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.”
Not that fame’s sudden blooming has caught Nikki unawares – she’s been preparing for her big break since age 5: “That’s when I started jazz and tap-dancing classes.” She really “got the bug” just months later when she stared in a Twisties ad and saw herself on TV. Parts in the stage productions Cinderella, Aladdin, Les Miserables and The Sound of Music and ABC-TV’s GP followed. A year 8 student at The McDonald College performing arts school, Nikki dances 17 hours a week and loves horse riding, Heath Ledger and rumbling with her dog, Star. The musical Annie, which begins rehearsals in October, is her next project – after Sunday’s closing ceremony. Nikki has “a fearless talent,” says John Frost. “I see a major career for her,”
He’s not alone. “Hopefully the opening ceremony will lead to bigger and better things,” says the little trouper herself. “I hope it makes me well-known, because my dream is to make a CD, and if I am well-known, people will buy it.”
Meanwhile, Tina Webster, a 43-year-old child-care worker, says she’s spent “the past few days asking Nikki if this is really what she wants out of life.” The answer: a resounding yes. Mum has spent more and more time juggling Nikki’s media engagements with her manager Lisa Hamilton. “Mark and I have had enough,” Tina sighs, surrounded by congratulatory cards, “but Nikki just loves it.”
Source: Who magazine
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