transcripts – Nikki Webster Press Archive

The Project

Oct 1, 2019Oct 19, 2022 2019, Transcripts No Comments

CARRIE BICKMORE: Please welcome Nikki Webster!

NIKKI WEBSTER: Hi!

CARRIE: Do they superglue those masks on? It looks like it took forever to get your head out of that.

NIKKI: Oh they’re so hard to take off, exactly. Nothing like TV to get it off.

CARRIE: How was the whole experience, did you love it?

NIKKI: I loved it. It was so much fun. Crazy, wacky but just a great time to kind of perform and sing again, and you know, behind a mask where no one kind of, well, no one knew who I was until they heard me sing. So it was a pretty awesome experience.

WALEED ALY: Well officially no one knew who you were but I think a fair few people guessed it.

NIKKI: I think so.

WALEED: What I have a problem with is, right, because Strawberry Kisses was set on a space ship. And I remember this because I was clearly the target demographic for that song. But if you’re gonna be famous for a film clip on a space ship, when they come to give you a costume, could they have given you something other than the alien?

NIKKI: I know, why couldn’t I be the unicorn or something?

WALEED: Yes!

NIKKI: Or the lion? I had my ‘rawr’ ready, I don’t know! I guess it was more about the alien being, people kind of think they know who the alien is but do they really know who they are. So it was kind of that idea.

WALEED: Well it turns out yes, they knew.

NIKKI: They guessed! I’m very predictable, what can I say?

JACINTA: Watching you last night talk about your daughter was so surreal. We still think of you as little Nikki Webster, and now you’re 32 and mum of two kids.

NIKKI: Thanks for making me feel old, but yeah! [laughs] But yes I get older like everyone else, and it’s the best job of what I do, is being a mum. So to make them proud was incredible and watching them watch the reveal last night just made everything well worth it, that’s for sure!

TOMMY LITTLE: Nikki, I’m so sorry about Jacinta’s question. Are you at the age now where we’re not meant to mention your age?

NIKKI: Well never to a lady. That’s it, see I’m a lady now. So never to a lady, that’s for sure!

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Today interview

Aug 15, 2016Oct 19, 2022 2016, Transcripts No Comments

DAVID CAMPBELL: Now, the Olympic Games are well and truly underway. One person who got into the spirit of the opening ceremony over the weekend was one Nikki Webster!

SONIA KRUGER: That’s right, Nikki was just thirteen years old when she was hand-picked to headline proceedings at the Sydney games in 2000, and she joins us now. Good morning to you!

NIKKI WEBSTER: Good morning!

DAVID: Hi!

SONIA: Nikki that is one heck of a phone call to get, isn’t it?

NIKKI: It was! It was a whole audition process. So the audition came up, I went for it, it was months and months of audition, elimination process. I reckon if the reality TV was around back then, it would’ve been a reality show. But it was quite cut-throat. It was intense. And then it was a lot of preparation going into the opening ceremony, but for me, not as much as everybody else that was involved. The directors, the producers, everybody that was doing all the different segments had been working on it for years, and then I was lucky enough to get this role and play the Hero Girl, and bring all the sections together and help create the opening ceremony. So, huge honor.

DAVID: Can we get that photo up again? ‘Cause it’s just adorable. Look at you here. I mean, you’re so… look at you there!

NIKKI: Aww, look at me! Look at me with the pink bows! [laughs]

DAVID: On the weekend I read somewhere that you said that this made you grow up really fast, what did you mean by that?

NIKKI: Um, I think it just… What I meant by that was I was kind of thrown into the limelight. Yes I had been in musical theatre and I’d been in the industry, but not to the extent of what the Olympics catapulted me into, around the world, and it’s nothing that I was prepared for. There was no child star in Australia that had kind of gone through the same process. So I was learning just as everybody else in my team was learning along the way and on the journey, I had to learn it as well, and I also had to make sure that I was being honest about who I was as a child. ‘Cause I was very young and innocent, and you know, that was my upbringing, and very homely, so I wanted to make sure that I stayed the same and didn’t get wrapped up in it. So that’s what I meant by growing up – not in a bad way, I mean it was fantastic. I got to travel the world, I made music, clothing range, makeup – I got to do everything, every little girl’s dream, I got to live out. So it was incredible.

SONIA: You got to meet some amazing people, too, at the Olympics, including your idol, Kylie Minogue.

NIKKI: Kylie, yes.

SONIA: Did she give you any words of wisdom?

