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Do you remember the Tommy Steele classic “Flash Bang Wallop What a Picture”? Well, that pretty much describes what the scene was like at the Sydney Hilton Hotel when we officially launched my historic journey on Friday!!

What was planned to be a few minutes of meet and greet followed by photo opportunities for the media when the celebrities in attendance signed me turned into a spontaneous cabaret performance!!!

When one of Australia’s favourite sons and national treasure, Barry Crocker, spotted music legend, Leo Sayer, the sparks began to fly. Not only are these two veteran entertainers consummate professionals but (apparently) both photographic junkies! It was cameras at ten paces as they photographed everything and everyone in sight, and then photographed each other taking photographs. The gathered crowd was in hysterics!

Barry then announced to anyone listening, “He may have more hits than me, but I’m taller… but I’m still jealous!” To quickly show their camaraderie however, Barry led the gathered stars in a rendition of a song he wrote for Variety, the children’s charity, as this is the cause that will ultimately benefit from my around the world, year-long journey. Singing sensation from Australian Idol, Cosima De Vito, joined in the performance with back up vocals by the ever-effervescent Katy Manning of Dr Who fame and Auntie Lynn. Considering Barry hadn’t sung the song in many years, and Cosima and Leo had never heard it before, it turned out quite well!!

Katy, who is fresh from London where she is planning an off West End season of her one woman show “Me and Jezebel”, looked stunning in fire-engine red scarf and gloves, rugged up against somewhat uncharacteristically gruesome Sydney weather. As always, Katy provided us with non-stop laughter as her boundless energy, enthusiasm, and effortless lapses into various personas and dialects had us in stitches. She was quick to point out that was DIALECTS, and not DALEKS. Although she did give Leo Sayer a quick lesson in how to speak like Dr Who’s arch nemesis, which apparently involves bending over and shaking one’s head as one speaks, a feat Leo mastered in moments. “The only problem with that is, now I look like Phyllis Dyler and you still look the same,” Katy quipped to Leo.

Auntie Lynn was touched to receive a request from Leo to become her latest celebrity reader of Magical Scarecrows stories, something she will be setting up in the near future. In fact the stunning Cosima De Vito has only just completed her reading of one of the stories, surrounded by children who were absolutely spellbound by her flawless performance of these magical stories. We hope that Cosima’s, Leo Sayer’s, and Katy Manning’s DVD readings will be available through our website in a few months: www.themagicalscarecrows.com. Of course the gorgeous Barry Crocker’s reading is available right now on the SHOP PAGE, along with other celebrity readings by Nikki Webster, iconic Hollywood legend, Tippi Hedren, and others.

KEEP WATCHING - MORE STARS ARE SIGNING ME REAL SOON!!!!!

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