not too much

Singer Anthony Callea has received much goodwill following his recent announcement that he's gay. Callea was a guest panelist on last Wednesday's episode of the ABC's Spicks and Specks game show. It was delightful to see him relaxed, enjoying the laughter, obviously "comfortable in his own skin" as he said himself. British comedian and fellow team member Stephen K. Amos raised a laugh with "What I find is quite strange that it's Australia in this day and age with all this hoo-haa. Who cares what you do in your bedroom, come and do it in mine. . . . I love you. You're so cute. I could put you in my pocket and take you home and spend all your money."

Callea's cover of The Prayer became the fastest and largest selling single by any Australian artist, number one on the ARIA Charts for five weeks and certified four times platinum, top single for 2005. The song also won Callea an outstanding achievement award from Australian Gospel Music Association.

But mushy ballands are not to my taste. Callea's new album A New Chapter is more diverse, with some ballads but also rock numbers like Addicted to you. "I don't want to be so serious all the time, I don't want to get out there and sing ballads all the time. I wanted to have a bit of fun with this record so that when I do take it on the road and tour, I can get out there with a rocking band behind me and sing these tracks that are really guitar-driven and up-tempo and have more of an uplifting vibe about them. I didn't want to pigeon-hole myself to doing one genre or style of music, and I didn't want every song to be a lovey-dovey song. . . . When you write about something that is real, it comes naturally to you."