British singer-songwriter Ella Mai is reflecting on the astounding first half of the year in a new exclusive video titled “Once Upon a 2019,” released on her YouTube channel.
The mini-documentary takes a look back at Ella’s experiences on the first half of her Debut Tour and gives fans who haven’t seen her live a sneak peek at what they can expect when she goes on to open for the European leg of Ariana Grande’s Sweetener tour this fall.
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The 15-minute short interchanges between intimate concert footage from tour and festival performances, Ella reflecting on getting to meet her fans, adorable clips of her French bulldog, Thierry, as well as clips of the “Trip” singer collecting award show wins — including Best R&B Song at this year’s Grammy Awards.
“The Debut Tour was a dream come true,” Ella tells Teen Vogue. “As a new artist, to be able to tour for five months and sell out every show is an incredible accomplishment. My fans made every night super memorable and I wouldn’t trade it for the world.”
If anything, the mini-doc serves as a time capsule of the whirlwind that’s symbolized the beginning of Ella’s rising career. She states in the video that the importance of touring her self-titled album — aside from connecting with her fans, of course — served as a chance to prove to the public that she’s more than her biggest hit, “Boo’d Up.”
“I really wanted to introduce the world to [the range of] my music [with my debut album],” Ella says. “I wanted people to really delve into the fact that there’s more to me than ‘Boo’d Up.’”
