Featured – Nikki Webster Press Archive

Nikki Webster Just Dropped The 2017 Version Of Strawberry Kisses & It’s Lit

Mar 18, 2017Mar 14, 2018 2017, Featured No Comments

We are so alive!

It’s the moment we never EVER thought we should see again… and here we are… say hello the 2017 version of Strawberry Kisses.

Nikki Webster has literally re-released her hit track from 2001, but this time it has a bit of a twist. It features special rap artist, Sam Mac… YEAH, SAM THE WEATHER MAN FROM SUNRISE!

WAIT, it gets better, all of the money raised from the downloads on iTunes will go straight to the Starlight Children’s Foundation Australia.

You can download Strawberry Kisses here!

Nikki took to her Facebook page to share the news saying, “Soooo excited it’s out thank you all so much for your support on this fun journey – it’s been so incredible so far so much more to come so stay tuned.”

Let’s read that again… “SO MUCH MORE TO COME.”

Nikki added, “Once again thank you all it wouldn’t have been possible without your support and all your comments reminiscing back in 2001!! Thanks Sunrise and of course the amazing Sam Mac for everything so far – let’s all have fun together with this track x”

Omg byeeeeee!

Strawberry Kisses on repeat all weekend… who is with us??

Source: Scoopla

Proud mum Nikki: I feel like it’s my birthday!

Feb 16, 2015Mar 22, 2018 2015, Featured, Headline No Comments

Australia’s sweetheart Nikki Webster goes all out for her little girl’s big day, reports SHARI NEMENTZIK

With an elaborate candy bar of lollipop cakes and personalised cookies, a three-tier pink and gold cake and a jumping castle in the shape of Cinderella’s Carriage, Skylah’s first birthday party is a dream come true for her famous mum Nikki Webster.

“I started thinking about it as soon as she was born,” reveals an excited Nikki, who spent months planning the over the top birthday bash. “Skylah’s my best friend and it was so much fun.”

It’s hard to believe the curly-haired, freckle-faced 13-year-old who stole our hearts at the Sydney Olympics 15 years ago is now mum to a gorgeous 1-year-old girl, with husband Matthew McMah, 35.

“Nikki was virtually identical to this one,” says her mum Tina as she helps tiny Skylah into her custom0made party outfit. “Except Skylah has more hair. I had to stick a bow to Nikki’s head with sticky tape because she had no hair!”

For the big day, Nikki’s Sydney home is transformed into a pink playground fit for a princess. “I feel like it’s my birthday party!” exclaims Nikki, 27, also decked out in top-to-toe pink.

“Skylah hasn’t got to the age where she can choose, so I’m going to get her in as much pink while I can. She’ll probably end up choosing everything black when she’s older!”

While the set-up may seem extravagant for a first birthday, it seems the Websters are known for their memorable bashes. “I always had amazing parties,” says Nikki. “They were the ones everyone wanted to be invited to. I used to have massive disco parties, and one year I had monkeys!”

And it’s clear the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. “I have such great memories of our parties and I want that for Skylah,” says the proud first-time mum.

But considering the 70-plus guests, dad Matthew has other plans. “She’ll get a 16th, 18th and 21st only!” he jokes. “She’s growing up too fast!”

Pictures: Philip Castleton/BauerSyndication.com.au
Hair & makeup: Carla McKeever
Party planner: Decor by Yael

Source: Woman’s Day
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In the Nik of time

Jun 1, 2009Oct 28, 2014 2009, Featured Comments Off

Nikki Webster is proudly showing off ‘the real me’

Let’s get one thing very straight. Nikki Webster has never done drugs, overdosed on booze, disgraced herself at nightspots, dried out in rehab or even suffered from an eating disorder.

Shady figures in nightclub bathrooms have offered her pills. Yes, she once trashed Michael Jackson’s hotel room and Rove McManus pretended to spike her lemonade – but that’s the extent of any scandal in the past of the pint-sized singer.

‘So much can go wrong with young performers crossing over into adult entertainers,’ says Nikki, who flew to global fame in front of billions of TV viewers as ‘Hero Girl’ in the opening ceremony of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.

‘I’m so lucky to be doing what I’m doing and not to have faded out or ended up in rehab. On the negative side, that means I’m probably not juicy enough to interest a lot of people…’

What about the uproar over her raunchy shots in men’s magazines? The cruel rumour she paid celebs to attend her 21st birthday party?

