Australian Idol winner a huge hit in Roebourne

Australian Idol winner Stan Walker arrived in Karratha airport on the 18th June ready for his Roebourne concert.





As the Australian Idol 2009 winner and his family walked into the Karratha airport arrivals they were greeted by the youth organisation group YothD10 who performed a traditional Maori Welcome or “haka pohiri”.
This was then followed by a “Welcome to Country” by Robin Churnside and Tootsie Daniels.
On Saturday 19th June early morning , Stan Walker met with the locals on the Oval, played basketball and touchrugby, included them all in a dance off, and then sang to the kids.
Later that evening the gates were opened and he performed at the Roebourne Oval to a capacity crowd of 750 anxious fans and curious patrons.
To name a few the support acts included Telstra Road to Tamworth songwriter winner Corey Colum and local dance school Dance Kix who performed a variety of contemporary and hip hop jazz.
There was a special performance from Tu Te Puehu who performed many beautiful Maori waiata or songs including a dance using Poi’s, a ball instrument that is used in a Maori dance usually performed by women.
The males of the group then performed the infamous Haka which most people will have seen New Zealand’s All Blacks perform before each game.
Also local singer Annika Pitt Moore blew the audience away with her beautiful voice, singing a mix of covers such as Alicia Keys’ ‘No One’ and her own written songs.
After much anticipation Stan was introduced and screaming fans ran to the stage.
Stan delivered a brilliant performance and sang songs such as Blackbox and Halo, and the family were invited to support Stan in singing a traditional song “He Kakano Ahau” or “I am a seed from heaven”.
Within the grounds YothD10 had organised food, clothes and jewellery stalls, and sponsor banners proudly hanging from stage and fencing around the oval.
There was also a traditional hangi available which sold out straight away.
YothD10, would like to thank all those who helped make this huge event a success.
This includes the sponsors, who showed such support for the event.
The awesome MC Tangiora Hinaki, who did a fantastic job keeping the flow of entertainment.
Their 30 Plus Security Guards / Stewards who volunteered their time to ensure the safety of all peoples concerned.
The Stall Attendees for providing such a great variety of food and to all those who worked with passion and endless energy, in the background, to bring this all together.
And finally they would like to show their heartfelt gratitude to those of you who came out with your family and friends to support “Stan Walker and his family in concert” and YothD10 and their vision to encourage, nurture and maintain their Arts.
The Pilbara Echo would like to congratulate the crew down at YothD10 for organising such a fantastic event and hope to see more acts like this coming to the Pilbara soon.