{"id":907,"date":"2002-10-19T02:13:29","date_gmt":"2002-10-19T02:13:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nikkiwebsterfan.net\/press\/?p=907"},"modified":"2022-10-21T04:37:22","modified_gmt":"2022-10-21T04:37:22","slug":"flying-colours","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nikkiwebsterfan.net\/press\/flying-colours\/","title":{"rendered":"Flying colours"},"content":{"rendered":"

The little bird on the wire is soaring higher, writes Bob Hart<\/strong><\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

She has survived Sydney and Melbourne seasons of The Wizard of Oz<\/em>, 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 . . .<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Q: When things get tough, I understand you call in some heavy showbiz reinforcements.<\/strong>
\nA: Yes. Bert and Patti Newton, who appear with me in The Wizard of Oz, are like my second mum and dad. I can talk to Patti like I talk to my own mum. She always asks me if I am eating enough, or if I am doing this, or doing that. I am very, very lucky.<\/p>\n

Q: Speaking of lucky, isn’t there someone else who helps you out?<\/strong>
\nA: Yes. Kylie Minogue is very much my idol and my mentor. If ever I have a problem, or if there is something I need to think through, I e-mail her. She always responds with excellent advice. Kylie knows the industry better than anybody — she understands everything I’m going through.<\/p>\n

Q: Do you know much about Judy Garland, the original movie’s Dorothy?<\/strong>
\nA:Oh, yes. I’m really interested in her because Wizard has always been my favourite movie. I have watched programs on her life and, obviously, she never seemed to be particularly happy. She was hugely talented, but had so little control.<\/p>\n

Q: And you do?<\/strong>
\nA: Absolutely. I have control over everything I do. I look at the course her life took, and the reasons for it, and I find it hard to believe that it happened. Could a film studio ever have that much influence over another person’s life? It couldn’t happen now but, obviously, it could happen then.<\/p>\n

Q: Are you influenced by Garland in other ways?<\/strong>
\nA: People have asked me if I feel as though I could ever fill her shoes, and that’s ridiculous. But whenever I sing Over the Rainbow — whenever anybody sings it — you know that Judy is up there somewhere.<\/p>\n

Q: Speaking of tragic figures, you’ve also met Michael Jackson?<\/strong>
\nA: Yes. I was about seven or eight. He was touring Australia, and I sang with him. He is amazing. And who knows what is really happening with him — what is going on inside. He might be really happy with his life. I now know enough not to believe everything I read. When I met him he was a lovely person — friendly, down to earth. I couldn’t believe I was talking to him.<\/p>\n

Q: Has being Australian helped you?<\/strong>
\nA: A lot. It’s very important to me. If ever I succeed overseas, Australia will remain my home. It is one of the things that keeps me grounded. That and my friends.<\/p>\n

Q: You have time to have friends?<\/strong>
\nA: Of course. They’re the same friends I’ve always had, and they keep me in line. If they think I’m getting full of myself, they soon bring me back down to earth. And when I am in Sydney, I still go to school.<\/p>\n

Q: But when you are touring, you have a tutor?<\/strong>
\nA: Yes. I’m in Year 10 which is pretty tough, but I think I get more done than my classmates because I’m not talking all the time, and I have fewer distractions. Being taught one-on-one is great. If you don’t understand something, you don’t have to think twice about putting up your hand.<\/p>\n

Q: Does the constant rehearsing, performing, recording, promoting whirl mean you are missing out on things?<\/strong>
\nA: No, not really. I still go to the movies, still catch up with my friends, still go to dance classes, which I love.<\/p>\n

Q: How do you relax?<\/strong>
\nA: By just being at home with my puppy-dogs. I’ve got two, both poodle-maltese crosses, and I’m hoping to get a third.<\/p>\n

Q: You copped flak for that red, racy, shiny, bare-midriff outfit you wear in your new pop promotional material. Do you care?<\/strong>
\nA: No. Part of what I mean by having control is that I design all my own clothes. I don’t have people telling me to wear this, or not to wear that. If people criticise my clothes, then maybe they just don’t understand what a 15-year-old girl likes to wear. My clothes are changing because I’m getting older. There is no point in sticking with the clothes I wore when I was 12.<\/p>\n

Q: Have you ever considered your own clothing range?<\/strong>
\nA: That’s a good idea. That’s a very good idea. I would love to do that and, yes, I’ve thought about it…<\/p>\n

Q: Do people treat you like a grown-up yet?<\/strong>
\nA: Sometimes. I feel a lot more grown-up now than I did at the Olympics. I’ve met so many people since then. Also, I’m not sitting around at home. I’m out, learning stuff, seeing the world. I suppose every kid wants to be a part of grown-up conversations, and mostly, I am. But then, I’m 15. And that’s pretty grown up, isn’t it?<\/p>\n

Nikki Webster’s latest single – 24\/7 (Crazy ’bout Your Smile)<\/em> – is from her second album, Bliss<\/em>, which will be released on October 28.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Source: The Herald Sun<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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. … Continue reading<\/a>Flying colours<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,75],"tags":[22],"class_list":["post-907","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-15","category-interviews","tag-interviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nikkiwebsterfan.net\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/907","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nikkiwebsterfan.net\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nikkiwebsterfan.net\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nikkiwebsterfan.net\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nikkiwebsterfan.net\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=907"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/nikkiwebsterfan.net\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/907\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1734,"href":"https:\/\/nikkiwebsterfan.net\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/907\/revisions\/1734"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nikkiwebsterfan.net\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=907"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nikkiwebsterfan.net\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=907"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nikkiwebsterfan.net\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=907"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}