West Island kids to dance with Justin Bieber at Bell Centre

It's going to be hard for 11-year-old Alessandro Nicolosi to fall asleep on Sunday night.

That's because he, along with three other young West Islanders, will be dancing alongside popstar Justin Bieber at the Bell Centre on Monday, May 16.

Nicolosi, Sienna Mazzone, 9, Victoria Kupracz, 11, and Rosemarie Duschene, 12, are all members of the Pierrefonds H4L Dance Studio.

They each submitted a video to a contest Justin Bieber's choreographer Nick Demoura has been running for the tour. Demoura asked young people to learn the choreography for the song Children, and in each city, winners were chosen to dance on stage with Bieber himself.

Despite applying separately and among a slew of applicants, Nicolosi, Mazzone, Kupracz and Duchesne, all won.

"I'm really excited, and also a little nervous because there are a lot of people at the Bell Centre," Nicolosi told CBC's Homerun with fellow winner Mazzone.

Nine-year-old Mazzone, on the hand, says she isn't feeling the nerves. She says she loves the crowd and can't wait to perform in front of thousands.

Alessandro Nicolosi, 11, and Sienna Mazzone, 9, in the CBC Homerun studio. (Sara DuBreuil/CBC)

"When I found out, I was jumping around the dance studio," said Mazzone. "I was crying. My mom was there and she was crying too."

Neither Mazzone nor Nicolosi know how or why they were chosen, but Nicolosi thinks it has something to do with his personality and the way he expresses himself through dance.

On the controversial star

When you talk about Justin Bieber, it's hard to ignore the star's strange behaviours and rocky past. Mazzone and Nicolosi are aware of the controversies that surround Bieber, but they say they love him anyway.

"A lot of people at my school were like, 'He went to jail. He's so bad'. But he's not that bad. Everyone has their moments," said Nicolosi.

The star made headlines again this week for deciding to stop taking selfies with fans, for walking around Boston barefoot and for getting a tattoo on his face — a tattoo that Mazzone was quick to point out is not that big, adding "he's just a human being."

Justin Bieber's face tattoo of a cross made headlines recently. Mazzone was quick to defend the tattoo, saying it's not that big and "he's just a human being." (Instagram)

Concert Monday night

Justin Bieber will take the Bell Centre stage on Monday night at 7:30 p.m.

The Montreal show is part of his worldwide Purpose Tour, and it's been sold out for months.

The West Island dancers will arrive at the Bell Centre early, and will get a chance to practice on the stage before going live with Bieber.

They'll be spending the weekend practicing the choreography, which they say wasn't difficult to learn and fit Bieber's "chill and smooth vibe."

"It's going to be an amazing experience for me," said Nicolosi.

They hope that they will have the chance to meet Justin Bieber, but all they know for now is that during the song, he will ask them their name and age, and that they get to dance in glow-in-the-dark sneakers.

"It's awesome. I like how Justin Bieber moves, he's not just a singer, he's a dancer too," said Mazzone.

"I want it to be Monday!"

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