NIKKI: She was a huge inspiration to me at that time of the Olympics, we did the bridge climb together, and we had a great connection. So she was really by my side throughout that first couple of years of my career – on the phone, we met at different times, I went and saw her in London get ready for her tour, and just really kind of giving me an open eye to what this industry can be like and where you can take it if you work hard.

SONIA: Yeah, yeah.

DAVID: You’ve been in showbiz since you were how old?

NIKKI: Well, five and a half, actually, doing Aladdin, a pantomime, and then I did lots of musical theatre and was lucky enough to work alongside you, in Les Mis.

DAVID: We did Les Mis. She was nine.

SONIA: I didn’t know you did that together!

NIKKI: I was Little Cosette, and I think I had a big crush on David. [laughs]

DAVID: No!

SONIA: You were only about 41 then, weren’t you?

DAVID: I was really young.

NIKKI: Very young. We used to play in the dressing room, we used to play board games, remember? When we had scenes that weren’t on. So I’ve been lucky enough to do some incredible things.

DAVID: Michael Jackson, you worked with Michael Jackson on the HIStory Tour.

NIKKI: I did!

DAVID: What was that, what were you doing on that tour?

NIKKI: So I met him, when he had his movie [premiere], and then we all kinda got trampled on by a lot of fans, and we went back to his hotel room, and then he asked me to come up and sing with him, Heal The World, on stage, and he gave me a jacket of his that says “Especially made for Michael Jackson”. So incredible, and I actually got told that he remembered me, by a mutual friend of ours, when he saw me do the Olympics, he remembered meeting me.

SONIA: What was he like? What were your impressions of him?

NIKKI: I absolutely adored him. He was such an honest artist. Of course being kids we asked him to do the moonwalk for us; that’s what you do.

DAVID: Did he do it?

NIKKI: No! He actually said, “You’ll have to wait until you see me on stage because I’m really shy,” as in just in front of people, but get me on stage and that’s where I come to life. And I kind of relate to that ’cause I guess I’m a little bit the same. On stage I feel at home, and one-on -one I get a little bit nervous and shy.

DAVID: What about like… People don’t know that you actually moved to the States for a while. Why did you do that? Was it just too much here after all that Strawberry Kisses and all of the Olympics and everything?

NIKKI: Yeah, I think it’s about growing up. I was 18, I was like, “I need to find out who I am,” who Nikki is. There was a lot of management, a lot of people trying to dictate, you know, me doing the sexy thing, me doing – whatever it was, where my next career was gonna be. So I said to mum and dad, “I’m off! I’m going to L.A.” And I wrote music for the first time and went to Nashville, spent time in Nashville, which I love, and met incredible people that knew of “Nikki Webster” but didn’t have any pre-conceived ideas of me. It was pretty awesome. I grew up very quick and I got very homesick, ’cause I’m an Aussie girl at heart, so I came home pretty quick!

SONIA: And you now have a gorgeous two-year-old daughter, Skylah.

NIKKI: I do, yes.

SONIA: So does she know about mummy’s amazing career?

NIKKI: Well she does know Strawberry Kisses, and that’s from my dance studios, ’cause the kids do it. So she knows Strawberry Kisses and she can pick me out in pictures. I guess I’m waiting for the right time to sit down with her and show her the Olympics where she can really understand it, and things like that. I mean she’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me, she’s incredible and I enjoy every moment with her.

SONIA: Look at how gorgeous that bubba is.

NIKKI: She’s cheeky as!

SONIA: Is she? Bit like mummy.

NIKKI: Yeah. Loves the stage.

DAVID: We’re just proud of how well you’ve turned out. I don’t mean that as… I am older than you, I’ve known you since you were nine and I’ve always admired how well you’ve handled yourself and you still do, and you’re such a great example for people out there that you can get through the industry and be fine.

NIKKI: Yeah! It is a tough industry but it’s also an incredible industry. There are so many different avenues you that can take – radio, TV and movies – and I’ve been lucky enough to do a lot of it, and will continue to. I want to get back into musical theatre and more acting, and also music.

DAVID: It’s a shame you’ve lost your drive.

NIKKI: [laughs] No, I’m very driven!

SONIA: Thank you so much, Nikki.

DAVID: You can check out Nikki’s performing arts studios in Sydney, visit dancenikkiwebster.com.au.

