Latest news with #VividFestival
Daily Mail
8 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Inside Martha Stewart's disastrous trip Down Under where the American TV star raged about Sydney
Martha Stewart didn't have the best experience at Sydney 's Vivid Festival last month, according to reports. The controversial 83-year-old American celebrity was Down Under to present a talk entitled In Conversation with Martha Stewart as part of the event. And according to insiders, the cookbook author was none too impressed with her venue - the famed ICC theatre, which has hosted stars such as Elton John and Cher. Sources reported to Confidential on Tuesday that Martha was unhappy that she had to use a hand held mic throughout her 90-minute talk. However, insiders told the publication that Martha had refused to use a headset for fear of messing up her hairdo. From A-list scandals and red carpet mishaps to exclusive pictures and viral moments, subscribe to the DailyMail's new showbiz newsletter to stay in the loop. She also rejected the option of using a lapel mic, reportedly because she was concerned it might cause damage to her jacket. Meanwhile, the publication also reported that Stewart disapproved of the vehicle that had been arranged for her use because the window tinting was not dark enough. Stewart also shared a gripe about Sydney airport, reported insiders, with the entrepreneur complaining that the terminal was 'too big' and that she had to walk 'too far'. Stewart did find something to her liking during her trip. The culinary guru skipped over to the eastern suburbs for a nibble and shopping and elected to dine at Totti's, a mecca for local and international celebrities, reportedly after a friend's recommendation. The Merivale-owned restaurant, known for its famous bread and small plates, as well as its signature rich pasta dishes, is beloved by the eastern suburbs in-crowd. Given its reputation as one of Sydney's best restaurants, we asked around what America's kitchen queen thought of her dining experience. And, after a bit of wild goose chase, we were able to find a diner who had been at the restaurant at the time and just so happened to overhear Martha's musings. 'She was impressed. She had a great time and ate everything,' they said, adding that she 'was really lovely', 'super friendly' and asked the staff 'lots of questions'. The cookbook author 'enjoyed a large selection of antipasti' accompanied by the signature wood-fired bread, but our spy didn't stay long enough to see if she sampled any of the mains. She had 'Sanpellegrino sparkling water' while she ate, said our source, and 'seemed very interested in the produce, asking the waiters lots of questions.' Totti's fast made a name for itself as the place to be among Sydney's elites after it first opened its doors at The Royal Bondi in December 2018. The highly regarded menu, created by executive chef Mike Eggert, features an array of Italian dishes from pasta, antipasti and its famous 'puffy' wood-fired bread. Totti's interior was inspired by an Italian taverna, featuring old timber chairs, paired-back walls and huge olive trees filling out the lavish courtyard. Just hours before Martha made a surprise appearance at Totti's, she was seen arriving at Sydney airport in the early hours of the morning. She flew in from the US ahead of her Vivid Sydney In Conversation event, and was greeted by airport staff holding a sign which bore her surname Stewart. The home-cooking icon was all smiles as she stopped to meet fans outside her terminal, toting a personalised 'MARTHA' travel bag.
Sydney Morning Herald
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
The dancing may be a bit cringe, but Katy Perry can still put on an electric show
And while her newest album 143 has been the subject of overwhelmingly negative reviews from critics, touching songs such as ALL THE LOVE – penned about her daughter – are a reminder of the poignancy and passion Perry can deliver both in her songs and on stage. Seven years since her last visit to Australia, Katy Perry has returned with gusto. In her own words, she is 'a little rough around the edges' but she can still put on an electric show. As five great philosophers of the late 20th century said, 'Baby, when the lights go out, I'll show you what it's all about'. As the kaleidoscopic lights of the Vivid Festival danced on the outside of the Opera House, inside US indie-pop band Japanese Breakfast was plunged into darkness. About half an hour into their ethereal set, Michelle Zauner and co suffered a technical failure that turned the Concert Hall into a black hole. Zauner had been singing about obsessing in the dark during the oddly uplifting ode to introspection, Slide Tackle, then got to put it into practice. For two songs, they battled on, lit with little more than a remote-controlled lantern and the dapple of some distant