... and a Big MO Award for the mantle

By SHIRLEY BROUN

2013 MO Award Entertainer of the Year Adam Scicluna.

KEEPING audiences guessing on what will come next could be the secret to a long and successful career on the stage.

At least that’s what this year’s Entertainer of the Year Adam Scicluna believes and his brilliant mix of comedy and vocals is proving him right.

After 12 years as a professional performer Adam Scicluna enjoys the tag he has attracted: `The big man with the big voice and the big laughs’.

“It actually sums me up really well,” Adam said when I caught up with him this week at Jupiter Casino’s Theatre on the Gold Coast. “I pride myself on being more than `just’ a singer on stage. I like to be the complete entertainer.”

Unpredictable

And, he said, versatility was a key element. “I keep revamping what I present and working on my craft. It keeps my show and me fresh and a little unpredictable for audiences. They never know what to expect,” said the classically-trained vocalist.

In big demand on the corporate and cruise-ship market, Adam says his decision to combine stand-up comedy with operatic arias came naturally. “I have always been a funny guy in my personal life and always taken on comedy roles on stage. So, I started putting a few jokes into my vocal performances and now the comedy is as strong as the singing,” he said.

In May this year Adam received a huge accolade from his peers when he was voted Entertainer of the Year at the Australian Entertainment MO Awards in Sydney for the second time. “It was such a great honour to win again this year, especially when you consider the huge amount of talent in Australia,” he said.

This year’s win brings Adam’s tally of MO Awards to eight including two for Performer of the Year, five for Male Vocalist of the Year and his very memorable first MO Award for Best New Talent back in 2003.

“It was such a tremendous feeling winning the Johnny O’Keefe Best New Talent award and I was surrounded by family, although my mother nearly didn’t make it,” recalled Adam.

MO win, Mum's hair falls off!

“Mum was suffering with breast cancer at the time and she rang me the night before the awards and said she couldn’t go because her hair was falling out. So, my sister went over and somehow lacquered it so it was OK and she was able to be there for my big night which was so wonderful.”

“The next morning, all of mum’s hair fell `off’. I love her.”

Adam’s only regret was that his father, who died in 2000, wasn’t there to witness his success. “My Dad was my mentor musically. He had a rock’n’roll band when I was a kid and occasionally I would get up and sing with him. But he wasn’t very happy about me wanting a full time career as a performer and insisted I also get a career. Hence, I now have teaching as a back-up.”

“I would have loved for him to have seen my first MO Award win,” he said, with a tear in his eye.
Adam has put his teacher training to good use as a Program Director with the Creative Arts Schools Program (CASPA). “I teach gifted and talented kids in the arts … and love it,” he said.
Watching Adam on stage it is evident to all that he loves entertaining. His smooth delivery – both in song and comedy – is a joy to behold.

On the day of our interview, Adam’s performance had ladies dancing in the theatre aisles as he delivered a variety of easy-listening favourites from Wayne Newton’s `Daddy Don’t You Walk too Fast' to Cat Steven’s `Father and Son’ and John Farnham/Tom Jones duet `My Yiddish Mama’. His comical patter had the audience chuckling throughout.

It is little wonder why Adam was called on by the Federal Government to join Australia’s elite show business figures, including the late Maestro Tommy Tycho, in 2008 to perform for Prince Frederick and Princess Mary in Sydney.

Tonight (July 13), however, the honour to see him perform will not only be extended to Royalty but also to Gold Coast audiences who will have a chance to see Adam perform just for them at the Tweed Heads Bowls Club.

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