2dayFM Breakfast – interview transcript

Feb 4, 2014Feb 14, 2014 2014 No Comments

Jules Lund: One person I’ve always wondered about, and you know, it’s a home grown story, Nikki Webster at the 2000 Olympics. She gets out there, she is Australia’s darling.

Sophie Monk: Yeah.

Jules: A lot of pressure on her at that point – what is she gonna do after this? Everyone was talking about her, and you know I admire her because she was able to hold on. And she’s never gone off the tracks but she still had to endure that pressure.

Sophie: Yeah.

Jules: And we’ve got Nikki on the line. Nikki Webster, welcome to the show.

Nikki Webster: Good morning, guys.

Jules: Hi Nikki! So Nikki, what’s your opinion on all this? A lot of people are saying you can’t put pressure on your kids even if they’re going to be successful, and on the other side of the coin people are saying you have to let them live their own life.

Nikki: Absolutely, I think it’s a little of both. I mean I was the driving force in my passion for dance and wanting to be an entertainer and a performer, and you know I did my first stage show at five and I kind of just found this love for it and felt really comfortable there, whereas doing sport I was completely not comfortable. So it was something I kept pushing my parents for. And I think the most important thing is that the parents are supportive, everybody’s realistic about expectations, everybody’s on the same journey and um, I was kind of blessed to have the most amazing family where we’d sit down and we’d stay really grounded. I still had to go to school. Everything else was still in place, but I was supported to follow my passion and dream, and I don’t think holding kids back from when they’re given an opportunity, you know like the Olympics or like a big sports event, holding them back – if they’ve worked so hard and really have an incredible passion and drive for it – helps. And I think what [caller] Rebecca said, that really hit home to me as well, because if I was held back I don’t know what I’d be doing. It is who I am.

Sophie: I think it comes down to good parents. Like everyone I meet that hasn’t got an issue since they were little, their parents are rock solid.

Nikki: Yeah, and they don’t get caught up in it as well. You know, a lot of parents can start not being stage parents or athlete’s parents, and then they can get caught up in all this hype and everybody around them that’s telling them this, and managers telling them this and that. It’s about keeping normality in your life, and just trying to go on that journey and supporting. I mean, I had an incredible life. I got to travel the world, I got to meet superstars and I got to record albums at 13. So I wouldn’t want to take that away at all.

Jules: And we’ve seen all the positives. What are some of the negatives of feeling that pressure and having success so young?

Nikki: Tall poppy syndrome (laughs).

Sophie: Yeah.

Nikki: People judging you before they’ve actually met you. As a young teenager who is not only going through puberty and schoolyard antics, but to have that on an Australian scale, on a bigger scale, and…

Jules: What was the worst moment for you? Because we’ve seen stuff dragged out in the press every now and then.

Nikki: Yeah.

Jules: What was the moment that just really crushed you?

Nikki: I think it was the, you know, the point where I was about fifteen, sixteen, where everybody just turned. It went from me being a beautiful little hero girl to the media thinking I was, you know, there was something wrong and I was media prepped and I was too good at talking. They couldn’t find anything so they needed to make a good story, which I get now but at fifteen I was going –

Jules: Ouch.

Nikki: “Oh my God, nobody likes me!” And you know, I’d go to school and friends’d say, “Oh my God, did you read what they said?” and I’d be like, “No! I try not to read the good or the bad.” But…

Jules: Good on you, Nik.

Nikki: I think that was the hardest.

Sophie: God, you’ve got a good head on your shoulders. Did you get therapy to help you through it?

Nikki: No. No, you just find your way and you’ve gotta be strong, and you know, at the end of the day all I wanted to do was sing and dance and no-one was gonna stop me doing that.

Sophie: Right.

Jules: Yep.

Nikki: And I just kept that in my mindset and knew that I was a good person. I mean I knew that what I was doing was great, and had so much fun doing it, so I just kept that in my head and didn’t worry about the people that I’d never met before (laughs).

Jules: Well done, Nik. You’re a lot stronger than most people.

Sophie: Stronger than me.

Nikki: Well, yeah I don’t think it’s for everyone, absolutely. I think that’s why it’s gotta be done on an individual basis. It is tough, and the kid’s gotta wanna do it. If the kid’s pushed then I absolutely know, but if the kid is the driving force, then I think support it and nurture it, absolutely.

Jules: We’ve been asking the question whether we should hold back kids from success in light of what Thorpie’s going through at the moment. It’s very tough to have success from a young age.

Source: 2day FM
Listen here.

