 |
|
Green
Daze performs on the quarterdeck of Arunta in the Arunta
Idol competition.
|
|
Photo:
LCDR Jo Buchanan
|
By
LCDR Jo Buchanan
A break from Relex duties recently revealed just how talented
the HMAS Arunta crew really is.
LSPT ‘Aussie’ Jones organised the Arunta Idol competition, which
was held at sea on the flight deck on a balmy August evening.
All personnel not on watch were drawn to witness their shipmates
perform in front of a live audience.
The audience was originally critical and perhaps even a little
cynical, however at the end of Idol, they were left with no questions
regarding the talent of the Arunta crew.
ABCIS Stewart was the Master of Ceremonies for the event and bravely
performed Better Man before the competition started.
The ET Department provided the band members for Green Daze, headed
by the lead singer ABET ‘Tug’ Smith. They performed a total of
three songs loudly and enthusiastically, the best of them being
Everything I Do.
An even louder band Air Warning Red, comprising Ops Department
sailors performed How You Remind Me.
The final group act was the brave all-girl duo Tasteless.
ABBM Alex Smith and ABBM Kelly Gray, performed Poison.
The first independent entrant, LCDR Simon Rooke, worked the crowd
with his stand-up comedy routine, which proved very popular. LSCSOAC
Dave Burr, another independent singer, sang Holy Grail, while
strumming his own music with his acoustic guitar.
LS Burr was pipped at the post by another outstanding entrant,
ABCIS Jesse Bamber.
AB Bamber was the unanimous Arunta Idol winner, with his excellent
rendition of Walking in Memphis. As a final display of solidarity,
all contestants performed together to render a finale.
They were joined on stage by some more crew members and successfully
achieved audience participation when the entire flight deck was
roused for the last song.
The completely independent Idol judges were LCDR Buchanan, ABCK
Brad Smith, POMED Snoopy ‘Dicko’ Hyde and CPOCSM Gobby ‘Red Simons’
McLure.
The judges had a challenging job to score the entrants, as the
scope of artistic talent was most surprising.
