Diva wins gigs lawsuit after promoter gets knickers in twist

LEGENDARY opera diva Kiri Te Kanawa won a lawsuit yesterday after she pulled out of concerts with an Australian rocker in case his fans hurled their knickers onto the stage.

The star had been sued for up to A$2 million for cancelling a tour with John Farnham after seeing a DVD of him holding up underwear that had been tossed at him by adoring revellers.

But New South Wales Supreme Court judge, Patricia Bergin, ruled against the promoter, Leading Edge Events, finding it had failed to establish its claims against Te Kanawa.

While there were emails in which venues, fees and air tickets for the proposed concerts were discussed, there was no finalisation of the contract, the judge said.

The 62-year-old, New Zealand-born singer told the court she decided not to appear with Farnham in concerts in Sydney and Melbourne after seeing footage of his 2003 farewell tour that had left her shocked and embarrassed.

She said Farnham had been disrespectful by collecting the knickers thrown at him by fans and holding them as a sort of “trophy”.

The pair had been scheduled to perform together in 2005 at three concerts, dubbed Two Great Voices, tickets for which had already been sold for a total of nearly A$10,000.

The promoter was awarded A$128,063 from the company that employed Te Kanawa, Mattane, for costs incurred.