Aussies in L.A.
We Still Call Australia Home
THEY were a long way from home, but Aussies in Los Angeles made their voices heard on Australia Day anyway. Most of them were singing along with Olivia Newton-John, the special guest at the Australia Day ball held in Beverly Hills. sponsored by the Australian American Chamber of Commerce and QANTAS. Fans also got to hear Aussie singer Cassandra Delaney Denver, who sang one of her former husband, John Denver’s last songs.
The event was officially titled, “Sea of Opportunities: A Celebration of the Waves of Change”, in reference to the growing business relation-ships between the two countries, but it was also a celebration of all things Australian, capped off by Olivia’s rare solo appearance on stage to sing three songs.
“How many Aussies do we have here tonight?” Olivia teased the audience in the packed ballroom, who had paid almost $100 per ticket.
“When I was invited to do this, I immediately thought of this song Peter Allen wrote, and it still gives me a lump in my throat every time I sing it.”
The singer-actress then launched into I Still Call Australia Home, following it with her biggest hit (also penned by Peter Allen), I Honestly Love You, and finished with a rousing rendition of Waltzing Matilda, calling on stage Cassandra Delaney Denver, Cassandra’s mother, singer Lorraine Delaney, and some of Olivia’s oldest friends: Pat and John Farrar and Steve Kipner, who wrote her hit Physical.
“It was lovely,” Olivia told TV WEEK backstage after her performance on the eve of her trip home to tour with Sir Cliff Richard. “There were a bunch of fans who travelled all the way from Europe to hear me sing -I felt guilty they’d spent all that money for three songs!”
Perhaps the most emotional moment of the evening was when Cassandra Delaney Denver told the crowd, “This is very special song John wrote a few weeks before he passed to the other side, and I’m dedicating it to our daughter, Jesse”.
As Cassandra sang the song, titled Coming Home, she was accompanied in parts by the original tape of John (right, with lyrics) singing the song, which brought tears to many in the audience who could also see Jesse sitting near the stage, entranced by her mum’s performance.
Later backstage, when good friends Cassandra and Olivia posed for our exclusive photos with such friends as Catherine Oxenberg and Oscar-winning costume designer Tim Chappel (The Adventures Of Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert), Cassandra told TV WEEK why she decided to go public with the song.
“I know John wanted that song to be heard, so I felt it necessary to make that happen,” she says.
“He’s given some incredible messages in the past and that was his last one, so I wanted to put that out there.”
“John was very close to Australia and very much in love with Australia, so I know it would have been very special to him to be part of this night - he would have been thrilled,” she says proudly, pausing to add, “He was thrilled!”
Later, after Aussies and Americans sang both national anthems and ate lamb and pavlova, Olivia, Cassandra and the rest of the crowd relaxed to the sounds of a dance band with such other expatriate Australians as Rebekah (Baywatch) Carlton-Luff, Eliza (Neighbours) Szonnert and Gabrielle (The Man From Snowy River) Fitzpatrick
From Jenny Cooney in Los Angeles