Telethon 2024 wrap: A-listers get TV spectacle under way with outstanding performances

Telethon got off to a stellar start with some of Australia’s biggest stars taking to the stage at RAC Arena for the Opening show.

Guy Sebastian, Rob Mills, Samantha Jade and Human Nature blew the roof off the arena with their powerhouse performances.

Guy Sebastian was the first on stage, belting out an impressive rendition of his hit, Choir, before Rob Mills appeared on the steps singing Bon Jovi hit, It’s My Life — the crowd loving every moment.

Samantha Jade then hopped up on stage for a high-energy rendition of the Sister Sledge classic, ‘We Are Family’, complete with back-up dancers and killer choreography, before Human Nature, who will head to Perth — and RAC Arena — next April for their MTWN20 tour! took to the stage to perform The Four Tops’ classic, ‘Reach Out I’ll Be There.’

They were joined on stage by a host of Telethon stars including Emma Memma, Royston Noell, Rob Palmer, and Jamie Durie as well as big-name Seven stars who bopped alongside this year’s Little Telethon Stars.

“This is my third Telethon in a row, but the last few years I‘ve been on my own — this time I brought my posse, which is just brilliant,” Phil Burton said of reuniting with his band-mates for this weekend’s fundraiser.

But it was Telethon’s famous Lip Sync battles that had everyone talking.

This year they featured performances from SAS: Australia’s Ant Middleton singing ‘Eye of the Tiger’, James Stewart singing Jet’s ‘Are You Gonna Be My Girl, Matt Shirvington doing a rendition of ‘It’s Tricky’ by Run DMC, and Better Homes and Garden’s Joh Griggs, Dr Harry Cooper plus husband-and-wife twosome Charlie Albone and Juliet Love performing Twist and Shout.

Then it was all-in for everyone’s favourite sing-along hit, The Village People’s YMCA — complete with bum wiggle from Home and Away star James Stewart.

Stewart was flying solo for the Saturday night show — his co-star and real-life girlfriend Ada Nicodemou will join him tomorrow, and she’ll be doing her own Lip Sync battle.

“I don’t know what she’s doing, but I know it’s something fabulous with leg warmers,” he told The Sunday Times backstage.

Stewart says he thoroughly enjoyed performing his lip sync performance, as it meant he was able to reunite with his Dancing With The Stars co-stars Middleton, Albone and NRL legend Shane Crawford, who is also in town for Telethon.

“It’s great to be back with the boys,” he said.

Stars from a host of Seven shows including Home and Away, Sunrise, Dancing With The Stars and Better Homes and Gardens, as well as our own local news presenters, were on the panel and in the phone room, joined by local sporting heroes and fan favourites from Tik Tok and YouTube to encourage viewers to dig deep to support our most sick and vulnerable children.

This year’s 2024 Little Telethon Stars, Florence Shanks, Nate Fearnall, Charlee Hosking and Nazeem Fahmi had a ball, beaming as they watched the fun unfold — until it was time to head off to bed.

But the excitement didn’t stop there, continuing well into the night, with the Arena rocking with live music from some of WA’s best original artists via the Telethon WA Music Show hosted by Blake Williams.

In the early hours, The Sunday Times’ own Ben O’Shea joined forces with formidable local comedy legend Famous Sharron, to keep things rolling from 2am to 7am.

The live broadcast, which will run non-stop for 26 hours culminating in a Closing live show at 7pm on Sunday, will see local and visiting celebs performing skits, answering phones and chatting with presenters throughout the weekend.

There will be performances from WA’s own home-grown stars, with dance and musical numbers performed by local groups — entry to the Arena will be by Gold Coin donation all weekend, excluding the Closing show.

This year’s Telethon theme is ‘Incredible Together’, reminding us that incredible things happen when we come together — and that certainly happened last year, with an incredible $77,467,775 raised during the fundraising drive.

This year, organisers are hoping to beat that total — and already we’re well on the way.

As the fun plays out at RAC Arena, The Telethon Family Festival presented by Coles will run for another year in the surrounding area, from 10am to 4pm on Sunday

Wellington street will be closed from Elder Street to Yagan Square, with Wellington Street and RAC Arena transforming into “a fiesta of fun” for the Family Festival, with live performances, roving entertainment, activities, food-trucks and free carnival rides happening.

Be sure to keep watching all weekend and tune in for the Closing show, which starts this Sunday at 7pm.