Gabriella Cilmi gets a punch

Gabriella Cilmi gets someone to punch her just before she goes onstage.

The 'Woman On A Mission' singer said she has a strange ritual of getting someone to inflict pain on her before she goes onstage, because it helps bring her "back down to earth".

She told BANG Showbiz: "I like to feel pain before I go onstage. I kind of lose my head before I go onstage and I just need someone to being me back down to earth and say, 'this is real and what you are doing is real, and you're alive'.

"I like to feel alive, so I like to peel pain, so I get someone to squeeze my hand or punch me or something like that - which brings me back down to earth and makes me realize where I am."

Gabriella, 18, also admitted she gets nervous ahead of her shows and is petrified of singing to a huge global TV audience when she opens the Australian Grand Prix in her hometown of Melbourne on Sunday (28.03.10), with a rendition of the country's national anthem.

She added: "It is really nerve wracking, there's some 200 million people that will be watching so it's pretty scary. I definitely know all the words, but I always think, 'oh no, what if I forget them, or what if this happens, or what if I trip?' I think too much, that is definitely my worst bad habit, thinking too much.

"I'm nervous every time I perform, but as soon as I'm there on the stage I'm fine, but it's the part before the show that gets me."

Gabriella's single 'Woman On A Mission' is out now.