Nikki Webster chats to Sunrise

Aug 28, 2013Oct 29, 2014 2013, Headline No Comments

…but she’s come a long way since then, from dance music to Dancing with the Stars. There’s been a fashion line and a foray into her own business, and she hasn’t even turned 30 yet.

SAMANTHA ARMYTAGE: My goodness. Nikki Webster joins us now. Good morning.

NIKKI WEBSTER: Good morning guys!

SAMANTHA: Welcome!

NIKKI:Thank-you!

SAMANTHA: Nikki this is my dad Mack. Dad, Nikki.

MACK: Hi Nikki.

NIKKI: Lovely to meet you. Happy Fathers’ Day for Sunday.

MACK: Well, thank you.

SAMANTHA: Aww, that’s nice. Now look tell us about your role in this new movie Circle of Lies.

NIKKI: It’s just really exciting to be a part of an Australian film with such incredible actors. The director Matt Cerwen is just amazing, and to be on set with up-and-coming talent of Australia was so much fun. It’s my first acting, serious acting gig and you know, yeah it’s a bit of fun, but it deals with some really heavy issues, being bullying, what goes on in the schoolyard, social status at school and also the fact that friendship – building friendships and how to stay in a friendship, and stay in a little niche and a clique at school. And also the struggle of this girl who was miss popular becoming the discretion of all of the bullies at school, and her fight to I guess prove everybody wrong and come out on top.

So it’s really serious but on the other side it’s a great film about what happens at school in today’s world, and having text messages and Facebook and all those kind of social media things which, when I grew up, we didn’t have all of that. So it was really important –

SAMANTHA: Mmm, me neither.

NIKKI: Yeah! It was important to be a part of and just learn about the process of what our young teens are going through today, and the fact that it’s hard, you know, school is really tough these days!

SAMANTHA: It sure is.

MACK: The pressures are very different I’m sure.

NIKKI: It is, it is.

MACK: Nikki what made you choose this particular role?

NIKKI: I think, you know, having my dance studios, I teach a lot of 15 to 17-year-old girls and it’s really important for me to understand, when they come in and I see them being a little restrained, and they’re struggling at school, and obviously we try and create a happy environment for them to express themselves through dance and music, but a lot of them struggle at school because of bullying. So I wanted to understand it. I kinda, I didn’t really get involved in lunchtime antics at school. I was too busy worrying about, you know, my next single or what clothing range I was gonna release. So I didn’t really think about it that much. So I think that’s why I wanted to be a part of it. I also wanted to learn what being on set was about, and I always teach my children never say no to an opportunity that looks exciting, and when I was approached I thought, ‘Yeah, why not?’ Give it a go, try something different! [laughs]

SAMANTHA: You have to live by that. So what do you like best, do you pick one that you like?

NIKKI: I’m definitely a singer, I’m definitely a performer, but um, musical theatre is where I began, so – which is a bit of singing and more over-the-top acting I guess, but that’s my passion. But still pop music. I’ve just finished recording some music overseas, so hopefully we can get some stuff released in the future and you know, that’s just my – my plan is just to give everything a go and have the opportunity to do what I love doing, which is everything in this industry.

SAMANTHA: Good on you. You love musical theatre, don’t you Dad?

MACK: Oh well, I think I do, yeah. Depends what it is of course, but anyway. No, that’s great.

SAMANTHA: You got any other questions?

MACK: No, I think that’ll do me. Yeah.

NIKKI: So the premiere’s tonight, so if you’re staying in Sydney you can come along to The Ritz at Randwick.

MACK: Is it? Well I’m sorry Nikki, I’m out of town about lunchtime, but I’ll..

NIKKI: You don’t wanna see a schoolyard film?

MACK: I’ll get a copy of it from somewhere.

NIKKI: Absolutely, absolutely.

SAMANTHA: Thank-you Nikki.

NIKKI: No problems at all. Thank-you for your support. Thanks guys.

MACK: Thanks Nikki.

SAMANTHA: Great to see you. Good luck with the movie. Okay. Well done, Dad. Your first interview on national television.

MACK: Could be my last.

SAMANTHA: I’m sure it will be!

Source: Sunrise
Video: YouTube
Screencaps: Gallery

Do we delight in bringing down stars?

Jun 13, 2013Nov 1, 2014 2013 No Comments

Do we like to bring down tall poppies? Seal has backtracked on his Twitter rant. Nikki Webster, AJ Rochester and Peter Ford discuss.

