Royals Visit Australia: Melbourne prepares for the Queen

MELBOURNE will have a distinctly royal flavour tomorrow, when the Queen arrives in town.

Her Majesty The Queen and His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh will start their public tour of Melbourne at 12.30pm.

Their walk will start from the Ian Potter Centre through Federation Square, and they will then board the Royal Tram.

The tram will travel south down Swanston St to Government House Drive.

The Queen and the Duke will then transfer to a car to make their way to Government House for a state reception.

Public viewing access will be at Federation Square, along the eastern side of Swanston St and the eastern side of Government House Drive.

The Royal Tram will run on Melbourne’s networks for a year after the Queen’s visit.

“Melburnians have always been proud of our tram network and the Queen’s tram ride in Melbourne will add to its rich history,” Premier Ted Baillieu said.

While there have been reports of Occupy Melbourne protesters disrupting the visit, their intentions will not be known until this evening.

The group claims on their Facebook page the Queen has never been discussed in its general assemblies.

But minutes posted on its website show her visit came up in discussion in its fourth and seventh meetings.

“Mitch (affiliated with Socialist Alliance, Resistance, Refugee Action Group, Climate Action…) proposed that we occupy a space before the Queen comes to Melbourne,” state minutes from the seventh meeting.

Group members did not reach a decision, but it is expected they will come up with one tonight.

Royals Visit Australia: Melbourne prepares for the Queen

Queensland Tourism News: Australian Domesic Intentions Fall as International Picks Up

More Aussies are taking advantage of the strong Aussie dollar and planning overseas trips, dropping the number of Australians intending to travel domestically down three percent over the year compared to the same time last year.

According to a Roy Morgan Research Holiday Tracking Survey, the number of Aussies intending to go on a domestic trip over the next 12 months has fallen to 55 percent while the number planning an international trip grew nine percent in August this year, up one percent on the same month last year.

Roy Morgan Research international director of tourism Jane Janniello said domestic travel may pick up if expert predictions that the Aussie dollar will weaken come to life.

“However, the long-term outlook for domestic tourism is not rosy, with the percentage of Australians saying they would like a domestic holiday at 76% in August 2011, down from 78% in August 2010 and 80% in August 2006,” she explained.

Of the Aussie 14 years and older, around 68 percent said they intend to take at least one holiday over next, down from 70 percent last year.

Ms Janniello added that the leading was for Aussies to plan a trip is online and through books, with 86 percent of holiday intenders access the net at least once a month, while 61 percent say internet is most useful media for travel and accommodation.
“Of those holiday intenders who booked their last holiday, 58% did so via the internet,” she concluded.

Australian Domesic Intentions Fall as International Picks Up

Global Creatures Sets Melbourne Premiere for 'King Kong Live'

The show will follow in the footsteps of 'Walking With Dinosaurs' and 'How To Train Your Dragon' arena shows

SYDNEY – Global Creatures’ new stage musical version of King Kong, will have its world premiere in Melbourne in 2013, Victorian events minister Louise Asher announced Wednesday.

Global Creatures has created a live arena show, Walking With Dinosaurs, and is working with Dreamworks on the upcoming live version of How to Train Your Dragon and Baz Luhrmann on a new stage version of Strictly Ballroom. Global Creatures is co-producing King Kong in co-operation with the estate of Kong creator Merian C. Cooper.

“This show continues the innovative direction of Global Creatures in creating world class productions in Australia and then taking them to the world. In this regard, King Kong is in a class all of its own in terms of scale, vision, ambition and technical advancement, and we can't wait to see it come to life in Melbourne's Regent Theatre,” producer Carmen Pavlovic said.

However King Kong will be a more intimate show than GC’s live arena spectaculars as its designed for a traditional proscenium theaters. Global is currently working on taking the show to Broadway also in 2013.

Directed by Daniel Kramer, and written by Craig Lucas, King Kong’s musical score, with several new songs, will be written by Marius de Vries. The creative team also includes production designer Peter England, creature designer Sonny Tilders, choreographer John O’Connell, costume designer Roger Kirk, lighting designer Peter Mumford, aerial/circus director Gavin Robins and projection by Frieder Weiss.

