In this live‑event segment from the 2024 Stars of Orange competition, Jessica Hickman, a local singer‑songwriter and Cancer Council ambassador, presents a dance performance titled “Shattering the Silence.” The piece, co‑written with Megan Woods and choreographed with the youth dance group New Generation, tackles bullying, gender‑based violence, and the personal impact of cancer on her family. Jessica shares her personal story – the loss of her father and grandmother to cancer, her uncle’s recent surgery, and her own journey of learning the choreography remotely while traveling for her business. The performance is interspersed with lyrical excerpts that call for speaking up and breaking the silence around harassment. After the dance, judges and audience members give enthusiastic feedback, award scores (including an 8 and a perfect 10), and encourage viewers to vote via text. Throughout, Jessica emphasizes the broader message: to make every survivor feel seen, heard, and valued, and to use one’s voice to combat bullying and stigma.
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is a singer-songwriter locally with us, and she has worked with Jessica to put this song together for Jessica's dance. It's all about Jessica's work with bullying and harassment, and this song is just so fitting for what's going on in the world at the moment. So please make them welcome, Jessica Hickman and Megan Woods.
Hi everyone, I'm Jess Hickman and I'm Star of Orange this year dancing for Cancer Council. I was really inspired to join the event this year because cancer has impacted my family. Cancer was a big topic in my teens after losing my father to cancer and my grandmother, and recently my uncle has undergone surgery to remove cancer and is doing so well. So it's something I'm really passionate about. It's been amazing working with New Generation. Lindsay and Millie and all of the wonderful young ladies I'm dancing with have been so supportive of the idea. Obviously, when we started, the song had only just been slightly designed, and it's been an amazing experience. And I'm actually quite emotional because Shattering the Silence is about bullying, harassment, but also if we think about cancer, it's encouraging people to speak up and find their truth. And we have been on such an epic emotional journey together, and I'm so grateful for them, New Generation, for really embracing this opportunity and listening to my crazy requests and working with me and Megan and just coming on this journey with us. Some of the biggest challenges is I've recently done an international talk and my business has gone boom, and I've spent a lot of time outside of Orange traveling internationally and domestically, so So I've been learning to dance by watching the girls from New Generation on my phone. So hopefully I do them proud.
Rather you be quiet and watch the world go by. No point in speaking. No point in making noise. She sees what's missing. She sees the laughs now fail. All of these thoughts, they begin to bring despair. The noise gets louder. The silence has to end. But can she really make a difference? Speak up like the morning sun says it's light at dawn, and there's no room, no room for shadows now. She feels it's different, feels like she's found a voice in all the The noise that had stopped her once before. She sees it shifting. She sees it breaking walls. Can't she really make a difference? Can't she really make a difference? Speak up like the morning says it's light of dawn and there's no way No room for shadows now. Speak up and change the culture. Justice should roll like thunder, shattering the silence. Can you feel it? Way on through, Brown The darkness has to hide. And the balance shifts and the silence is confirmed. Speak up, let on him senses. Let adorn him. There's no room, no roof shadows now. Speak up and change the culture. Justice should roar like thunder, shattering the silence of warfare. Oh, it shattered the silence of warfare.
To the mountainside, Congratulations, Jessica and Megan.
Well done.
Jessica can stand on stage and present a TED Talk in front of hundreds of people. Absolutely. But how did you find that?
Look, that was bloody challenging. I feel really, really emotional and so proud of these girls. We've had some really hard conversations about this topic. They've asked many questions, shared many stories, and I just feel really proud of what we've done tonight.
And so you should be. And Jess, um, you worked with Megan to design that song based on some experience that you've had and which has essentially founded your business. That's so powerful. What do you hope the message is moving forward with Meghan's song and the work that you're doing?
Look, the conversation isn't just about tonight. When we actually— when I actually had the idea about this song, it wasn't all over the media. And I know bullying and gender-based violence is in the media at the moment, but I've been doing my business for 7 years. The statistics are getting worse, but I wanted to design this song with Meghan, and Meghan came up with the idea to shatter the silence and And again, on the topic of tonight, I personally have experienced grief and have, you know, I didn't know how to ask for help or use my voice. So we hope whatever you in the audience and watching at home are experiencing, we want to make you feel seen, heard, and valued. And your voice matters.
Beautifully said. Round of applause for Jess and Megan.
Wonderful.
So powerful.
Absolutely.
Judges, Sandro.
Okay, firstly I want to thank Megan. I know Megan was a star some years ago. A round of applause for Megan. Thank you, Megan, that was absolutely beautiful. Do we have a representative from New Generation? A representative from New Generation?
Oh, she's on stage, Millie.
Oh, Millie, okay.
How, how was it choreographing that routine? It was It was so impactful, so moving, it was so expressional. Um, it was really amazing working with Jess, and it's so important for the girls behind us to learn about this because it is happening in our world, unfortunately. But to learn about the message and to bring Jess's idea to life was so important to us, and we're just so proud of her because she did so well. Well done. It's an amazing dance to put together.
Okay, can we get a critique or some— a grizz?
Uh, inspiring, motivating, captivating, and you delighted us all.
Thank you for sharing such a personal journey. Um, from me to you, a gigantic thank you. And we should all learn to dance from a phone because I think you did an amazing job being able to dance from a phone around the world. 10 from me.
Wonderful. And a score from Rob. I'm gonna say that was one of the most elegant dances I've seen, and I think it really showed the power of dance to tell a story. So I really applaud Jessica and her team for that. So I was blown away. I'm going to give it an 8. Wonderful. And a spoon. Wonderful. And just on that, ladies and gentlemen, we also do tally up the scores from Jess and Beau. At the end of the night. So it's just a little bit of a suspense to see what happens and how it all pans out. So once again, ladies and gentlemen, and also those from home, uh, if you like Jessica's dance, um, don't forget to vote by texting Jessica to 0476 000 111. Amy, that was act number 4.
We've got one more before interval, but Jess, a 10, how does that feel? That, that must be great.
Um, it means a lot to me. Thank you so much. Um, and I just want to say hi to my family in the UK watching.
They're at home in their PJs at 9:00 AM.
Hello! Hello!
Hi, Mom! Thank you so much, ladies. That was absolutely beautiful. Okay, one more dance, one more dance. How's the crowd going? We enjoying ourselves?