[Transcript only includes Nikki’s part of the discussion.]

DAVID KOCH: Nikki, you came into the public eye at a very young age. You were a girl at the opening ceremony of the Sydney Olympics, you starred. Do you feel as though the media then tried to tear you down?

NIKKI WEBSTER: Well, you know, in this situation I don’t think it’s tall poppy syndrome, I think what it is is what Joel did was illegal and you know, the actions were taken accordingly. I think the tall poppy syndrome is where in Australia we put artists up, they become very successful, and then we try and knock down successful artists who are trying to make a career out of it, through the media because it sells papers.

So I don’t think that this is a true representation of tall poppy syndrome at all. I think what they did to me, as a fifteen-year-old girl, is a little bit of bullying and the tall poppy syndrome. And you know, we put these artists up on a pedestal and then when they get too big, and they’re not selling papers ’cause they’re too clean-cut, we knock them down and try and hurt them, and try and affect their outcome.

DAVID: How hurtful has it been for you, and do you actually regret now doing that role in the Olympics?

NIKKI: I don’t regret anything at all. I represented my country and I’m so proud to have had that opportunity. I don’t regret anything, and what I try and teach my children that I teach at my studios is you’ve gotta be the triple threat, you’ve gotta be strong and you’ve gotta take the good and the bad – you can’t just take the good.

But it did hurt me as a young girl, to be reading things from people that I thought I had a good relationship with. But since then I’ve had a lot of media personalities come and apologize and say, you know, you were the punchline of everyone’s jokes and we thought it was appropriate at the time, but looking back, as a 15-year-old girl, it’s not. It’s a media attack. So I have had a lot of apologies which I’m very grateful for.

MELISSA DOYLE: Yeah, good!

Source: Sunrise
Video: YouTube

Nikki’s ceremony

Jul 26, 2012Oct 28, 2014 2012 No Comments

HERMIONE KITSON: Well, just days away from the Olympics opening ceremony, it might be hard to believe that twelve years have already passed since Sydney was the focus of the world’s attention, and at the center of it all was a tiny girl, Nikki Webster, who drew thunderous applause playing a crucial role in a ceremony that people are still talking about.

[footage plays]

Our introduction to Nikki Webster came as a surprise and was watched by billions of people. At just 13, she was barely a speck as she flew through the skies above Sydney Olympic Stadium and into a nation’s heart.

NIKKI WEBSTER: No-one knew that I was gonna fly up, so it was like a total… amazing for the whole audience.

It launched a career as a bubblegum pop star. And that tiny schoolgirl grew before our eyes. Sometimes a little too quickly. But for Nikki Webster, what started with an Olympics has led to a life doing what she dreamed of at age five: performing.

[footage ends]

HERMIONE: And Nikki joins us now on the desk. Welcome, Nikki.

NIKKI: Thank-you.

HERMIONE: How do you feel when you see that opening ceremony vision now?

NIKKI: It just brings back amazing memories. I mean it was such an incredible fantasy to be a part of, to play that Hero Girl that connected the whole opening ceremony and to hold that role, was incredible and it was memories that I’ll never forget. I was so blessed to be working with such an incredible team in Australia. And just the whole atmosphere on the night was electric and I’m so excited to see London’s opening ceremony.

BRAD McEWAN: Nikki that was 12 years ago though, do you still get recognized, you know in the supermarket people look at you and go, “Was that you or wasn’t that you?”

NIKKI: Yeah, I still get… A lot of people go, “You look like Nikki Webster,” and I say, “That’s ’cause I am,” and they go, “No you’re not!” And then I never know how to answer. But I definitely, depending on how I look on the day, if I’m looking really scraggly I get away with it but if I actually have make-up on then I do get recognized.

ANGELA BISHOP: It led to so many other career opportunities for you of course. You had an absolutely fantastic pop career and today, with all of the Jackson family in the news today, it’s a good time to remember you actually performed a duet with Michael Jackson…

NIKKI: I did!

ANGELA: And then went back to his room.

NIKKI: I did, I went back to his room that he gave to me.

BRAD: Really?!

NIKKI: That was before the Olympics!

ANGELA: Nothing sinister.

BRAD: No, no, no, but really?

NIKKI: Yeah! We had M&M fights in his hotel room and I was lucky enough to sing Heal The World with him on his last HIStory Tour in Australia, on stage. So I’ve got wonderful memories. I’ve been so lucky. I’ve traveled around the world with my music and performing, performed with such Australian icons as well, so I’m very lucky.

