All-star Aussie line-up set to rock Melbourne Cup Carnival
An all-star Aussie line-up of pop, rock and rap performers is set to rock this year’s Melbourne Cup Carnival. See who’s bringing the virtual entertainment to racing fans.
Confidential
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Delta Goodrem, James Reyne and Jon Stevens are set to rock the Melbourne Cup Carnival.
Goodrem, Reyne and Stevens will join Illy, The Rubens, Pete Murray, Kate Miller-Heidke, Casey Barnes and Sam Fischer as entertainment headliners at Flemington in October and November.
Performances will be prerecorded at iconic locations and featured in Network Ten’s broadcasts throughout the carnival.
Reyne and his band filmed three songs, Motor’s Too Fast, Slave and The Rainbow’s Dead End, at the winning post at Flemington Racecourse on Wednesday.
“It’s good to be doing a gig, and it’s great to be playing live,” Reyne said. “I always watch the Melbourne Cup. It’s a great spectacle.”
Goodrem will perform her song Solid Gold in Sydney, and Stevens, accompanied by his band and an eight-piece string section, will belt out the INXS anthem Never Tear Us Apart from the Flemington Club Stand.
Victorian Racing Club CEO Neil Wilson said: “Whatever your musical tastes, everyone will be entertained this Melbourne Cup Carnival.”
Promoter Michael Gudinski, of Mushroom Events, which is staging the entertainment, said: “Nothing lifts Australians more than our love for sport and music, and no event unites us more than the Melbourne Cup Carnival.”
Other music performances for the carnival will be filmed in Brisbane, Byron Bay, Gold Coast, Sydney Harbour and Los Angeles.
Reyne will also perform his annual Cup Eve show at Richmond Corner Hotel as a live stream from the Swan St rock venue on November 2. Tickets are available from Oztix and Ticketmaster.
He did a streamed show earlier this year, and found it an odd sensation to perform, only to be met with silence after each song.
“It was weird to play something, then after it, silence; nothing,” Reyne said. “But my heart went out to this comedian who was on before us. It must be hard telling gags and getting nothing back. At least I had the band to make a lot of noise.”
Reyne said he is former race horse owner. “There was a period in my life with my ex-wife; she was a real horse person, an incredible rider and she used to train polo ponies,” he said.
“We were in a syndicate with (horse trainers) Lee and Richard Freedman. I knew nothing about horses, but we were guided by the Freedmans. Our horse did all right, because it paid for itself — you’ve got to pay trainers, fees, and all sorts of things just to keep the horse going. They’re not cheap to run.
“In the end, we sold it to a guy in Hong Kong, and it made a whole lot of money over there. That’s horse racing for you,” Reyne said, laughing.
Meanwhile, the VRC is waiting for a decision by the Victorian Goverment on whether crowds will be allowed to return to Flemington.
VRC chairman Amanda Elliott said: We are organised and ready ... but public safety will always be our absolute priority.”
The entertainment line up, to be broadcast on Network 10 includes James Reyne and Illy on Oct 31 (AAMI Victoria Derby Day); Delta Goodrem, The Rubens, Jon Stevens and band, and Pete Murray on November 3 (Lexus Melbourne Cup), Kate Miller Heidke and Casey Barnes on November 5 (Kennedy Oaks Day), Sam Fischer (Seppelt Wines Stakes Day).
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