In our new Christian Mulls… series, Christian Hull reviews the biggest (and strangest) pop cultural phenomena of our times.
I’ve got a confession to make.
I know every single word to ‘Under The Southern Skies’ by Nikki Webster from the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.
I could write them out right now, and nail every line. The question worth asking is, why? Why and how do I know every word to that song?
Well, it happens to be a song I think should be our new national anthem. If you are unfamiliar with it, that’s OK – I have attached the video for you to refer to.
Side note: I know all the dance moves too.
A girl I work with let it slip the other day that she was in the opening ceremony, performing alongside Nikki Webster. When I found this out, I demanded we sit down for an extensive chat about her experience. Don’t forget, this was 17 years ago – she was nowhere near as thrilled about this as I was. I needed to know every little detail about it. I was so let down by her account – it was brief, and she only knew part of the song.
How was it that I knew more about ‘Under The Southern Skies’ than one of the performers who was in the opening ceremony? She went to countless rehearsals and performed the song over and over, and here she was just casually fobbing it off!
I was 11 when the Olympics were on, and remember the opening ceremony going for about seven days. It was so long and most of it was boring. Five hours dedicated to all those stupid Olympians walking out. No! I want to see more singing and dancing – you guys have two full weeks of being on TV; this ceremony was not about you, it was about my enjoyment.
The highlights of the ceremony included:
- Nikki Webster being hoisted into the air via cables
- The giant tin structure with all the people tapping and using angle grinders
- John from Play School being the big booming voice introducing everything
- The indigenous performances/music
- James Morrison on the trumpet
- TINA FUCKING ARENA
Once the ceremony was done, the official album was released to the public and Mum bought it. We literally played it on repeat for the next three years. Dad wasn’t so thrilled, but I was in heaven.
Listening back to ‘ Under The Southern Skies’ now, I still bloody love it. I froth on it. It is just so goddamn catchy and emotional and meaningful. I really believe that it should be our national anthem.
For me, that entire album is just amazing. I nerded out over it so much I wrote to one of the composers, Elena Kats-Chernin, and we had a talk about how she composed the music. I actually did that! That’s how much of a fan of this album I was, and still am.
My only regret in life is not being Nikki Webster.
Christian Hull is a YouTuber who spends most of his time on Grindr and hates human interaction. Find him at youtube.com/artsider.