Still hurt, Nikki admits she attracts more than her fair share of bitchiness. She doesn’t know why but she defies her critics, saying: ‘Nobody’s ever found me drunk in a ditch, and I guess that’s unusual for someone who’s grown up in the public eye. But I’d rather just be Nikki, who creates controversy without doing anything wrong! I’m quite strong-minded. I don’t do anything I don’t want to do.’

Miss independent

At 13, Nikki resisted record company attempts to straighten her trademark curls. And at 22, she still does things her way, with the independent release of her new single Devilicious on June 12.

‘I’ve put my whole heart into it, and this is the real me – I feel like a virgin in the music industry,’ she grins, enjoying a poke at her squeaky-clean image.

It’s taken Nikki four years of experimentation working in LA and Nashville to discover her new direction. Proudly independent, she was often lonely overseas but learnt a whole new appreciation of her Sydney family – parents Mark and Tina, and brother Scott, 24.

‘I tried writing country music and went down the rock road,’ she says. ‘But Devilicious was a natural progression. This is who I am. I’m very pop and dance-based.’

All work, no play

Dancing With The Stars’ Todd McKenney, who gave Nikki one out of 10 for the tango during her 2005 stint on the show, may beg to differ. Yet Nikki got the last laugh, as she often does, by sashaying into a romance with dance partner Sasha Farber until travel and career tore their two-step apart.

‘Yes, I’m single,’ says Nikki, who runs a dance school with her brother. ‘Sasha and I are still very close friends but there was no time to see each other, and I was too young to get locked down.

‘I’ve been in a relationship with my music and dance for the past year or so – I can’t find anyone!’

For the record, her ideal man would be as driven and focused as her, sexy – ‘abs are nice’ – and have a great sense of humour. She says: ‘One day I’d like to have a wonderful man who appreciates me for who I am, and a house with a courtyard and, hopefully, lots of healthy children.

But firstly, I’d like my dance studio to grow and grow, and open branches around Australia. Maybe my music will take off and be given a chance in Europe and America. That would be great.’

Nikki sighs, doubtful she will ever really be given a fair go, then her bounce returns: ‘I don’t really plan for the future. I don’t even know what I’m doing next week.

‘I’d love to get more involved with charities, giving something back for the health I’ve got.’ Her record may be Devilicious, but Nikki still hasn’t released her inner demon.

Source: New Idea
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The girl who flew too high

Jun 10, 2006Mar 20, 2018 2006, Featured Comments Off

At the Sydney Olympics she was the most famous girl in Australia. How did teenager Nikki Webster become an object of ridicule, and what does her treatment say about us, asks Larry Writer.

Last time we looked, Nikki Webster wasn’t responsible for the war in Iraq, or the hike in petrol prices. In fact, there is no evidence she has ever wronged a soul. Most agree she is blessed with talent, spirit and ambition. So why are people saying such terrible things about her? Why did Rove McManus and Eddie McGuire feel it necessary to make jokes about her virginity on national TV? Why does a gossip columnist she’s never met defend her frequent attacks on the teenager because “there’s something about her that’s irritating”? And why would The Sydney Morning Herald say last month, when reporting on possible new girlfriends for James Packer: “Around the dining tables of Sydney’s harbour front mansions all sorts of names have been suggested as potential Parker mates, ranging from the sublime (Nicole Kidman) to the ridiculous (Nikki Webster)”? Want to take a shot at Webster? Get in line, folks.

Her star turn at the Sydney Olympic Games Opening Ceremony, when she soared and sang 30m above Stadium Australia, made Webster, at 13, a household name. But Hero Girl has never flown quite so high again. She finds herself today without a record label, striving for an image and music that will propel her to new phases of her career.

It’s not that she lacks fans. Last year, when Dancing with the Stars judge Todd McKenney eliminated her by awarding her 1 out of 10 for her attempt at the tango, the Seven Network switchboard, says Webster, “went into meltdown. People were so angry. And it wasn’t just devotees. [Fellow contestant, actor and towering ex-rugby league champ] Ian Roberts went ballistic at Todd. He looked like he was going to punch him.”

Pundits are divided over the causes of her stuttering trajectory since the heady days of late 2000: overexposure, a saccharine image, fans’ changing tastes, poor advice and songs. Yet one factor they all agree has helped bring her down is the virulent derision she has copped from sections of the public and the media.

