The short article “The 2nd Coming of George” was written by Tony Hamlyn in his The Buzz column for the Australian LGBT magazine Fuse on February 10, 2010. George performed in three cities in Australia in 2010: Perth (Feb 20; 14,669 tickets sold), Sydney (Feb. 26; 42,342 tickets sold); Melbourne (Mar 3, 2010; 45,402 tickets sold).
It’s been 22 years since the greatest singer/songwriter in the history of popular music, one Georgios Kyriacos Panayotou, aka George Michael, sang to Australian audiences. In 1988, Australia was one of the first countries to see him perform the gruelling Faith tour [which ran almost an entire year) and was in fact the place where he discovered he had developed an almost career-ending throat condition. Coupled with his emotional and physical exhaustion at the time, and of course private issues with his sexuality, it’s fair to say George has never really had great associations with our fair nation.
This occasionally has me pondering exactly how much money tour promoter Paul Dainty IS throwing at him to end this long-term embargo come this Feb/March. Ticket prices are out of control, not to mention limited due to George doing a total of three shows whilst he’s here Australia. But y’know what? I have to admit, I don’t care how much I have to pay or how long I’ve had to wait! There is nobody like him in the world, there is no back catalogue of songs greater than this man’s repertoire, and chances are there will be no George Michael tour of Australia again after this.
I am personally attending all three stadium gigs in Perth, Sydney and Melbourne — and am seriously about to vomit with excitement just thinking about lt- I am already enjoying fitful dreams of being dragged up onstage for the duet of a lifetime. In my head it will be to ‘I Knew You Were Waiting’, or perhaps I’m ‘Your Man.’ If you’re at the gigs, look out for me just in case. Dreams can sometimes come true, you know.
The rumours of a Mardi Gras performance are rife, but with Kelly Rowland and David Geutta already confirmed, and George’s very limited history With gay events/organizations (he has, of course, been instrumental in fundraising for numerous AIDS-related charities over the years. but he’s never played a G.A.Y. or a Pride Party In the UK or anything similar in the US.), It’s not likely he will play the party. I have it on good authority however that there will be a George Michael float in the parade and that more than likely he will be on it. Whether it makes stops at Centennial Park toilets or Headquarters on Crown Street is something we’ll just have to guess at. But make sure you catch the parade, and maybe catch a glimpse of the great man himself, on February 27th.
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