After my reference to Toni Pearen a couple of days ago, I decided to have a look at how many Aussie soap-opera actors have attempted a music career. The answer? All of them.
So I selected 10 songs by soap stars and have cut them together below. Your challenge is to name the ten performers and ten songs. Oddly, I suspect this may be too hard for readers of The Outland Institute, and too easy for readers of TV Week. (Does TV Week still exist?)
Pens ready…
You want the answers? You can’t handle the answers! Oh alright, they’re here.
The Outland Institute 
Shame on you Mr Outland Institute, for not knowing if TV Week still exists or not. Those Logies don’t happen on their own you know!
It suddenly occurred to me that I hadn’t actually seen a copy for years – I thought maybe the Logies were being done by direct thought transference now. Or just pulling names randomly out of a hat.
You wont be so disparaging when you win one. And in a way, isn’t winning a Logie better than winning an Oscar? Sure, an Oscar will do a lot for your career, but a Logie, well, that’s as dinky die Aussie as you can get: “Mum, where are the lamingtons?” “They’re behind the Logie, pet…”
Okay, fine I’ll bite. I sadly think I’ll know them all.
1. “All Seats Taken” by Bec Cartright
2. something by Melissa Tzaukz? “Read My Lips”
3. “Don’t It Make You Feel Good” by Stefan Dennis
4. “State of Mind” by Holly Valance (actually an amazing song)
5. “Tightrope” by Stephanie McIntosh
6. “I Don’t Care” by Delta Goodrem
7. “I Want You” by Toni Pearen (or “In My Room”, I can’t remember what either sound like!)
8. Well it’s Jason Donovan, but I don’t know the song
9. I don’t know but it sounds brilliant!
10. “Torn” by Natalie Imbruglia performed at a comedy fest. The whole performance is a riot!
and… done.
Is Jason Donovan’s (number 8) Too Many Broken Hearts In The World?
Why is the chick in number 2 spraying out of that spray can? She’s not aiming at anything – is this where global warming started?
And who’s the dude in number 10?
Is no. 9 the Blakeney Twins Dance Ensemble?
I’m not going to comfirm or deny anything yet, but number 10 is from the Secret Policeman’s Ball 2006 and the whole performance is absolutely grouse (also a bit of a giveaway since I’ve included 2 whole choruses). The male performer is Johan Lippowitz, an Austrian interpretive dance artist (aka UK comedian David Armand – http://www.myspace.com/thedavidarmand).
You know, I never thought I’d be googling the Blakeney twins on a Saturday night. Did you know they were the chicks in “Singing in the 80s”? I didn’t. I also now know that they moved to the States. Dan – please find them and invite them to dinner.
Oddly enough I didn’t include them in this list as I did know they did Singing In The 80s, which (strictly-speaking) made them pop-stars-turned-soap-stars-turned-pop-stars-who-went-back-to-the-soap-before-having-another-go-at-pop. Having just watched some of their clips on Youtube, however, I wish I had – it’s… um… striking.
“All Mixed Up” (terrible sound quality, and it also weirdly plagarises “Better The Devil You Know”, even though it’s written by the same people):
“Mad If You Don’t”:
Wanna Be Your Lover (wow! Ringwood!):
I never really liked Natalie Imbruglia until I saw that secret policeman’s ball performance. It’s very good. I never got it that she married Daniel Johns. So who wore the pants in that relationship d’ya think? By the way, Mr John, the clips won’t play on my computer and I’m feeling really (really!!) left out.
Sorry Janet! Here’s a direct link to the youtube page, see if that works any better: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUiGBSOT5Jw
Also I’m hoping the Blakeney Twins Dance Ensemble is just a really good joke, and not something real.
Thanks John! Actually the Stefan Dennis catastrophe was shown on Spicks and Specks ages ago as the closing number and was soundly trashed and laughed at by everyone. And rightly so! It has dated a bit hasn’t it . . .
Actually, Anne-Marie, by funny coincidence, I had the Blakeney Twins over for dinner tonight (along with Amistead Maupin). We had a ‘pot luck’ dinner and the twins brought their mum’s meat loaf recipe which was ‘bulk grouse’.
Number 9 is Kylie “I like it like that,” a b-side/album track. The Jason Donovan one is “Nothing can divide us” and the Tkautz one is “Sexy is the Word.” The other word, of course, being ‘detonator’ as in ‘hands off my’ (they are lyrics from Read My Lips).
TV Week readers would not be able to answer these questions because none of these people are currently in soaps. Besides, everybody knows that Australian Idol is the new Neighbours when it comes to music careers.
Have any Australian Idolators appeared on Neighbours? Maybe the world will change on its axis and people will win Australian Idol simply so they can get on Neighbours…
Dan O’Connor and Dean Geyer have both gone from Idol to Neighbours. As actors. Not a guest appearance a la Shannon Noll or the like, but actually actors (I think there should be an ‘alleged’ somewhere in that sentence).
From Wikipedia:
“Since Australian Idol, O’Connor has made his acting debut in the Australian television soap opera, Neighbours. He plays the role of Ned Parker. In one particular scene, he was pictured half-naked with a towel around his waist. “I actually thought I had to be completely naked,” he explained when he was told he had to drop the towel. “Ever since that scene, I’ve had a lot of people who want me to take my shirt off!”‘. He stands at 6 ft 3 inches. He did a cameo in Ricki-Lee Coulter’s Can’t Touch It music video in 2007. He was a bartender and her love interest.
He will be leaving Neighbours later this year.”
There’s somthing vaguely Charles Bukowski-esque in the way that’s all written.
“He was a bartender and her love interest…”