This month, Australia’s own version of So You Think You Can Dance announced its host, Natalie Bassingthwaighte. Australian and British audiences know Bassingthwaighte as Izzy from Neighbours and as the lead singer of the Rogue Traders, but here’s a visual for everyone else:
Bassingthwaighte has done well for herself with the new role, beating out other stars such as Natalie Imbruglia for the position. There doesn’t appear to be word yet on the dance prize for the Australian winner, but Bassingthwaighte is excited about the prospects of the show, which is currently auditioning dancers and set to air in 2008.
This month also saw the launch of the new Rogue Traders new album Better in the Dark. If you’re not familiar with the electro-pop style of the group, here’s a look at their video for “Voodoo Child,” which, incidentally, was featured on a Doctor Who episode this year.
It’s appropriately Halloweenish for the season: The disembodied face does creep me out a little, but Bassingthwaighte translates into one of the hottest black and white drawings ever.
About her stage dress (of which I am a fan), Bassingthwaighte comments:
“It’s kooky — you can get away with anything. I’m sure a lot of fashionistas would say you can’t, but it’s not like I would wear those clothes down the street. It’s a costume for me, it’s like fancy dress or dress-ups when you’re a kid. You’re putting on a persona for the audience, which is exciting for the audience and something a bit different to your everyday life.”
Bassingthwaighte’s upcoming projects include trying to pursue a film career in Australia and in the U.S. IMDb.com lists her current project as Prey, set to come out next year, in which a group of Australians stumble unwittingly into an sacred — but cursed — Aboriginal site with a nasty 100-year-old curse.
