qk