It's Business Time: Flight Of The Conchords Announce Aussie Tour Dates

 

Song in their heart, laugh in their belly: Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement. Picture: Channel Ten

AFTER sell-out tours in New Zealand, Kiwi comedy duo Flight of the Conchords will cross the Tasman for their first-ever run of Australian headline shows.

Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie, who claim to be "New Zealand’s best export after sheep’s wool", will perform six shows in July.

"We are finally returning to Australia. Mostly to apologise,'' Clement said.

Flight of the Conchords have come a long way since winning Best Newcomer at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival more than a decade ago.

After getting their start in stand up comedy, they created a radio series for BBC Radio 2 before making the acclaimed HBO comedy series Flight of the Conchords.

The series earned them a massive 10 Emmy nominations and a WGA nomination for Best Comedy Series.

Tickets go on sale on Tuesday 17 April via www.frontiertouring.com/fotc

Tour dates for Flight of the Conchords' Australian tour:

- Sydney Opera House - Thursday, July 5
- Brisbane Entertainment Centre - Saturday, July 7
- Newcastle Entertainment Centre - Tuesday, July 10
- WIN Entertainment Centre, Wollongong - Wednesday, July 11
- The Plenary, Melbourne - Saturday, July 14
- Challenge Stadium, Perth - Wednesday, July 18
It's Business Time: Flight Of The Conchords Announce Aussie Tour Dates

Prince Confirmed For Three-Stop Concert Tour of Australia in May

The east coast of Australia can get ready for some more rain in May - of the purple kind.

After months of rumours, and following a final none-too-subtle clue from Chugg Entertainment on Twitter last night that "Hmmmm. Just checked the weather report. It's predicting purple rain for tomorrow..." it has finally been confirmed that Prince will be touring Australia for the first time since 2003 in May.

Dubbed the Welcome 2 Australia tour, the multi-platinum selling artist will be performing his arena shows in the round, with a 360-degree stage, in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.

Prince performs at the Hop Farm Festival at The Hop Farm on July 3, 2011 in Paddock Wood, England. 

The singer who had hits with Purple Rain, When Doves Cry, 1999, Kiss and Little Red Corvette has only visited Australia twice before, he last visited in 2003.

The enigmatic artist who has seven Grammy awards, in addition to a Golden Globe and an Oscar, is well known for experimenting with sound, styles, concert formats and even his name. For those still unsure, the formerly named Artist Formerly Known As Prince is Prince once more.

The concerts are aiming to be accessible to all fans, with no public pre sale and promoter Garry Van Egmond saying in a statement “we have tickets starting from only $99 so that everyone can see this legendary superstar performer, Prince.”

The statement also demurely claims "this tour of Australia is destined to be one of the greatest concert events in years." There is some grounds for this however as Prince's multiple concerts at Madison Square Garden sold out in 30 minutes, and his 21 night stand at the 20,000-seat O2 Arena in London set new box office records.

Prince: Welcome 2 Australia Tour
May 11 - Allphones Arena, Sydney
May 14 - Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne
May 18 - Entertainment Centre, Brisbane

Tickets to the Prince shows go on sale on Monday, April 16 at 9am from Ticketek.
Prince Confirmed For Three-Stop Concert Tour of Australia in May

Melbourne Wins Bid to Host ISAF Sailing World Cup 2013 to 2016

Yachting Victoria’s major event arm Sail Melbourne, in conjunction with the State Government of Victoria, are delighted to announce today their successful bid to host the Oceania Leg of the ISAF Sailing World Cup in Melbourne for the next four years.

The event will be held at the Sandringham Yacht Club later in the year, kick starting the Oceania leg of the 2013 ISAF Sailing World Cup series. It is yet another major sporting coup for Victoria.

The Victorian Minister for Tourism and Major Events the Hon. Louise Asher said, 'The Victorian Government is delighted to welcome back the ISAF Sailing World Cup to the Bay and will support the event over the next four years. The successful bid reaffirms Melbourne’s position as one of the world’s key sporting capitals and event destinations, along with Port Phillip Bay’s reputation as having some of the most ideal conditions for competitive sailing.'

