Minogue, Urban in clash for prestige honour
KYLIE Minogue and Keith Urban will compete for the honour of being named Australia’s best performer of the year.
The queen of pop and the king of country join Cold Chisel as nominees for this year’s Helpmann Award for best contemporary concert.
Contenders for the 41 awards – Australia’s most prestigious live entertainment gongs – were announced this week ahead of a gala presentation at the Sydney Opera House on September 24.
The big surprise was failed musical An Officer and A Gentleman, which earned five nominations including nods for best musical, best direction (Simon Phillips) and best female actor (Amanda Harrison). The muchhyped show was axed after eight weeks after scathing reviews and poor ticket sales in Sydney.
The Melbourne production of Rock Of Ages earned seven nominations while revivals of classic musicals A Chorus Line and Annie picked up six and three respectively.
Opera Australia had the most nominations for a company with 12, followed by the Melbourne Theatre Company with 10.
Sydney’s Belvoir received five, including best play, best actress (Robyn Nevin) and best supporting actress (Kris McQuade) for Lally Katz’s Neighbourhood Watch, and Sydney Theatre Company received seven nomi- nations, including a best actress nomination for Cate Blanchett for Gross und Klein.
Queensland artists and works received 11 nominations.
Elena Kats-Chernin’s Symphonia Eluvium, commissioned by the Brisbane Festival, was nominated for best new Australian work while Circa and Dance North companies were nominated for new productions.
Stage great Billie Brown was nominated for best male actor in a play ( The Histrionic) and Rosario La Spina for best male actor in an opera ( Turandot).
Douglas McNicol, for Opera Queensland’s The Girl of the Gol d e n West, a n d f e l l o w Queenslander Conal Coad, for Opera Australia’s production of The Marriage of Figaro, were both nominated for best male performer in a supporting role in an opera.