Tina, a woman of strength, fragility and passion

Tina Arena is set, or should that be Reset for a national tour and recently took some time out to answer my questions about the Reset tour and more!

Tina says of Tasmania, “It is without a doubt in my eyes the last frontier left that hasn’t been damaged with fast paced living. The quality of the air and water goes without saying, but quite honestly as a fan of Georgian architecture …. it doesn’t get any better”.

Of the Re-set tour Tina says “I’m so excited about the tour…it’s been a vision of mine for some time and I can’t believe it’s about to happen. The Reset Tour has me going back to my pop roots. There are going to be some surprises in the set list and a whole lot of fun. I think this will be the quintessential Tina Arena tour”.

Tina’s surname Arena translates to ‘a sandy place’ and Tina Arena has travelled from the sandy beaches of her homeland to France, her second home, where she is equally as popular as in Australia. Along the way Tina has portrayed characters that are icons of our culture from ‘Disney’s’ Tinkerbell for a charity event to ‘The Hunchback of Notre Dame’s’ Esmeralda, from ‘Cabaret’s’ Sally Bowles to ‘Chicago’s’ Roxy Hart. Tina says if she could choose a character to add to her already impressive resume it would be “Probably Eva Peron – Evita. Now she was a woman of strength, fragility and passion!”.

Those attributes could describe Tina herself and perhaps that is the cultural icon we prefer most of all, a down to earth Aussie girl that captured our hearts right from the start with her sweet nature on ‘Young Talent Time.’ On the subject of which I ask, what no doubt many people would like to know, did she have any romantic aspirations for her co stars on YTT? Tina says “YTT was like a big family so no room for romance there I’m afraid. We were children back then in the true sense of the word”.

It was from her early childhood that Tina was always fixated on music, in fact at a family wedding she asked her dad to ask the MC to allow her to sing! Tina says that if a career in music hadn’t happened for her it would be something else creative like interior design.

Later it was her self assurance and powerful voice that caught our attention as she embarked on an adult singing career, to most recently, wowing us as a dancer on ‘Dancing with the Stars’. Other magical moments stand out, such as the proud moment when Tina united both of her ‘homes’ of Australia and France by orgainsing to be at the podium to sing the national anthem at Cadel Evans win in the Tour de France.

Of her two homelands plus her Italian heritage which she explored in ‘Who do you think you are,’ Tina says:

“they are all part of me, both past and present. Day to day I don’t think about where I am that day or where I come from, I’m just living an extraordinary life surrounded by people I love which I am very grateful for. I’m basically a happy citizen of the world!!”

Tina’s album ‘Reset’ is out now as is her autobiography ‘Now I can Dance’ published by Harper Collins.

You can see some of Tina’s strength, fragility and passion in the Reset tour dates listed below:

Crown Theatre, Perth
Friday, August 15, 2014
Tickets available from www.ticketek.com.au and 132 849

Thebarton Theatre, Adelaide
Monday, August 18, 2014
Tickets available from www.venuetix.com.au and 08 8225 8888

Jupiters Theatre, Gold Coast
Saturday, August 23, 2014
Tickets available from www.ticketek.com.au and 132 849

Brisbane Convention Centre, Great Hall
Sunday, August 24, 2014
Tickets available from www.ticketek.com.au and 132 849

Cairns Convention Centre
Friday, August 29, 2014
Tickets available from www.ticketlink.com.au and 1300 855 835
Paula Xiberras