The ISAF Sailing World Cup is one of Australia’s premier sailing events and delivers a sports entertainment platform centred around world class Olympic sailing. The event which forms a six-part series around the world brings together the best Olympic sailors to our shores offering a unique opportunity for Australia’s sailing community to compete on a global platform.

ISAF Secretary General, Jerome Pels said, 'Sail Melbourne has an impressive history in delivering significant international sailing events to the state of Victoria and has been highly regarded on the international circuit for some time. Coupled with Melbourne’s state-of-the-art sporting and marine infrastructure, Sail Melbourne was a clear choice when selecting the host of the Oceania Leg of the event for the next four years.'

As host of the event for the past three years, Sail Melbourne has supported Victoria’s goal to stage international events with the aim to drive economic investment and showcase Melbourne as a professional hub for sailing and development throughout the world.

'As a major event, the ISAF Sailing World Cup offers a great platform for both Melbourne’s sailing community and the wider public to enjoy and we look forward to welcoming our national and international athletes to Melbourne’s iconic Bay,' said the Victorian Minister for Sport and Recreation the Hon. Hugh Delahunty.

Sail Melbourne Chairman Bruce Griffiths said, 'Melburnians have embraced the sailing lifestyle with great enthusiasm and the event has gone from strength to strength over the past three years. Sail Melbourne, in conjunction with Yachting Victoria and its supporting partners are proud to invite sailing competitors of all ages, abilities and genders to Melbourne for the ISAF Sailing World Cup.

'Our vision is to become a serious player in the major events calendar and we will continue to drive and promote sailing as an enjoyable sport for pleasure and competition for everyone. We are delighted to promote Melbourne as the world class sailing destination it is.'

Australia has enjoyed a long and successful history in competitive sailing and currently holds numerous World Titles across a number of Olympic Classes, with expectations high for further Olympic success in London later this year.

2010 ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year and Olympic sailing medal hopeful Tom Slingsby, who will compete at the London 2012 Games said, 'I’m looking forward to competing in Port Phillip Bay on home waters later in the year following the Games. Our sailing athletes are some of the best in the world and this year we have a real chance to bring home gold for Australia.'

The next four years will see Sail Melbourne deliver a sports entertainment platform that will provide strong commercial returns for its stakeholders while reinforcing Melbourne as a top sailing and tourism destination to the world.

Over and above the world class sailing action, the event will continue to develop its lifestyle marine driven carnival which will see the Port Phillip Bay and its shoreline come alive with activities for everyone to enjoy.

The Oceania Leg of the 2013 ISAF Sailing World Cup in Melbourne will run December 2 – 8, 2012 at the Sandringham Yacht Club with the series next heading to Miami before moving on to Europe.

Sail Melbourne website

Good Food & Wine Show's Australia 2012

You probably also know that 5 SPICE isn't a boy band from Shanghai... But did you know...
The Good Food & Wine Show is back and will spice up your weekend with new chefs, new features, new master classes plus hundreds and hundreds of delicious food and wine tastings - it's sure to be a weekend to remember!

Click on a city below to see which chefs and features are coming to you!

Melbourne 1-3 June 2012
Sydney 21-23 June 2012
Perth 13-15 July 2012
Adelaide 12-14 October 2012
Brisbane 9-11 November 2012
Good Food & Wine Show's Australia 2012

Melbourne Tourism Campaign a surprise YouTube Hit

• Tourism ad receives over one million YouTube hits
• Highlights the best of Melbourne including dining, art

"PLAY MELBOURNE" tourism campaign has become a surprise hit on YouTube and has been credited with boosting visitor numbers. 

The Play Melbourne tourism video, which shows a group of travellers exploring the highlights of the city, has received more than one million hits on YouTube since it was launched mid-last year.
It has also received 437,000 visitors to its dedicated website and 19,000 Facebook fans.

Victorian Minister for Tourism and Major Events Louise Asher said the campaign has been a hit.
"These figures show the Play Melbourne campaign has generated significant interest since its launch nine months ago," Ms Asher said.

"They also demonstrate the campaign is effectively achieving what it set out to do, which is spark renewed curiosity in Melbourne experiences and destinations."

The slogan for the ad is: “Forget what you think you know. Take a chance, roll the dice and see where it leads you....Play Melbourne.”

