In the last three years, Natalie Bassingwaithe has been one busy little bee. She wrapped up a four-year stint on Neighbours, performed in Grease, the Musical, played sold out tours as the front woman for The Rogue Traders, hosted So You Think You Can Dance?, and wrote a book with her sister. Recently, however, her energies have focused on one project in particular, her first ever solo album – 1000 Stars.
With the lead single Alive released late last year and 1000 Stars hitting shelves soon, there are already a multitude of glittering reasons why Natalie deserves diva status (the good kind, not the Whitney Houston variety). From the wardrobe and camp theatricality of the Alive music video to her love of all things Mardi Gras, Natalie has not just reached for the stars, she’s on a path to become an even bigger one.
In the Alive video (if you haven’t seen it, this is mandatory viewing! – scroll down on the righthand menu to find it), Natalie alternates between a series of characters. There’s the brightly coloured blonde beach girl, the sultry pop singer, the black-clad, fur-wearing diva, the disco queen complete with an afro and silver catsuit (which Natalie says she kept and added to her costume box), and the red-headed feminine throwback in Swarovski crystal shoes.
But that much glamour often comes at a price steeper than the highest of heels, as Natalie explained to OUTinPerth.
‘We did all those looks within 12 hours and believe it or not that afro is actually my hair! They bolted me out of the studios straight after to get on a plane because I had to work at 6am in Brisbane. I just made it, but I had to go looking like that… I was really lucky there weren’t that many people at the airport, but when I got off the plane and I was in Brisbane, my driver was there with a sign, so I raced up to him and said, “quick put that down and don’t let anyone see it.†And he was like, “Excuse me?†He didn’t think it was me!’
After some serious washing, rinsing and combing, Natalie’s hair was back to its usual sheen, but that’s not to say the afro and catsuit have been retired…Natalie has generated a few Mardi Gras rumours. Asked if she would ever take the Sydney festival stage, Natalie had no hesitation.
‘Most of my friends are gay… We always liked to dress up and put a bit of a wig on… Mardi Gras and Sleazeball and all those dance parties are just ridiculously fun because everyone dresses up. You can wear whatever you want and be whoever you want – you can be as over-the-top as you want and get away with it.’
So, move over Olivia because 2009 is here and there just may be a new queen on the Mardi Gras stage… we just hope the catsuit is coming with her!