King Kong is currently auditioning for a cast of more than 40 onstage actors, singers, dancers and puppeteers and will feature projection, animatronics, puppetry and circus arts.

City2Surf Sydney Run: The Sunday Age City2Sea 2011 - Melbourne Fun Run

The sister event to the world’s largest run is coming to Melbourne. The Sunday Age City2Sea presented by Westpac will take place for the very first time on Sunday, November 13, 2011. Get your entry in before midnight, Friday, October 21, 2011 to take advantage of our early bird rate.

The 14km course starts at the Arts Centre in the CBD, travels along St Kilda Road, around the Albert Park Grand Prix track and on to a spectacular finish by the sea in St Kilda.

Elite runners, joggers and walkers from around Australia will be joined by many dressed in novelty themed costumes with live music along the route.

City2Surf Sydney Run: The Sunday Age City2Sea 2011 - Melbourne Fun Run

Royals Visit Australia: Going Gaga for Queen Elizabeth

Queen Elizabeth II begins this week her 16th official tour of Australia, competing with Lady Gaga and Oprah Winfrey as the biggest celebrity visitor down under in the past year as her fame outweighs her political relevance in a country where she is officially the head of state.

Arriving late Wednesday in the capital Canberra, where she will meet Prime Minister Julia Gillard—who publicly supports Australia's becoming a republic—the queen will take trips to Brisbane and Melbourne before traveling to Perth to open the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.

"The queen's visit now is less a factor in politics than it is popular entertainment," Richard Stanton, senior lecturer in political communication at University of Sydney, said. "She is seen today by a generation in the same way Lady Gaga is seen."

Still, it's hard to picture the queen's hand-waving and flower-show excursions inspiring the hysteria that celebrities do. Lady Gaga, for instance, was granted honorary citizenship to Sydney when she flew in for a single concert in July, and Oprah Winfrey's visit last December was celebrated with a giant "O" installed on the Sydney Harbor Bridge.

The queen's visit isn't expected to reignite a debate over cutting the links that make her Australia's head of state—as much as Australia's Republican Movement wishes otherwise. The lobby plans receptions in each of the major cities the 85-year-old queen plans to visit to push for a constitutional change making Australia a republic, with an elected president as head of state.

Royals Visit Australia: Going Gaga for Queen Elizabeth

Shows Australia: Madonna To Tour Australia

Madonna will tour Australia in April, 2012 according to a leaked Live Nation document.

Live Nation is the touring company Madonna signed with after leaving Warner Music.

Fansite drownedmadonna.com published a scan of the document. It include the following dates:

April 5, Sydney, ANZ Stadium
April 12, Brisbane, Suncorp Stadium
April 15, Adelaide, AAMI Stadium
April 18, Melbourne, Etihad Stadium
April 24, Perth, Patersons Stadium

According to the document Madonna will also play Auckland, New Zealand on March 31, 2012.

Madonna has only toured Australia once before. She was last here in 1995 for The Girlie Tour.

Shows Australia: Madonna To Tour Australia

Melbourne Cup Race: I Admit it, I've Got a Melbourne Cup Addiction

IT feels like only yesterday that I came to my first Melbourne Cup and that was five years ago in 2006.

It has now become such a regular fixture of my year that I couldn't imagine not coming.

In fact it has become the highlight of my year.

Like a lot of Europeans, I had not realised quite what a huge event the Melbourne Cup was until I came the first time and, as you can tell, I have become a bit addicted, as has my whole family.

After two close seconds in the race with Purple Moon and Bauer, we have become more and more determined to win, and with a four-strong team this year, we are giving ourselves the best chance possible.

The evergreen Bauer is defying age and injury and is out to win a second Geelong Cup on Wednesday to secure a place in the Melbourne Cup.

Melbourne Cup Race: I Admit it, I've Got a Melbourne Cup Addiction