Dame Edna at the Commonwealth Games Closing Ceremony

26 March 2006

This little spot called Melbourne
Is the city of my birth
It’s not as hot as Brisbane
or as far away as Perth,

It’s not as small as Adelaide,
Compared to Canberra, it’s bliss,
And if you’ve been to Melbourne,
You can give Sydney a miss…

As the world gets scarier,
It’s a pretty decent area
Melbourne
The envy of the world.

I think that was a knowing, self-reflective and ironic appropriation of Australian (and Melburnian) parochialism, but I’m not altogether sure about how the irony was received, given the insipid television commentary.

Still, anything a 72 year old bloke in drag with purple hair who shot to fame (such fame as it was) knowingly making fun of Melbourne suburban life and other Australian attitudes can’t be all that bad.