Win A Signed Copy Of Melissa Tkautz's Greatest Hits CD!

I have a signed copy of Melissa Tkautz's iTunes-conquering greatest hits compilation. The new and improved Immaculate Collection was only released digitally but a couple of physical copies were whipped up for media and fan giveaways. To win this stunning luxury item all you have to do is tweet me - @poptrashmike - the answer to the following, extremely obvious question:

Why is Melissa Tkautz better than Madonna?

Here's the diva's epic cover of Aqua's "Barbie Girl" (below) in case you need some inspiration.

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Melissa Tkautz - Greatest Hits Launch

A couple of weeks ago I wrote a post about the impending release of Melissa Tkautz's hugely anticipated Greatest Hits collection. That must-have opus brought iTunes to its knees on Friday and is still selling like 21 at Overeaters' Anonymous. To celebrate more than two decades of hits, E Street's most successful diva performed a showcase at Rock Lily nightclub in Sydney's Star Casino and showed why she is still as relevant as the day she started. The blonde bombshell appeared on the stage in a sexy black cocktail dress and proceeded to belt out her stunning top 40 cover of "The Glamorous Life". That was followed by her seminal debut single "Read My Lips". Melissa had the entire crowd reaching for her detonator as she high-fived fans and posed for photos mid-song. It was nice to hear "I Want Your Love" live again - the last time I had the pleasure was at its release party in 2008 - and I'll never get enough of "Easily Affected", which remains one of the most underrated Australian pop songs of all time.

Sexy is still the word

The face of Australian lamb then brought things back to the present by belting out her recent Nick Jay collaboration "Something About You" and new single "Take Me Away". Mel described the latter as a nod to her '90s hey day and it does sound like something they might have played at the Albury in 1997. Not that I'm old enough to know. After a bit of banter, the perennially youthful diva followed that up with 1992's raunchy "Skin To Skin" before bringing her army of fans into a frenzy with a remix of "Sexy Is The Word". It's always a treat seeing Melissa strut her stuff. She sounded great and always looks like she's having a blast. Earlier that day, I sat down with Sydney's yummiest mummy for a chat (see below) and will be posting that clip in the next couple of weeks.

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Melissa Tkautz Unveils Greatest Hits Artwork

Australian pop legend Melissa Tkautz is releasing a greatest hits compilation. Start crying and shaking. The flawless diva behind seminal classics like "Read My Lips" and "Sexy Is The Word" will unveil the full tracklist over the next few days but I'm hopeful a couple of unreleased gems like "Fake It Good" and "Not Enough" will make the cut. The Hits & More drops August 10. Let's pray iTunes can cope with the demand.

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Melissa Tkautz & Other Legendary Pop Icons Celebrate 'Smash Hits'

Last night's Pop Life (a book about Smash Hits magazine) launch party at Sydney's Hard Rock Cafe was all that I hoped for and so much more. It was a trip to the land of lost pop stars, a place where 90s has-beens were mobbed like Rihanna - or, more accurately, like Deni Hines - and the legendary Melissa Tkautz shared the stage with that "Introvert/Extrovert" dude from X Factor. This nuclear-powered hot mess made my year and, more importantly, reminded me how much I miss Smash Hits. Pop blogs are great but there was something magical about having a stack of dog-eared magazines to pour over, again and again. I think I'm gonna start printing my blog posts and handing them out to random strangers at the bus stop. Because that's not weird and a sure-fire recipe for publishing success! But back to the party.

Here are some observations/anecdotes from the social event of 2011:

1. David Campbell is really short and looked seriously awkward belting out songs from '80s album "Let's Go". Stick to swing.

2. Cosima De Vito is on the comeback trail. The 2003 Australian Idol third place-getter told me she has a dance anthem called "Right Here, Right Now" set for release early next year. If it's anything like the Taylor Square remix of "Keep It Natural", I'm on board!

3. Former Young Diva Emily Williams is working with some big-wig American producer and also has new music due in early 2012.

4. The always lovely Robyn Loau has a new single in the works and hopes to re-release her criminally under-appreciated album. Can't wait.

5. Siobhan and Jacqui from Girlfriend also showed up, resulting in an awkward moment when the host brought up the possibility of a GF4 reunion. Robyn smiled but the look on her face screamed bitch, please.

6. Is Siobhan still a professional pole-dancer? Her leopard skin print mini-skirt said yes.

7. I've never seen We Go Bang Bang perform live before but the one-woman covers band was awesome. I'm going to have to check her out at the Beresford (where she has a residency of sorts). Nice '80s dance moves too!

8. Luke O'Dell cracked me up. "Introvert/Extrovert" is better than anything T-Pain has released lately.

9. Melissa Tkautz will soon appear in a glamorous new advertising campaign.

10. Apart from gracing your television screen in the near future, Mel will also be unleashing a new floorfiller in January or February.

The E Street icon really was the star of the show, looking flawless in her red gown. She belted out stunning renditions of "The Glamorous Life", current single "Something About You" (below) and her 1991 number one hit "Read My Lips". Hearing the latter live was something akin to a spiritual experience for me. Now if someone can tee up that Toni Pearen duet we've all been waiting for, I can die a happy man!

Pop Life is available to buy in all good bookstores - like Oscar & Friends - now!

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