It shows a smiling group of two women and a man running between locations such as the State Library of Victoria and clothing stores as they are given various clues in their hunt for adventure.
Fashion, dining, art, dancing and flirting all feature in the video.

The campaign has been credited with Melbourne get the edge over Sydney in terms of interstate overnight visitors, attracting more than 600,000 more domestic overnight visitors than Sydney, according to the latest National Visitor Survey.

Kylie Anti-Tour to debut in Australia

Kylie Minogue has come good on her promise to perform an `anti-tour' featuring B-sides, demos and rarities - and it will debut in Australia.

The pop princess is extending her Mardi Gras homecoming with two shows at The Palace in Melbourne on March 18 and Sydney's Luna Park on March 20.

Both venues have a capacity of under 2000 and were handpicked by the star to generate a more intimate atmosphere for her devoted fans.

It is expected that additional dates of the sized-down tour will be announced soon, which may include a visit to the US later this year.

Minogue first touted the idea of an `anti-tour' during her Aphrodite world tour, longing for a return to smaller gigs rather than the arena-sized spectaculars of recent years.

Initially expected to trial the idea in the UK, the singer entrusted friend and mentor Michael Gudinski to present the shows to Australian audiences first.

"(The) Anti tour is something I'm very keen on. I think it's an interesting concept," she told Sky News in Sydney at the weekend.

"That's something that's really just for super fans. There's not going to be hit songs in that show, but it's a good balance to something like (the) Aphrodite (tour)."

Minogue is currently celebrating 25 years in the music business and has branded her anniversary year K25.

Since the singer's debut single The Loco-Motion was released in July 1987, she has issued 11 studio albums and more than 50 singles.

*Tickets for both shows will go on sale from midday on Wednesday, March 7. Both are over 18 only.

Kylie Anti-Tour to debut in Australia

China's Biggest Stars Help Bring Aussie Hotspots to Asian Screens

TWO of China's biggest heart-throbs have wandered around Federation Square, explored graffiti-filled city lanes and filmed in St Kilda over the past few days, barely raising an eyebrow.
But when their Taiwanese online drama series - a modern love story with a little bit of suspense - screens in China in April it will be seen by about 10 million people hanging on their every word and kiss.
Tourism authorities have funded the Australian visit of the celebrities Show Lo and Rainie Yang with more than $1 million and hope that many of their Chinese fans will want to copy them and visit here.

Tourism Australia managing director Andrew McEvoy said the two Taiwanese stars have a combined following of more than 25 million fans on online channels and microblogging sites that have exploded in popularity in China.

''Through the ages, tourism has generally been about word of mouth and in a digital age people like Show Lo and Rainie Yang are word of mouth personified,'' he said.

''The power of celebrity and the power of new channels to reach more people more often is huge. It creates a great platform for us to promote Australia.''

China is Australia's fastest growing market for international visitors. Last year 540,000 Chinese visited, generating $3.6 billion in spending, a 20 per cent increase from 2010. Tourism Australia says the potential for growth is $9 billion by 2020.

Lo and Yang are filming five 10-minute episodes of the drama series in Victoria, Tasmania and NSW. Each episode will also include a five-minute vignette about the tourist attractions featured.
Additionally, Lo will shoot footage for a series of music videos with Australian backdrops to promote his new album. The music videos will screen on Asia's major TV channels.

''Creating relationships with international opinion leaders and celebrities like Show Lo who advocate Australia as a holiday destination has become a major part of our marketing and public relations strategy,'' Mr McEvoy said.

Previously, Tourism Australia has used Indian Bollywood stars as part of its advocacy program, opinion leaders such as Richard Branson and Oprah Winfrey, who visited in December 2010 to film four episodes of her show.

''Oprah Winfrey is a great example of advocacy,'' Mr McEvoy said. ''The shows have been seen in 145 countries by 70 million people.''

Tourism Australia recently surveyed 500 Americans holidaying in Australia and 63 per cent said they had been directly influenced to come here by Oprah Winfrey, Mr McEvoy said.

Another recent survey of 500 Americans who will holiday in Australia in the next 12 months revealed that 50 per cent were directly influenced by Winfrey. 

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