Australia Day is coming four days early – with an intimate sold-out performance by Tina Arena on Thursday, January 22. The Aussie singer is known for her stunning vocal range and her ability to perform in styles ranging from pop to opera. She will join her compatriot, the celebrity chef Greg Malouf, for a concert and dinner at Dubai’s hot celebrity spot Clé Dubai, in an event organised by Australia’s national carrier Qantas.
Arena is a household name Down Under courtesy of a near four-decade career, her appearance in the Australian version of Dancing With the Stars and her 1994 hit Chains, which reached No 6 in the UK charts. World-music aficionados and dance heads, however, will recognise the 47-year-old for her successful collection of French albums and the EDM single Never, her storming collaboration with DJ Tiesto. Arena, who has also acted on Broadway and London's West End, says her versatility is the result of her old-fashioned approach to showbiz.
The success of your 2013 album Reset led to it to being released internationally recently. Considering it was your first album in five years, does it feel like a new start for you?
It is a very privileged position – to be away and then suddenly come back and find your work well received. It was a beautiful surprise and a revelation for me. I think it just shows you that there are different transitions in life: the album, for me, was the end of one cycle and the beginning of another. The whole concept of the album is really about resetting things and that is something that all of us have to do at some stage. It is just an inevitable process of life.
You are credited as an old-school singer – your voice always serves the song, as opposed to stamping your personality all over it. Has that always been your approach?
I have been singing for 40 years so I have a completely different sensibility and musical exposure. I grew up in a time when the industry still viewed music as an art form as opposed to a factory. I always try to do quality things as opposed to getting things done simply because you have to. That has always been the way I worked and I am so happy to come from that era. I am glad to be labelled, I guess, as a mature artist.
You sound rather rueful. Do you feels those days are gone?
Unless something really drastic occurs then I don’t see how that is going to happen. Those days of people being able to hone their craft, it's over. It’s not for the lack of people wanting to do that, it’s just not what the market wants. There is no loyalty anymore when people have everything at their fingertips.
You also have a parallel career in France where you released two big-selling albums.
I just went into that market nonchalantly, really. I didn’t expect anything really other than learning and saying “wow” for being able to visit this beautiful country and sing in their language and share the stage with their musicians. It was a period of the most immense stimulation I’ve ever had.
You are performing in the UAE at fellow Aussie Greg Malouf's restaurant Clé Dubai. Do you have any expectations from the UAE other than eating well?
I am looking forward to visiting the UAE and performing in a new place. I also love food and I think Greg Malouf is such a great chef. I enjoy how food is prepared in different cultures – I know the UAE is a place where you can dream about anything and you will find it. I also have an audience there and I think it’s time for me now to start going out and playing in different territories. That’s my plan for the next couple of years.
Tina Arena performs on Thursday, January 22 at Clé Dubai, Al Fattan Currency House, Dubai International Financial Centre. Tickets are sold out. For details go to www.cle-dubai.com