Festive family fun
The 35th annual Carols in the Domain will take place soon, heralding in the festive season. One man who revels in his role is Sunrise presenter David Koch who tells DANIELLE McGRANE why he loves hosting this special event.
It’s getting to that time of year where David “Kochie” Koch gives up his comfortable seat on the Sunrise couch and goes out to spread some Christmas cheer.
He is possibly one of the most suitable people to present Carols in the Domain as a self-confessed Christmas fan.
“It’s one of the highlights, it’s such an important part of Christmas for us all and I think the whole event reminds us of the Christmas spirit we should be getting into,” Koch said.
“We’re all so grumpy these days, everyone’s under pressure and everyone is sort of centred on themselves as an individual, we seem to be doing more and more of that. Something about the Carols gives us a bit of a jolt to say, ‘Hey, there are a lot more important things in life’, and that’s family and friends. Christmas is a time of showing that love of support to family and friends to be together.”
Alongside his Sunrise colleagues, Samantha Armytage, Natalie Barr and Mark Beretta, this will be Koch’s fourth year hosting the event and Carols brings some welcome challenges.
“I love seeing the kids out in the audience, and I suppose the challenge is not to be too distracted by them,” he said. “The kids are so enthusiastic early in the show and then The Wiggles and the Kidspot comes on and they’re all dancing around.”
Every year, the whole Koch family comes along to the Sydney event, from his 84-year-old mother to his youngest grandchild of 18 months. The youngest members of the family still don’t know what to make of it when they see their granddad on stage.
“They sort of don’t quite know what I do and it is funny when they get to an age, when they get to six or eight they start to figure it out, but before then they look at me and go, ‘Poppy, what are you doing here?,” he said.
Even before they get to Carols, he says the family tends to make a massive day of it because there’s one group in particular who embody the spirit of Christmas for them.
“I’m a bit of a Wiggles nut, we love The Wiggles,” he said.
The popular Christmas entertainers are on the line-up for Carols again this year, along with singers such as Dami Im, Samantha Jade, Justine Clarke and the cast from stage shows The Wizard of Oz and Jersey Boys.
“Backstage is huge because you’ve got all the choirs hanging out there and all the performers and all the support staff for The Wiggles, for example, and The Salvation Army band, so there’s quite a buzz backstage which is really nice as well,” Koch said.
There’s a lot going on during the commercial breaks too, between the hosts and the Salvation Army musicians.
“They’re so funny and we have a lot of banter with them during commercial breaks and they’re just salt of the earth people who work for the Salvation Army. They not only do great stuff for them in terms of fundraising but then they bring their musical skills into this incredible orchestra,” he said.
For Koch, it’s the overall message that he hopes people will take away from the event.
“We get so caught up in ourselves but all the studies show that actually helping people and volunteering makes you happier,” he said.
“You look at all the social studies that are done that we cover all during the year in terms of stability, of families, of bringing up kids and it’s all based on really traditional fundamental foundations like giving and volunteering and what the spirit of Christmas is all about. I think Carols sums it up.”
Carols in the Domain
Tonight, 8pm on SCTV