FACE

Tour de Force - East Timor 9

March 8, 2005 to March 11, 2005

Tour de Force 9 (TDF 9) was coordinated by the Forces Advisory Council on Entertainment (FACE) and comprised LTCOL Greg McCauley, Commanding Officer; Miss Jodie Allen, Project Officer; WO1 Mark Langley, Civilian Liaison Officer and the following Civilian Artists.

     - Mr Allan Caswell, an established singer/songwriter,

     - Mr Wayne Deakin, an established comedian on the Melbourne comedy circuit,

     - Mr Jon English, an Australian entertainment icon,

     - Mr Jon Sora-English, an aspiring and talented guitarist, and

     - Ms Bessie Bardot, best selling author and model, as MC.

TDF 9 was a mini tour with two shows. The first in Moleana on the Tuesday night which involved the bulk of the Australian, Fiji, Pakistani, Brazilian and Bangladesh contingents as well as locals. The second in the main UN camp in Dili on the Wednesday night reached the remainder of the Australians serving in Timor.

FACE were fortunate in obtaining the services of all five artists for the first concert in Moleana. The concert commenced with Bessie Bardot as MC providing opening comments, which set the scene for the concert. This opening was followed by a comedy routine from Wayne Deakin. Singer/songwriter Allan Caswell was the first of the musical performances for the evening. The musical component of the show was concluded by a performance from Jon English and Jon Sora-English. Bessie Bardot rounded the evening off with a photograph session with audience participants. Overall the concert ran for 2 to 2 1/2 hrs and held the audience's attention the whole time. The reduction in party size eased logistic issues and the more intimate atmosphere contributed in no small way to the overall success of the tour.

Due to work commitments Bessie Bardot was unavailable for the concert in Dili. Wayne Deakin performed the MC duties for this concert. Mr Deakin commenced the concert with a comedy routine. This routine continued regularly throughout the concert as he introduced each of the musicians. The musical content was similar to the first concert with the musicians performing in the same order. At the entertainer’s request, these performances however, were of a longer duration.

Performers