2002 – Nikki Webster Press Archive

two minute talk

Dec 1, 2002Oct 21, 2022 2002, Bliss No Comments

Nikki Webster is back with her new album, Bliss, and her catchy new song, 24/7 (Crazy ‘Bout Your Smile)…

What can we expect from your new album?
“My voice has aged since Follow Your Heart, and the material on my new album is just a little bit older because it’s what a 15-year-old would sing about. It’s really exciting. I was pretty relaxed, because I felt more experienced than I did with Follow Your Heart. I hope that all my fans will enjoy it and grow with me. I just hope that when I reach Kylie’s age, my fans will still be with me!”

Has Kylie given you advice on the industry?
“Mainly to always be happy and to remember that your fans are the main point. Which is true, because if it wasn’t for all my fan support, I wouldn’t be here today.”

Is it still strange to hear yourself on the radio?
“Well, I haven’t had much radio support, which is disappointing, so I’ve only heard it a few times. But hopefully my new songs will get more support.”

Are you crazy about anyone’s smile right now?
“Not at the moment. It’s a bit hard when you’re away from home. But I’ve got a lot of friends to keep me company, so it’s okay.

You design your clothes for the videos, don’t you?
“I do design everything myself, and it’s great fun. I am lucky I don’t have someone saying, ‘You’ve got to wear this,’ because they aren’t 15 and wouldn’t know what a teenager wears. I have a stylist who works with me as well, and she gets the fabrics and gets them made. I would love to bring out my own clothing range one day–that would be fantastic!”

By Kate Whitby

Source: Dolly
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Too good to be true

Nov 23, 2002Mar 20, 2018 2002 Comments Off

Nikki Webster is living the dream of many a young girl. She’s become a star. At 15 she already has fame and fortune. But what exactly do we love about her? Kris Olsson investigates.

It is just possible that the story you are reading here will not be to your liking. I am not sure I like it myself. I am not a fan of the national pastime of eating our own young, especially if they are pretty, clever and precocious; and this one, some would say, is a national treasure, a cover-girl who counts Kylie Minogue as a friend, whose records go platinum on release, and whose old jeans can pull $22,000 at a charity auction. That’s more than Kylie’s do.

So I want to make it plain I am not setting out here to eat Nikki Webster. I am not setting out to play the Wicked Witch to her Dorothy. What I want to explain is why, after 25 years in newspapers and thousands of interviews, I could be reduced to fist-thumping frustration by a quick chat with a 15-year-old girl.

It is that phrase, “15 year-old girl”, that is the nub of the problem. Looking back, I did not actually interview Nikki Webster, the 15-year-old girl, for 35 minutes at her West End apartment this week. I interviewed Nikki Webster, the phenomenon.
Continue reading Too good to be true

NineMSN Webchat

Oct 29, 2002Oct 19, 2022 2002, Web Chats No Comments

Steven_ninemsn says: ninemsn presents a Live Interview with Nikki Webster. Ask Nikki your questions about her phenomenal career and her new album Bliss.

Steven_ninemsn says: Nikki, thank you so much for joining us here today. Its a pleasure to hear about your newest release.

Nikki Webster says: Thank you for having me.

Steven_ninemsn says: We have a lot of chat guests waiting to ask you questions so we’ll head straight into them.

Groovy_girl20022 asks: Did you have fun making the album bliss?

Nikki Webster says: I did! I had great fun making the album.
It’s a little bit different from ‘Follow your Heart’ as its a little bit older with some great tunes and I hope that all my fans out there enjoy it as much as they did with the first album.

Continue reading NineMSN Webchat

Please, could everyone smile to honour my Mum

Oct 20, 2002Mar 14, 2018 2002 No Comments

SYDNEY teenager and Bali survivor Kristie Webster has urged all Australians to wear a smile today to remember the people killed in last weekend’s tragedy.

Kristie, who lost her mother Robyn in the bombing, spoke for the first time yesterday about the horrific events in Bali. She asked Australians to forget the gruesome images of the past week and instead “try to remain as positive as possible”.

The grieving Websters will attend the Australians Together ceremony today, to watch their family friend Nikki Webster perform a song in memory of Robyn Webster. The families are not related.

Continue reading Please, could everyone smile to honour my Mum

Tribute to bomb victims

Oct 20, 2002Mar 20, 2018 2002 Comments Off

Only two years ago, Robyn Webster and her daughter Kristie made an excited phone call to their longtime family friend, Nikki Webster, to congratulate her on a stunning performance at the Olympic opening ceremony.

But last week, the message on Nikki Webster’s phone was the worst possible: Robyn and Kristie had been in Bali when the bomb blast occurred. Robyn, 45, of Marrickville, died in the explosion and Kristie was badly burnt.

Today, at the Australians Together tribute in The Domain, Webster sang Somewhere Over The Rainbow to honour the family she has known since birth, and to acknowledge their terrible suffering since last weekend.

“It will definitely be emotional, but I’m doing it for them,” Webster said before the event yesterday. “I’m doing it to tell them how much I love them.

