Liza revives love affair with Australia

It's been 20 years since Liza Minnelli last performed in Australia, but the Cabaret star hasn't forgotten a thing.
Minnelli first toured the country in the late 1960s with then husband Peter Allen, and she's returned many times since.
Touching down in Sydney this week ahead of her Australian tour, Minnelli said she was thrilled to be back.
"Oh my favourite time was the first time I came here with Peter," Minnelli told media at a news conference in Sydney.
"I loved it so much and I've loved it ever since then.
"I love the Harry's meat pies, I love Bondi Beach, and all the people I know all over the country I'm looking forward to seeing."
And, having one been married to our Boy From Oz, she admitted she doesn't mind Aussie men either.
"I think Australian males are extremely attractive," she said.
"But honey ... I'm 63 years old, don't worry about it."
The Liza tour, which takes in Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne and Brisbane, starts on Friday, October 16 with two sold-out nights at the Sydney Opera House.
It's a venue that tops her must-do list, according to Minnelli.
"The Sydney Opera House, are you kidding me?" she said.
"This place means so much to me, I'm so excited about performing here."
The showbiz legend will perform a show based in part on her Tony Award-winning Broadway hit Liza's At The Palace, with the second half made up especially for Australian audiences including hits like Cabaret, Maybe This Time and Theme From New York, New York.
Despite being one of the few artists to have won entertainment's top six awards - Tony, Oscar, Golden Globe, BAFTA, Emmy and Grammy - Minnelli is not one to rest on her laurels.
"Every performance I do has to be the best one I've ever done," she said.
"What I have to prove is the price of admission."
Minnelli has some serious medical issues in the past, including encephalitis, vocal cord surgery, two hip replacements, and battles with drugs and alcohol.
But now at 63, the daughter of Judy Garland and Vincent Minnelli said her health is "wonderful", and she has no plans to retire in the near future.
"Nay nay nay," she laughed.
"I really like it - or I wouldn't be doing it at this age.
"I'm an old broad to be doing all this stuff."
Minnelli is set to connect with a new, younger audience.
She has just finished recording with US rock band My Chemical Romance, and will be a celebrity judge on Australian Idol this Sunday.
She also has a guest role in the new Sex And The City movie.
"I come on and I marry these two guys, right, it's hilarious," she explained.
"Then I say that they've asked me to sing a special song that was playing when they got engaged, and I think people think I'm going to sing It Had To Be You, and it's "if you like it then you shoulda put a ring on it"," she sang from Beyonce's hit Single Ladies.
"We had such fun doing it."
Minnelli said she had no idea why it had taken her so long to come back to Australia. But she was determined it wouldn't be her last.
"Why on earth would it be the last time? You're planning on me dying? Out of the question," she laughed.
19:55 AEST Tue Oct 13 2009
ago
By Alyssa Braithwaite
Liza recorded this medley in Australia in 1967 for a TV special called LIZA for Australia