house lights. The Woman that Loves You and Picture Window shone anyway, as delicately crafted pieces of pop that would have had the audience transfixed even if Zauner had been strumming by a campfire. After a 20-minute intermission to reset the lights failed, the band reappeared and battled on. Drummer Craig Hendrix was enlisted for his Jeff Bridges impression on the duet Men in Bars, but relief washed over everyone when the pink hues of stage lights mingled with smoke during the glistening Kokomo, IN. While it provided the most interesting moments, it would be unfair to call the blackout the show's highlight. Zauner and the band did nothing wrong. Their blissful, dreamy brand of pop is variously accented with woodwind, violins, saxophones and synthesisers, giving the guitar-led singer-songwriter tracks a warm, rounded quality that at times are a little too pretty for their own good. The glitch distracted but did not detract from the quality of the music or the performance – and Zauner has a voice that clearly resonates with her fans – but the songs often wash over without sticking. Only during the encore did the joyous Be Sweet rouse the audience to their feet. Zauner says she was jet-lagged, woke at 4.30am, had her dress on incorrectly for the early part of the set, forgot what an echidna was called and prattled about lesbian geese. 'Everything's going so well,' she joked at one point. Chances are, she won't forget this show in a hurry. 'That's live music, baby.' VIVID LIVE BETH GIBBONS Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House, May 30 Reviewed by BERNARD ZUEL ★★★★ Here was a night which could be summarised with its beginning and its end, and yet to do so might also suggest something altogether different than what was experienced. It began with middle eastern flavours, a drone and a hum and sinuous rhythms, and ended with a closed-eyed dance of limbs unfurled beneath rolling drums and chanting under-voices. Within that was the fluidity and coiled spring of an eight-piece band of much more than a dozen parts (Howard Jacobs alone played flute, bass saxophone, tuned percussion and drums; Emma Smith tripled on violin, guitar and vocals; everyone did something extra). Through that was a physical release, almost joyfully so, of some kind of shadow dancing. A sometimes queasy romantic current pulsed within those songs, Tell Me Who You Are Today and Reaching Out, one also evident in the more controlled movement and clearer, if still pock-marked, faith of Lost Changes, a mid-show moment whose refrain of 'time changes, life changes/Is what changes thing/We're all lost together' dispelled and invited darkness at the same time. And how could we not ride the groovy baby groovy splendour of Tom The Model, a song that evoked a never-happened-but-should have '60s moment of Gene Pitney produced by Neil Diamond. All this was true. And yet inside it all was the other story Beth Gibbons tells, of that darkness in shades of uncertainty, of a taut line holding rhythms close and emotions closer still, of drums as likely to be played with mallets as sticks, sonorous rather than sharp. And most of all of the intensity that held, compelled through everything, broken only when at the end of each song Gibbons – whose voice is unchanged, and if anything even firmer – turned her back, retreated to the even darker space behind and broke from our gaze. Within Mysteries' pastoral awakening (acoustic guitar only at the beginning, choral voices almost humming, before a siren-like woman's voice took us out) and the flute and comfort of Whispering Love's off-kilter dreaminess (which chose not to envelope but instead drape itself over us) was a sense of what might be lost. Through the haunted land of creeping mood and incipient discordance that is Burden Of Life ('But all the times I've lost my way, crept inside, tried not to sway like pebbles on the shore') was the threat of what might be found. And then there were those times when the unspoken did the work for us anyway, the encore's double Portishead surge-and-hold of Roads and Glory Box which settled like smoke and insinuated themselves. The former was a chilled atmosphere that sought warmth; the latter, a sultriness that contained an edge. The keyboards of Roads closed in behind us after the bass had led us in; the guitar solo of Glory Box refracted light, giving us a brief glimpse of mayhem inches away.
Daily Mail
28-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Insiders reveal what Martha Stewart REALLY thought of trendy Bondi restaurant beloved by eastern suburbs elites - as she is spied at the chic boutique all the 'It' girls love
Martha Stewart cooked up a commotion in Bondi on Wednesday. The culinary icon, 83, who is in Sydney for an 'In Conversation With' event as part of the Vivid Festival, skipped over to the east for some shopping and a bite to eat on Thursday.