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Flying colours

Oct 19, 2002Oct 21, 2022 2002, Interviews No Comments

The little bird on the wire is soaring higher, writes Bob Hart

SHOWBIZ careers are inclined to start at ground level and, if all goes swimmingly, soar to great heights: not Nikki Webster’s. She first hit our radar screens at altitude – dangling high above Stadium Australia at the opening ceremony of the 2000 Olympics. On that occasion, a stadium audience of 110,000 – and billions watching her on the telly – prayed silently to the god of strong wires.

In truth, however, Nikki’s career neither began nor ended with that heart-stopping display. The little bird on the wire, then 13, had been pounding stages since she was five. And, metaphorically, she is still up there – starring in stage shows, selling records by the truckload, making commercials, flogging make-up… even causing this ancient cyber-chump to register the 314,254th hit on her website.

She has survived Sydney and Melbourne seasons of The Wizard of Oz, in which she plays Dorothy, and now she is off to Brisbane, where the show will close just before Christmas. She also has a new single, a new album, and lots of ideas . . .

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Ask Nikki Webster

Sep 1, 2002Oct 21, 2022 2002, Featured, Interviews Comments Off

Nikki Dub faces some rough treatment from the media, and you wanted to know just what she thinks of the nasty things that are said about her. She also opens up to Smash Hits about radio refusing to play her songs and whether she has a boyfriend!

What do you say to people who suggest you’re growing up too quickly?
Andy, NSW
Well, I’m 15 years old and everybody’s got to grow up. It’s so much fun doing this. It’s what I’ve always wanted to do and it wasn’t something I was forced into. I still get to see my friends and travel around the world. I don’t think you could ask for anything better.

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Nikki’s beautiful life

Aug 17, 2002Oct 21, 2022 2002, Bliss Comments Off

Remember the little girl who stole the show at the 2000 Olympics? Nikki Webster’s now a big star, touring Europe and hanging out with her pal Kylie Minogue

You could understand why Nikki Webster’s classmates could be green with envy. Licking envelopes in an office for work experience doesn’t compare to touring Europe and singing in front of hordes of screaming fans. But that’s how Nikki, 15, spent her recent school holidays and work experience.

‘I went to Sweden, Holland, Denmark, Belgium and Finland,’ she says. ‘’It was great fun. In Holland I did two shows – with 10,000 people each!’

The teen who literally swung onto the world stage at the Sydney Olympics has grown up a great deal, and she says travelling has opened her eyes. Nikki toured for seven weeks with her dancers – her mum and dad took turns chaperoning – to promote her single Strawberry Kisses. She says it was odd ‘getting into that pink suit again’ but luckily, it still fits the growing girl.

‘Performing in front of all those kids who can’t speak your language but love your music – it was a great reward,’ Nikki says. In London, Nikki caught up with her friend and mentor Kylie Minogue.

Continue reading Nikki’s beautiful life

“I’ve grown up!”

Aug 1, 2002Oct 21, 2022 2002, Bliss, Interviews, The Wizard of Oz Comments Off

The Return of Nikki Webster

It’s been a hectic few months for Nikki Webster. After finishing up the Sydney season of her musical The Wizard of Oz, she headed straight to the studio to record her second album, before jetting overseas to promote her first single “Strawberry Kisses”. Now she’s back home and not only is she starring in Oz in Melbourne, but she’s also releasing her brand new single “Something More Beautiful” . . .

How far off is the new album?
I’ve finished recording it, it’s in the stages of mixing now. They’re getting it all together and putting in all the drums and stuff. It’s an exciting time, but I haven’t heard much of it yet!

How have you managed to record it while juggling everything else?
I did it at the end of The Wizard of Oz season in Sydney. I went into the recording studio about two weeks after. We’d blocked out three weeks, but it only took a week to do the whole album. We did about three songs a day which is pretty good, and then I went off to Europe, and now I’m doing The Wizard of Oz in Melbourne!

Continue reading “I’ve grown up!”

Old and young troupers bring fresh wizardry to Oz

Jul 1, 2002Oct 19, 2022 2002 No Comments

THE WIZARD OF OZ, Book by L. Frank Baum, music and lyrics by Harold Arlen and E. Y. Harburg, Regent Theatre

It’s a shock to realise that The Wizard of Oz turns 100 next year, its 1903 New York production the first of many stage and screen versions of L. Frank Baum’s book. In all its forms, Baum’s story of plucky Dorothy’s fantasy adventure in the land of Oz is as much a classic as J. M. Barrie’s Peter Pan – probably even better known, thanks to video versions of the film.

So a new stage version has to offer something special. In this case it is a well-known and well-loved cast, starting with Australia’s Olympic opening ceremony star Nikki Webster, and including entertainment and stage figures better known to parents, including Bert and Patti Newton, Pamela Rabe, Philip Gould and Doug Parkinson.

The stage show includes musical numbers cut from the film, such as the Jitterbug interlude in the haunted forest. These return The Wizard of Oz to the genre of musical, but they also shift the focus away from the film’s emphasis on Dorothy.
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