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| 22 December 2002 |
| 22 December 2002 Pop Comes To Canberra By Jonathon Moran ONE could easily be mistaken for calling Canberra the pop capital with many of the nation's top artists descending on the city for an annual Christmas concert. Hosted by Dylan Lewis, the Celebrate Christmas concert featured free performances by Neighbours starlet Delta Goodrem, Holly Valance, pop duo Shakaya, Bachelor Girl, Vanessa Amorosi, Wendy Mathews, Charlton Hill and a troupe of Big Brother housemates. Celebrity Big Brother housemate and model Imogen Bailey also made an appearance. The National Capital Authority (NCA), the events organisers, were expecting between 20,000 and 30,000 people to cram the lawns of Parliament House. "It has been a tough year in many ways with the drought and the Bali tragedy and we thought perhaps Australians being so resilient they would want to still mark the year with a form of celebration," NCA spokesman Jeremy Lasek said. He said Canberra was often misunderstood in other parts of the country. "Canberra has had an image problem that it is a dull, boring place that is dominated by politics, but we are determined through events like this to show the city has a lot more going for it." He said an annual celebration event in Canberra had become a tradition. Neighbours' starlet Delta Goodrem performed her national chart topping debut single Born To Try and a new song called Will You Fall For Me. "I get a bit excited with the whole Christmas and getting up there with the piano and such a beautiful view it will be really great," the 18-year-old said. Jess Hardy, the former Big Brother housemate who lost her brother Billy in the Bali bomb blasts, paid a tribute to the Bali victims during the concert. She sang the Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men hit One Sweet Day. "This (Canberra) is where Billy was born so to us it is a pretty monumental event," she said. "The words to the song actually specify that people are looking down on us from heaven which I have a firm belief in, I really think that is going to happen." Ms Hardy said living normal lives, celebrating Christmas as usual was a good way for everyday Australians to combat terrorism. "Having people of a mass scale come together and unite in such a happy way, singing together is at least defeating them (terrorists) in a way because they don't want that." AAP |