HERMIONE: The focus now for you is your dancing schools, you’ve got two different ones.

NIKKI: That’s right, I have. Two dance studios, Dance @ Nikki Webster – one in Sydney and now we’ve just opened one on the Central Coast. So I’m teaching kids, I’m seeing such inspirational children and it’s really, I guess rekindled my love of performing to see them and teach them what I can along the way.

BRAD: Let’s get back to Sydney. You must have the most wonderful memories and have met so many special people being out there.

NIKKI: I have met the most incredible people. But I’m kind of sitting here thinking, do I recognize you Hermione? Were you…?

ANGELA: Aaah, yes! [laughs]

HERMIONE: No, no, no.

NIKKI: Were you a part of the opening ceremony in anything?

HERMIONE: I was, I was a part of the Eternity section.

NIKKI: The Eternity!

HERMIONE: With the Tap Dogs, tapping in the old boots.

ANGELA: I think co-stars is the term we’re looking for, here.

HERMIONE: I was just one of the very many others dancing around Nikki.

NIKKI: It wouldn’t have happened without you, that’s for sure. It was everybody, it was teamwork!

HERMIONE: But I agree with you, the atmosphere was absolutely amazing. And just to be a part of what was going to be a huge Games, and yeah it was fantastic.

NIKKI: Yeah, it certainly was and I have these memories for life and I just, you know, I can’t wait to tell everybody throughout my life about the opportunities I had and the people I met from around the world that came to be a part of the opening ceremony.

BRAD: What about after the Games? You had a single that I remember…

NIKKI: I did! I did Strawberry Kisses.

BRAD: I remember it! Strawberry Kisses!

NIKKI: Yeah that little song Strawberry Kisses. That was my biggest hit, probably one of my funnest tracks. And then I did four albums, um, I did Wizard of Oz.

ANGELA: Wizard of Oz, with Bert Newton.

NIKKI: With the amazing Bert. I did tours, I had a clothing range in Kmart, which was the highest-selling girls range, so the Olympics really started and launched such a wonderful career for me, and a journey. It was all, you know, every step of the way was something new and fun.

ANGELA: What advice would you have to any young person who gets that kind of stardom? You know, you’ve grown up, you’re a role model, you haven’t fallen to pieces, you know. What advice would you give?

NIKKI: Family’s always there for you, you know, never forget that, and enjoy the journey. There are gonna be people that wanna take a piece of you, but really kind of work out… if your gut instinct is telling you no, then I would say that that’s something to really follow. And enjoy it! It happens once, enjoy it and see where it takes you.

BRAD: Wonderful.

HERMIONE: Nikki thank you so much for taking a trip down memory lane with us, we really appreciate it!

NIKKI: Oh, it’s wonderful! It’s such an electric time of the year and I wish all the athletes the best of luck.

Source: Ten Late News
Video: YouTube
Screencaps: Gallery

Child Stars – The Kerri-Anne Show

Aug 2, 2011Oct 19, 2022 2011, Transcripts No Comments

Kerri-Anne was joined by former child star Nikki Webster on the back of her advice for AGT contestant Jack Vidgen.

Kerri-Anne: Well he’s the favourite to take out Australia’s Got Talent, the final, but now 14-year-old singing sensation Jack Vidgen is receiving very disturbing death threats via Facebook, which I guess begs the question, why are we so quick to criticize people who’ve enjoyed some success?

Nikki Webster grew up in the spotlight, knows all too well how brutal people and the media can be. Now she’s offering Jack some sound advice to help him avoid Australia’s tall poppy syndrome. She joins me to discuss how challenging it can be growing up a child star. Nikki, great to see you again.

Nikki: You too, you too. Good morning.

Kerri-Anne: It was interesting your remarks and advice to Jack Vidgen. You suggested that he leave the country, what’s behind that remark?

Nikki: It wasn’t so much ‘Get out of Australia.’ I love Australia, this is where my career started and I’m so grateful and blessed to have had the opportunities that I’ve had, and I wouldn’t change anything for the world. But I was asked to give Jack advice, and it was more the fact that the media can get quite vicious – and I hope it doesn’t for his sake – but they can get vicious, and it can affect his passion to perform and entertain, and if that’s gonna happen then he needs to go overseas and travel the world and make music throughout the world, and then Australia’s always gonna be here and we’re always gonna love him. So that was the context, that I was saying it to him.

