Small Talk

Newcastle Herald

Friday August 8, 2008

with Amy Edwards and Anita Beaumont

AMERICAN singer/songwriter Toni Childs will perform in Newcastle next month. The artist is known for hits Don't Walk Away and Stop Your Fussin. Childs emerges from an eight-year musical exile with her new album Keep The Faith. In the years between being diagnosed with Graves' disease (a thyroid disorder) and getting her music career back on track, Childs committed to a simpler lifestyle. She now resides in Hawaii on a 4.5-acre (1.8-hectare) property and enjoys organic farming. She will perform at Wests Leagues Club on Thursday, September 18.

SCARLETT Johansson can laugh about it now, but the actress says she was embarrassed by the media coverage of her so-called "email relationship" with Barack Obama. "It seemed to me to be like a product of extreme sexism, and I kept thinking to myself, 'God, if this was just, like, Kal Penn or George Clooney or any of the other [Obama] surrogates or supporters . . . there wouldn't be [any] question about it. Nobody would even talk about it," she said.

LIAM Finn has been chosen for the second year running as a finalist in the Australasian Performing Right Association's (APRA) songwriting award. Finn, the son of Crowded House musician Neil Finn, gets the nomination for his single Gather to the Chapel. Unique renditions of songs by the finalists will be performed at the invitation-only APRA Silver Scroll awards at Auckland Town Hall on September 10.

© 2008 Newcastle Herald

Back to News Index | Back to Home