Continue reading The girl who flew too high

Smells like tween spirit

Jul 10, 2004Oct 26, 2022 2004, Featured, Let's Dance Comments Off

Nikki Webster is now 17, but is she acting her age? Craig Mathieson reports.

In an empty auditorium at the Yarraville Club, Nikki Webster is singing to her past. Standing on stage, running through Somewhere Over the Rainbow as part of her pre-show soundcheck, the 17-year-old pop star is clad in black: leather jacket, jeans and boots.

A few metres to her right, on a large video screen, is an image of herself as a 13-year-old, all perfect teeth and an explosion of pink. She’s older now but her image is still the sweetly precocious girl thrust into the public eye at the opening ceremony of the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

It’s the last day of the Victorian leg of Webster’s latest national tour, which has taken in locations from Ballarat to Ferntree Gully. She hits the road during school holidays; shows are at either 11am or 2pm – sometimes both – and feature Webster singing, in a strong voice for her size, over a recorded backing track while four dancers run through choreographed routines behind her.

It’s a sturdy business framework. Nikki Webster is already a brand name. She’s released three albums, appeared in musicals and now has a signature clothing range. A new line, designed by Webster, appears every two months, in competition with the range by America’s titans of tween, 18-year-old twins Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen. Continue reading Smells like tween spirit

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.

Continue reading Ask Nikki Webster

Small Poppy

Dec 3, 2001Oct 19, 2022 2001, Featured, The Wizard of Oz Comments Off

Nikki Webster aims to silence her critics with The Wizard of Oz

Nikki Webster is being swept off her feet. Two weeks into rehearsals of The Wizard of Oz, choreographer Kelly Aykers is nutting out a complicated dance number that sees the pocket-size Dorothy spun from partner to partner when one’s hands slip and Webster is flung into the air. She’s caught just before hitting the deck, but everyone gets a fright. “Be very careful with that young girl, please,” shouts Aykers over the piano that plays on in the rehearsal rooms at Gala studios in Sydney. “She’s very precious.” In fact, that this production is opening at all is due solely to the star power of this 14-year-old schoolgirl. “If she had said no, we wouldn’t have done it,” says Oz co-producer John Frost of the $6 million show, which opens on Nov 24 in Sydney before touring Melbourne and Brisbane early next year. “It has been done especially for her.”

Such high praise is fuel for the growing band of knockers who delight in making her the butt of public jibes – The Chaser satirical team has even included a Nikki Webster dartboard in The Chaser Annual. “Those of us who saw [the Olympic Opening Ceremony] will never forget her saccharine-sweet delivery, annoyingly precocious poise and overall utter vomituosness,” says co-editor Julian Morrow. But Webster isn’t letting it get to her. “I never thought my dream would come true so early,” marvels the polite and polished performer, who soared to fame as the “Hero Girl” of the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the Sydney 2000 Olympics. “If there’s pressure there, she’s not showing it,” says Frost, 49. “She’s a real pro.”

Continue reading Small Poppy

Jumping for joy

Oct 2, 2000Mar 20, 2018 2000, Featured No Comments

Sydney schoolgirl and showbiz tyro Nikki Webster finds fame after her gravity-defying performance at the opening ceremony

On Sept. 17, Mark and Tina Webster did what they do most Sundays: took their children, Nikki, 13, and Scott, 16, to the movies. But this time all the stars weren’t on the screen. As the Websters strolled in Sydney’s busy Broadway shopping centre, they realised people were staring and pointing at Nikki. Soon she was besieged by autograph-seekers. “Everyone kept coming up to me and saying how great I was,” beams Nikki. “It makes me think they enjoyed the show.”

And how. The Olympic opening ceremony at Stadium Australia was acclaimed as the best ever, and stealing the extravaganza was Nikki Webster who, as Hero Girl, danced, sang, and soared her way into the hearts of billions. Since her triumph, the world’s media have flocked to the Webster’s two-storey weather-board home in a quiet, nondescript street in Croydon Park, just minutes by car from Homebush Bay. Nikki rattles off the names of some who queued to interview her: “Katie Couric, Steve Liebmann, Andrew Daddo…” On the kitchen table are a dozen bouquets sent from well-wishers, including Lisa McCune and the cast of The Sound of Music. “The house,” says Mark, 40, an electrician, “is looking like a florist shop.”
Continue reading Jumping for joy