News.com.au
27-05-2025
- Entertainment
- News.com.au
‘What's going on with Vivid?': A dimmer display leaves many disappointed
Sydney's iconic Vivid festival has returned for its 15th year, but many attendees are finding that the 2025 edition lacks the sparkle of previous years. In clips posted to social media, people visiting the highly anticipated festival branded this year's rendition as 'boring' and 'overrated.' One user said they 'Flew across countries to see Vivid for the first time' but were left disappointed with the attraction. In the video, five tourists can be seen looking unimpressed as they stare at the dimly-lit Harbour Bridge before quickly turning away. Viewers were quick to agree that this is the 'worst Vivid yet.' 'It feels like they got rid of everything,' said one. 'It was so much better before Covid,' agreed another. In a second clip, a visitor complained that they 'walked three hours and saw about two things,' as they panned to a scarce crowd around the Opera House. 'It's just a video projection show now. It's no longer a light show. I remember 10 years ago when the buildings and Opera House were lit up with colours,' said one viewer. 'Every year it gets worse than previous years,' said another. 'Good to know this isn't normal. As a tourist, I was like, is this it? This is a festival?,' said a third. The festival's opening night was marred by heavy rainfall, leading authorities to advise the public to avoid attending due to safety concerns and travel disruptions. One of the festival's most anticipated events, the drone show, was cancelled this year due to safety concerns and rising costs. Organisers cited the challenges of managing large crowds and the expense of necessary safety measures as reasons for the cancellation. In another move that sparked controversy, a community kitchen serving Sydney's homeless population was forced to relocate with little notice to make way for a Vivid installation in Martin Place. Alfresco Community Kitchen — which is based on Phillip Street near Martin Place in Sydney's CBD — was informed by the City of Sydney council via email on Monday that it wouldn't be able to serve at its usual location during the time of the festival. The group said it had always been able to operate through Vivid for the last four years, saying a move would be difficult to communicate to those in need. Lord Mayor Clover Moore said the decision was made for safety reasons and other sites were suggested to the charity, in a post to social media. However, not all were left unimpressed with the event. 'User error. It's amazing this year!,' said one. 'People say this every year, it's still just as good,' agreed another. 'I'll definitely be going,' said a third. The festival runs across five 'zones' throughout Sydney – each designed to be its own hub of light, music and food. In 2023, Vivid introduced two immersive experiences to its famous light-walk, though they didn't come cheap – with adult tickets ranging between $30-$35. This year, amid the cost-of-living crisis, Vivid has made the entire 8-kilometre light-walk free of charge, as well as a huge 75 per cent of the entire program free. Sydney Vivid Festival is scheduled to operate until June 14.
News.com.au
24-05-2025
- Entertainment
- News.com.au
Vivid flips the switch on Sydney in first-night spectacular
The Sydney CBD lit up for the first night of the annual Vivid festival on Friday night. More than three million people are expected to hit the streets over the 23-day event, taking in over 40 installations and projections spread across the Harbour City. This year's theme is Dream – a vision of light, harmony and a future in balance. 'In 2025, Vivid Sydney invites you to dream big,' the official website reads. 'To go to the outer reaches of your mind, to think differently, without boundaries or preconceptions and to immerse yourself in new experiences and ideas. 'We want you to dream with the lights on, to daydream, to dream without boundaries, to soar.' Celebrations kicked off on Friday evening by First Light, a special welcome ceremony featuring Indigenous Australian dancers from NAISDA. Dancers in traditional wear, illuminated by bursts of fire and colourful lighting, brought Campbells Cove at The Rocks to life, followed by a free concert celebrating First Nations pride. Hosted by rapper Ziggy Ramo, visitors were invited to celebrate the next generation of Indigenous artists such as DJ Rona, Kaiit and Jeremy Whiskey in a one-night-only music extravaganza. One of Vivid's most highly-anticipated centrepieces is the lighting of the Opera House Sails. This year, it will display the works of David McDiarmid in Lighting of the Sails: Kiss of Light on the 30th anniversary of the artists death. The projections will act as a 'rallying cry for equality, inclusion and freedom', the festival organisers said, through a colourful and quirky lens – including slides of moving tiled shapes, rainbows and a green eyeball. Circular Quay is not the only spot to get in on the action. The festival will be split into five zones, including The Rocks, Barangaroo, Darling Harbour, The Goods Line and inner city and, for the first time since 2018, Martin Place. Things look a little different this year with Vivid deciding to scrap its drone show and make its famous light walk free. Destination NSW confirmed the decision to scrap the drone show, which has been part of the festival since 2021, in March citing safety concerns. It was thought the spectacle would bring in too many people and create dangerous conditions after crows were stuck in a bottleneck while trying to leave the western side of Circular Quay last year. Meanwhile, the light walk – which previously set festival-goers back $30 – will now be free as this year's festival aims to be as 'budget-friendly' as possible. 'We are all feeling the pinch in terms of the economy and cost-of-living crisis,' Festival director Gill Minervini said. 'I really wanted Vivid to respond to that. My job as director is to renovate and refresh the festival every year. 'We want audiences to come back time after time, and not think, 'Oh, it's the same old Vivid'. We want to keep everyone guessing.'
