By Luke Voogt
Iconic Australian singer Tina Arena will come to Geelong for a one-off concert on Sunday night, before diving into the role of Evita next year.
The show is part of Arena’s Innocence to Understanding tour looking back at her 40-year career, from Young Talent Time to now.
“These shows will be my last concerts for quite some time, so come along and have some fun,” she said.
“We are five shows in and just finished the Queensland leg of the tour. The audiences seem to be having a great time, and I certainly am!”
The 49-year-old earned seven ARIA awards, two World Music Awards and even a French knighthood during her storied career.
She was grateful to have sung with her idols Donna Summer and Stevie Wonder and performed at the AFL Grand Final and the Sydney Olympics.
“(Those performances were) epic, aside from the 80 or 100 thousand people there, you know it’s going out to the world,” she said.
Arena grew up in an Italian family in Melbourne, and first performed as five-year-old at her cousin’s wedding.
Her singing teacher recommended her to Young Talent Time and ‘Tiny Tina’ soon became a show regular.
“It was all I knew. I loved singing and entertaining, so it was a great childhood,” she said.
“(There was) lots of hard work and lots of sacrifices, but it was the best apprenticeship an entertainer could ever hope for.
The tour’s title Innocence to Understanding is a lyric from Sorrento Moon, one of Arena’s best known hits.
“I thought it was a more interesting title than 40 Years of Greatest Hits,“ she said.
“It has been a journey for me from a nine-year-old girl who was very innocent, to a 49-year-old woman, who I’d like to think has a good understanding of everything.”
Arena looked foward to performing at Deakin University’s Costa Hall in Geelong, a city she had rarely performed in.
“On the road, we are playing some big shows and some theatre shows, but the theatre in Geelong looks fantastic and I always love playing in my home state.”
