Posted on 01/09/2007 9:34:19 PM PST by pissant
Sydney - The eight-year-old daughter of late "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin will star in a high-profile promotional US tour this week, but she will not be forced to perform, her manager said on Tuesday.
Bindi Irwin, whose wildlife television star father was killed by a stingray barb last September, will visit Los Angeles and New York as part of Tourism Australia's G'Day USA week to promote the country.
She is set to perform her song and dance stage show Bindi and The Crocmen and feature on TV talk shows including The Ellen Degeneres Show and The Late Show with David Letterman.
Bindi has shown remarkable resilience in the wake of her father's death, delivering a spirited eulogy during the worldwide broadcast of his funeral, but some critics have objected to her exposure to the spotlight at such an early age.
Irwin family manager and friend John Stainton said critics did not realise she had been "brought up in a different world" at the family's Australia Zoo.
"She is used to cameras and performing. Her dad taught her so much about wildlife and working to cameras," he said. "It's a part of her life, it's like ballet is to another girl."
He said Bindi would be given the chance to pull out of any engagements on the US trip.
"My criteria is if Bindi doesn't want to do it that day, if she wants to go to the zoo or the beach, then that's what we're doing," he told national radio.
"If she decides she doesn't want to do the Letterman Show, which tapes at five o'clock in the afternoon, if she's tired or she doesn't want to do it, there's no pressure on her to do anything at all."
Bindi had been set only to accompany her father on the promotional tour but will now be the star herself, with the support of her American-born mother Terri.
Steve Irwin, who won a worldwide following with his Crocodile Hunter TV series, was killed while filming a documentary off the Australian coast.
Six weeks later, Bindi resumed filming her own wildlife series, Bindi the Jungle Girl, for the American Discovery Channel.
Bindi is doing nothing she wasn't going to do before Steve died.
Crikey thats a cute kid..
To quote Men in Black, "Elvis didn't die, he just went home."
This child is being turned into a circus geek. I guess she likes it, but there is something unseemly here.
LOL. You and I think alike. But there are scads of Bondi fans here, so I'll let it be.
The "purpose" of a child's life is merely to live, grow, learn, make mistakes, learn again, and be free from pressure. It's brutal to lose a parent at that tender age, but she's not the only kid in that situation. Lots of kids have lost parents in Iraq, but they don't go public and fill the void with a song and dance routine. They work through it, live through it, with the help of family, friends, teachers, clergy, etc.
As far as money, if they need money, which I very highly doubt, you don't send an 8-year-old kid out to be the bread winner. I am sure Steve had life insurance, plus substantial business ventures that will support his wife and kids. I saw her interviewed on TV last night. Her answers were so rehearsed, canned, unnatural for her age. I do so hope she survives all this in good shape.
I know. I'd take less heat if I criticized the Pope. :) I am really mad for kids. To me they are the loveliest, funniest, most honest creatures on earth. The innocents. I devote a great deal of my time to one BTW. I also know what the spotlight does to kids. It's the rare kid who emerges unscathed from the spotlight. A few do quite well. Jodie Foster, Leonardo DiCaprio, Ron Howard, to name a few who weren't ruined. I hope Bindi is one of the lucky ones.
Just another evil, cold-hearted conservative, eh?
Little girl, young lady. How 'bout little boy, young man? Better? It's a very common term for children.
You're not the parent. I understand you "don't approve". There are lots of kids who willingly submit themselves to all kinds of "pressure" as you call it, whether it's sports, music, ballet, chess, academic achievments, scientific pursuits, etc., etc. This child's life, background and family are unique, so maybe it's best we all reserve our busybody judgements.
As another poster said, it takes a parent, not a village.
Depends on how much pressure and how big the stage. Obviously Shirley Temple did fine. Others do not. I know I am not her parent. I just posted my opinion, as you did
Thanks for the ping!
I watched Larry King last night because the cast of 24 was on (I don't normally watch CNN) and I saw a blip that Bindi and family were going to be on soon, but I missed the date. Does anyone know when this will be aired?
And, as the article points out, Bindi is accustomed to the spotlight. They still have to eat.
Good thing they don't have to ask you before they can live life they way they want. :~)
THis child needs a childhood, not a career. Or if she were mine, I would nix this idea. But she isn't mine so I guess her Mother will let her have a go at it.
THe eating the family does is generally provided by the parent for crying out loud.
I guess I just dislike seeing any child not having a childhood whether it is movies, music, sports or tv. Very few of them come thru unscathed by the experience. And a child needs to find her way not live out some sentimental expectation that she live for her Father and his desires. He is dead.
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