Sydney’s Spectacular Show

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The Australians staged a strange and wonderful Opening Ceremony for the 2000 Olympic Games yesterday that took us to the Thunderdome and beyond. Now we know why they call this place Oz.

When cute 13- year-old Nikki Webster started the show by stepping to the middle of Olympic Stadium, flashing an ethereal smile, and suddenly shooting 100 feet into the air and began doing back flips, it was clear we were heading into something completely different. We’re not in Atlanta any more, Toto.

“I wasn’t scared at all,” said Nikki, who spent much of the program suspended high above the crowd hooked to a harness and a wire. “I was just having heaps and heaps of fun.”

So was everyone else, with the possible exception of Nikki’s parents, who had been kept in the dark about her high-flying stunts. She told them it “wouldn’t be a surprise” if she told them what she would be doing. Asked how they reacted after watching her sail clear up above the cheap seats with only a harness to hold her, Nikki said they were “both in tears.” So we can assume they were surprised.
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A Star Is Born in the Heavens Above Homebush

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Nikki Webster, as she swam and swooped 30 metres above the ground in Stadium Australia last night, looked down on the fishes below her and 110,000 people looking up.

“It’s so gorgeous when you’re up there. It looks just amazing,”she said.

To be the one who walked alone into the stadium with a beach blanket and zinc cream took a lot of confidence but to “fly” as well was an act of sheer bravery.

“I’m not scared of heights and I wasn’t frightened at all,” said Nikki. “I just enjoy it.”

A photographer who was at the stadium earlier this year to see Nikki strapped for the first time into the harness that hoisted her to rafter height – eight storeys up – says she is fearless.

“She squealed and laughed and loved every minute,” the photographer said.

“The biggest buzz is when I fly up. The audience has no idea because it has been such a big secret,” Nikki said. Continue reading A Star Is Born in the Heavens Above Homebush

Opening a hard act to top for closing organisers

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Despite some minor glitches, last night’s opening ceremony of the Olympic Games has recieved wide acclaim.

An esitmated audience of 3.5 billion watched a four-hour performance highlighting Australia’s culture and history, featuring more than 12,000 artists.

The last seven runners with the torch were all women, including Dawn Fraser, Betty Cuthbert, Shane Gould and finally Cathy Freeman as the surprise choice to light the cauldron.

The first lady of last night’s Olympic Opening ceremony and stadium torch bearer Dawn Fraser says her main concern after Cathy Freeman lit the cauldron was for her health.

“She was very wet and we didn’t want her to get a cold,” she said. “It was cold standing down there with the breeze coming around the track because all the athletes were in the middle.
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World’s a stage for our starlet

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By Anna Cock

TONIGHT – for a few hours at least – Nikki Webster becomes the most famous girl in the world.

The 13-year-old Sydneysider plays a starring role in the Games opening ceremony, which will be seen by an estimated TV audience of up to four billion people.

Her antics, which have been kept secret until tonight, are set to enthral the 110,000-strong Stadium Australia crowd. And the youngster’s angelic appearance will win hearts.

A performer since the age of five, Nikki’s life is devoted to the stage.

Her most recent role was that of Brigitta in The Sound of Music at Star City’s Lyric Theatre, and she has also played the gamine Cosette in Les Miserables at the Theatre Royal, and appeared in State Theatre productions of Cinderella and Aladdin.

Other credits include a featured extra role in Priscilla: Queen of the Desert, and guest roles on the soap opera Home and Away.

Nikki’s biggest fans – parents Tina and Mark, and brother Scott, 16 – will watch with pride tonight as she plays the child hero representing Australia’s hopes and dreams.

Source: Herald Sun

Seven secrets of the show

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By Brett Foley

Deep sea dreaming
Nikki Webster walks to the centre of the stadium, spreads out her beach towel and puts zinc cream on her nose. She falls asleep and is transported to a frenetic and brightly coloured dream of the sea. The visually stunning sequence features giant fish including barracuda, jellyfish, eels and squid, which swirl around the young girl, supported by overhead cables.

The cables also project Nikki and several swimmers wearing fluorescent bathers up to 32 metres above the ground. This sequence has the largest number of people ever raised overhead in an aerial performance, nine boys and girls and six specialist aerialists. A complex system of 11 cables strung 45 metres above the ground catapult the performers across the 111-metre space between the grandstands. More than 550 performers are involved in the sequence, designed to convey the significance of the ocean to Australia’s development.
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