Kerri-Anne: Are we still in the era that we appreciate our people more when they’ve gone away, done the big stuff, and come back – are we still in that era?

Nikki: You know, I think we are still in that era. When I look at the history, you know Kylie Minogue’s gone overseas, Danni’s gone overseas, there’s a lot of stars that’ve had to go overseas.

Kerri-Anne: And they’ve copped their own. Kylie: the singing budgie.

Nikki: Horrible, yeah.

Kerri-Anne: They’ve been [through] some really tough stuff. But what was is that affected you so much? You talk about how brutal the media and people can be, what do you mean by that?

Nikki: Um, I think it was more the fact that I was a 13-year-old girl who represented my country, had a wonderful opportunity, created music after that, all my dreams were fulfilled. Got to about fifteen and all of a sudden, media personalities who I thought I had a good relationship with were making me the brunt of their jokes and, you know I was sitting at home and they weren’t letting me on their show, and I was always the punch line of jokes. And I couldn’t really work out what was going on, and I’d go to school and people would say to me, “You’re this diva,” or this, that, the other, and I was like, “But you know me, we’ve grown up together.” And people were believing what they were reading and hearing more than the relationship I had with them.

Kerri-Anne: Why do you think people turn, in Australia? Is it very much the tall poppy syndrome, an Australian thing to go through?

Nikki: You know, I think it happens all over the world. I think we do put people up on a pedestal and then we kinda need to let them get a little bit rocky and give them a hard time and see if they can fight through. But I think in Australia it happens more so with our child stars – not our sports stars, we do support our sports stars – but with performers it does happen. Yes, everyone knows I went through it and I’m not crying out saying I want an apology. It happens.

Kerri-Anne: What was the most hurtful thing you remember, when you were fifteen or sixteen?

Nikki: [laughs] I think it was something where I was, I think it was on the Rove show, and they actually blew me up or something and, they had like a fake character of me and they blew me up. And I thought that was just a little bit inappropriate.

Kerri-Anne: It’s very hurtful to be constantly the butt of people’s jokes.

Nikki: And it does hurt your passion, as a child.

Kerri-Anne: And that’s what you think may happen to Jack?

Nikki: It could happen; I hope we’ve learnt and I hope we support him. He’s an incredible talent and I wish him all the best and you know I hope that we can watch his journey grow, wherever it may go musically.

Kerri-Anne: On the weekend Toddlers and Tiaras, a lot of hoo-ha about this sexualisation of young kids. How have you viewed that?

Nikki: I think we need kids to be kids. We’re only kids for such a short amount of time, we need to nurture kids, and when I opened my dance studio three years ago, it was for that reason. It was to nurture young performers, to share my experiences with them and to guide them, and protect them. You know, they’re so innocent and beautiful.

Kerri-Anne: Aren’t there parents who are just way too involved in a kid’s career?

Nikki: I think there are two sides. There are parents who live through their kids, and their kids aren’t really enjoying what they’re doing, and there are parents whose kids actually have talent, and would give up everything to make sure that kid has the best opportunity possible, to fulfil their dreams.

Kerri-Anne: Nikki, if you hadn’t been the big star you were from the Olympics, do you believe you would have had a better career and a better life?

Nikki: Not at all, not at all. My whole life has been performing. I started performing at the age of five and you know, I was doing musicals and TV, and performing and dancing. It was my dream! The fact that it came true at thirteen is just a blessing, and I wouldn’t change anything. It’s allowed me to open my dance studio, my talent agency, you know I’ve made music, I’ve done records. I’ve travelled the world and what more could a 13-year-old ask for?

Kerri-Anne: We’re just sorry for all those brickbats. Quite undeserved. But thank you.

Nikki: Definitely! Let’s support our talent and get behind them, because it’s a great thing we have incredible talent in this country.

Kerri-Anne: Well said. Nikki Webster, thank you.

Nikki: Thank you, so good to see you!

Source: Kerri-Anne
Watch the video here. View screencaps here.

Take40 Interview

Jul 23, 2009Oct 29, 2014 2009 No Comments

On what Devilicious means: “To me it just means girl power and having fun, and being a little bit cheeky but in a good way, and being a little bit devilish, and really being positive about self-image and being a girl in a nightclub, dancing away and getting rid of your fear.”

“I’m excited, I’m nervous, I’m you know worried about what’s gonna happen with it, but most of all it’s just great to finally be out and for people to be able to download it and start getting feedback.”

