Em Rusciano is friggin’ fabulous

I’ve never been one to watch television talent quests, and I only tend to come across graduates from such shows once they’ve released a single or album that’s been fed to me by a (usually) trusty record company rep.

Out of one particular season of Australian Idol (Season 2), I’ve become familiar with a host of acts including Casey Donovan, Ricki-Lee Coulter and Anthony Callea (actually, I’ll italicise the word act in his particular case).

One graduate I hadn’t heard of until recently is Em Rusciano, and having lived in Sydney in the years she went on to present radio in Perth, I just wasn’t familiar with the gal. But boy, have I been missing out on some A-grade talent.

Rusciano is singer/comedienne/politico/fabulous cabaret act all rolled into one. She has a powerhouse voice that often leaves the songs’ original singers in the shade. Her wit is wry, and very, very clever. In short, her personality is bigger than the sum of a dozen contestants on any given talent show.

When I was invited to see Rusciano perform at The Astor in Perth as part of Fringeworld’s diverse program, I expected some stand-up comedienne under a solitary spotlight, dishing out a few okay songs in between angry leftist commentary. Instead what I witnessed was absolute talent.

Bright lights, big costume and a full band accompanied an artist whose show title ‘Em Rusciano is NOT a Diva’ really ought to have knocked out the NOT and had the last word in uppercase, bolded and surrounded by vanity lightglobes. This gal is BRILLIANT.

From the word go she had the audience in stitches and even when she’d crack a joke about ‘the gays’, ‘the lesbians’, ‘the casual tracksuit-wearing bogans’, these same tribes would be laughing along with her – her candid humour is that funny.

Rusciano’s musical set consisted of everything from catchy pop (a Madonna medley), disco anthems and cinematic classics (including a potent rendition of ‘Over The Rainbow’, dedicated to her grandmother).

On the farside, the girl’s anecdotes included gatecrashing a funeral of a guy she’d been secretly stalking, getting her period in plain sight of the paparazzi, punching out her radio station boss, and eye-opening accounts of behind-the-scenes shenanigans of her Australian Idol co-contestants. Regarding that last one, Rusciano did tend to go on a little – talking about her Idol escapades for what I figured was too long (some 20 minutes). I don’t criticise this for having a certain aversion to said television show but because Em Rusciano is oh-so much bigger than all that.

This artist and her great big talent warrant their own world tour.

I believe, too, that Em’s set to have a book published soon and I for one cannot wait to read it – f-words and all.  Antonino Tati

‘Em Rusciano Is NOT a Diva’ is on at The Astor tonight 14 February from 8pm.
Tickets, if you’re lucky, might be available from www.fringeworld.com.au.