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.
I think she has had, and will continue to have, a most remarkable childhood. The whole world is her playground.
I think people get over-wrought about children and grief. Bindi can only deal with it in a child like way, children can be sad but they don't dwell there. It's her mother I really feel for. She lost a truly great love affair, she had it all, and that is hard to want to move on from.
The real question is, what kind of emotional shape will she be in when she's sixteen?
"It's a part of her life, it's like ballet is to another girl."
My daughter loves ballet. She has done the Nutcracker for six years in a row, did 21 performances this year and looks forward to next Nutcracker. She dances five days a week, and is currently trying out for summer programs at different ballet schools. She would not have it any other way. She is the one doing the pushing, not me. Let the parents decide. They sometimes are right. Even if she doesn't make it to the pro level, she will have learned so many life lessons that the average kid doesn't learn, it will all be worth it.
Found it:
Larry King Live on CNN
Thursday's show
Terri Irwin with daughter, Bindi.
An emotional prime time exclusive. Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin's widow Terri and their daughter on coping with his shocking death.
• E-mail the Irwin family your questions.
I think it's a good thing...Bindi's strong and this is 'who' she is....like her dad.
Thank you !
Folks need to shut the hell up and leave the family alone
I think you are right.....
Bindi resumed filming her own wildlife series, Bindi the Jungle Girl, for the American Discovery Channel.
For what its worth, another former child star subsequently became involved in [United States Republican Party|Republican Party] politics, unsuccessfully entering a Congressional race in 1967 on a pro-war platform. She went on to hold several diplomatic posts, serving as America's delegate to many international conferences and summits.
She was appointed a delegate to the United Nations by President Richard M. Nixon in 1969. She was appointed American ambassador to Ghana (1974–76). In 1976, she became the first female Chief of Protocol of the United States which put in her charge of all State Department ceremonies, visits, gifts to foreign leaders and co-ordination of protocol issues with all US embassies and consulates.
She was ambassador to Czechoslovakia (1989–92) and witnessed the Velvet Revolution, about which she commented, "That was the best job I ever had." In 1987 she was designated the first Honorary Foreign Service Officer in US history by then US Secretary of State, George Schultz.
SHIRLEY TEMPLE BLACK
Appreciate the ping. (sorry this is so late--after several posts).
Because they keep asking the same questions over and over again. It's hard to sound fresh when it's the same question you have heard (and answered already) a hundred times before.
Oh, come on. Her back yard is a world-class zoo. Would you rather she be in her room stuffing herself with Cheetoes and Pepsi-cola and playing on a Nintendo or PS2 like most other kids instead of out learning about animals and enjoying the world?
You are so right! And in her little mind....... she's doing what her daddy would want her to do and he would be proud of her. How can anyone attack a little child??? Bindi has been raised to be in the spotlight and to follow in Steve's shoes.... and in my opinion, she's doing a swell job of filling big shoes with little feet.
Blessings to her and her family..... at least they represented something positive and exhibited love and caring for one another.
Nana
I agree.
I think her father would be ecstatic.
From what I've seen, she is very mature for her age, a natural in front of the camera, and loves animals. I think she will do well. I wish them well. I still get a tear or two thinking about what happened to her father.
I think she is adorable and is a natural at this.
She is only going to get better in both television and learning about and dealing with wildlife.
I think her dad would be proud.
You are presentiing a false choice.
It is great she is in a world class zoo, wonderful she is around animals, fabulous the world is her playground.
But appearing on Larry King, Letterman, going onto her very own tv show seems to be more about work and celebrity than being a child.
Just my opinion.
http://www.wildlifewarriors.org.au/about_us/index.html
Australia Zoo is the major sponsor.
This is her school. She is tutored in regular school subjects, then has these extra-curricular activities. Every grief counselor emphasizes that children need to get back to their daily activities as much as possible after a death in the family.
These *are* her normal daily activities. Her mom is American and Steve said that Bindi had spent half her time in OZ and half in America, in CA. This is just normal for her. When Steve was on these same shows, she was backstage in the Green Room, playing or talking to her mom - sometimes even out on the stage with her dad.
"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."
You all will say I'm a meanie but I think that if she wants to do this tour she should be prepared to do things she doesn't want to due to being tired, bored, "just doesn't want to," etc. At eight years old I did a lot of things I just didn't want to do.
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