On the feedback: “It’s mixed and it was always gonna be mixed and I’m not gonna lie and say, ‘Oh my god it’s all positive!’ But I think we’re definitely breaking some ground. People are really listening to the track for what it is. It’s been four years since anybody’s really heard me sing and I think this track does what it’s supposed to: it showcases my vocals great and shows that I’ve progressed and I’m a pop diva, pop artist now! So it’s good fun.”

“I’m so lucky to have a huge gay following, and you know, one of my dreams is to get a float at Mardi Gras so [laughs] I think it’s great, and I think the great thing about doing pop-dance is you can get different DJ’s to remix the track and it sounds completely different. So I really wanna hit the clubs and start performing this track. I can’t wait to tour.”

Looking back on the young girl that appeared in the opening ceremony, what advice would you give to her if you could talk to her now?

“I’d probably say, ‘Surround yourself with good people.’ And… yeah, I guess I’d say that but I don’t think I’d say anything else because I think the great thing about what I did was the fact that I wasn’t media fed. It was innocent. Everything I did was innocent. There was no, I’ve said it before, there was no handbook, there was no ‘everybody knew what they were gonna do, this is stage-by-stage’. We were just flying, like we had sunglasses on, no-one knew what was coming next. ‘Okay, they called, let’s do that, let’s do that! Okay cool, that sounds fun, why don’t we do that?’ And we just went with it. If we made mistakes, we did, but I don’t live with regret, so I probably would just say, ‘Go out and have a good time and do what you do best and entertain.'”

What do you think about songs like Strawberry Kisses now, these days?

“I love it! I wish I wrote the track! [laughs] The great thing about it is it doesn’t matter how old people are, they still remember the chorus, and to me that’s a great sign of a pop song. I can be out with my friends and young guys will come up and they’ve had a few drinks and they’ll be singing Strawberry Kisses, and yeah they don’t know all the words, but they know the tune, and it amazes me! I’m like, ‘How do you know the tune? It so wouldn’t have been cool when you were 14, 15 to like Nikki Webster.’ So, I mean they’re taking the piss out of me when they’re singing it to me but I kinda get in there and sing it with them and go, ‘This is great!’ So I think it’s one of those songs that has been passed down in generations for some reason. At my dance studio I have five year olds singing it to me and they weren’t even born, so it’s obviously been passed down. It’s a good song.”

Source: Take40.com
Watch the video here!

The Big Arvo interview

Dec 2, 2004Mar 20, 2018 2004 No Comments

Interview by Luke Jacobz

[We’ll Be One plays]

Luke: At the age of thirteen my guest became one of the most recognisable Australians in history. She’s performed with Michael Jackson, she’s been nominated for ARIA’s, plus she’s also doing her HSC. Most importantly, she is my friend. Nikki Webster, how are you?

Nikki: Good!

Luke: OK Nikki, greatest hit album at 17. Why?

Nikki: Why? Well basically it’s just kind of to say this is four years from the Olympics, and you know I’m turning 18, so just to kind of sum up what I’ve done over the past couple of years. It’s got the Olympic tracks on. Continue reading The Big Arvo interview

So Fresh interview

Sep 17, 2003Feb 1, 2016 2003 No Comments

Best thing about being Nikki Webster?
The best thing about being me is, um, getting to do things I love doing at such a young age. Getting to make music and, you know, just making people smile.

Tell us about Dancing In The Street?
The whole album that’s coming out in February has got quite a few remakes of old songs, and also quite a few original songs. So we wanted to make Dancing in the Street our own style and we did that really well, and it was a song we couldn’t get out of our heads.

What’s changed since your first two albums?
I think the process is a lot more fun. You know, we spend more time in the recording studio and we’re allowed to try things, and I try things with my voice and just see what works, and I have a lot more creative input into what goes onto the album.

How do you balance your career and school?
Well I still go to school, I’ve got one more year to go after this year, so that’s pretty exciting. Um, I think just having a great group of friends around me. They’re the ones that keep my feet on the ground.

If you weren’t being an entertainer?
My mum’s a childcare worker, so I’ve been around her childcare center ever since I was born I think, so um, definitely maybe helping children complete their dreams and just making people happy. That’s what I’d like to be doing.

Your critics?
I think they need to get to know me first. Um, a lot of people who say, you know, mean things about me don’t really know me. So most of the people that I’ve met know that I’m a really down-to-earth 16-year-old and that I’m just happy doing what I’m doing.

Screencaps: Gallery