Emma Stevenson
Name:
Emma Stevenson
Age: 20
From: Melbourne, Australia
Date Of Birth: 9/12/79
Fave Tina Songs: Chains, Burn, Greatest Gift,
Wasn't It Good, Sorrento Moon,
Standing Up, No Shame, Sixteen Years, Not For Sale,
Now I Can Dance, Woman's
Work, Aller Plus Haut, Live, The Bohemienne Song
Best Tina Moments:
1. In Deep Live concert- Melbourne, December 13th, `97.
A b'day present from my family (god bless `em!).
My cousin worked for bass so I was very fortunate to
have front row tickets, which I shared with my friend,
Anna Garland, who loves Tina to bits too. We both
had an absolute blast, and i know that I will always
cherish that night in particular because I was able
to express to Tina my gratitude and respect. I
gave Tina a small gift just before she began to thank
the audience, the band, sony, etc. Initially Tina
was taken back, but I told her she deserved a gift,
and she smiled at me warmly and said thank-you.
2. Seeing Tina at RCM when Rhiannon was doing her work
experience there around the middle of `98.
Fave Tina Cover Art: Chains, Wasn't It Good,
Burn, Show Me Heaven, If I
Didn't Love You, Aller Plus Haut.
Rarest Tina CD I Own: a vinyl record of "I
need your body".
The
Story:
It was
a Wednesday in June `98, that I was very fortunate to
have a brief chat to Tina while she was at RCM.
My friend, Rhiannon Morley was doing her Year 11 work
experience at RCM because she wants to work in the music
industry in the future. Anna, Rhiannon and I had
all been friends and huge Tina fans for quite some time,
and because Rhiannon lives in the country, our opportunities
to catch up with her were limited. So naturally
when Rhiannon told Anna and I that she was staying in
a hostel in Melbourne for the 5 days to complete her
work experience here, we were delighted. We decided
to meet up with Rhiannon at RCM, and I remember walking
up the stairs and being very impressed with the shiny
floorboards and the lovely italian couch. Anna
and I soon spotted Rhiannon lingering in the room.
The office had such a cosy, welcoming feeling about
it, and such a vibrant feel too, with all the Tina posters
and plaques on the walls. Anna and I were enjoying
soaking up the atmosphere so much, that it took us a
while to notice this petite lady sitting on the floor
in discussion with another lady. I immediately
recognised her as Tina, and admitedly, i got an attack
of stagefright- a rush of nervousness and delight.
Tina then got up from the floor and as she was walking
towards us, she asked Rhiannon is she was right to get
home because it was getting dark outside. Rhiannon
replied that we'd come to pick her up. Tina looked
at Anna and I then, and I think she worked it out pretty
fast why we were still there. Anna introduced
herself and stuck out her hand, which Tina shook, telling
Anna is was great to meet her. Anna became very
animated then and started chatting at a hundred miles
an hour to Tina, asking her if she remembered us from
the concert, and if she remembered her e-mails.
Anna was really cute and funny, and got Tina chuckling
away, and me with a big grin on my face. Tina
replied to Anna saying she remembered us from the concert
and congratulated her for getting in to the Melbourne
Youth Orchestrer. Tina has replied to Anna's e-mail
talking about that just a few days before, and Anna
was touched that she remebered. Just in the same
way that I was very stoked that Tina remembered who
I was. I told Tina it was lovely to meet her and
she accepted my handshake. As soon as I said my
name, Tina looked quite guilty and started apologising
about not returning my e-mails. I was so surprised
that Tina actually remembered me, and told her that,
and she smiled and went on to tell us about how busy
she'd been lately, continously apologising for the delay
with the e-mails. Tina told us time constraints
made it really difficult for her to write more than
a couple of lines on each e-mail even though she wished
she could write more. Tina seemed quite guilt-ridden
about the whole thing, so I told her not to worry about
the e-mails and that everyone understands how busy she
is. Anna agreed with me too and Tina seemed to
appreciate that because she smiled and hanged the topic
to her up coming schedule. Amongst other things,
Tina told us she was going to the U.S. soon to release
In Deep, and Anna and I wished her good luck.
Tina smiled and then told us she was still pretty busy
with work, so we all took the hint and made our way
towards the stairs. The conversation was probably
no more than 10 minutes, but it was an insight and memory
that i will always treasure. Tina is such a friendly
and down-to-earth lady, but I think what struck me the
most about her was how honest and giving she is.
Tina truly gives a shit about her fans, I could see
the honesty on her face, she doesn't want to disappoint
them. And she's totally committed to her work,
at the expense of everything else. Another thing
that became obvious to me is that Tina is a great communicator,
not only through her music, but as a person. She
is very approachable and confident, and appeared very
comfortable in her own skin. anyway, if you've
read this far, you deserve a medal :) take care
everyone!
Emma xox
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