If Dame Kiri Te Kanawa reckons her victory in the New South Wales Supreme Court this week amounts to a personal vindication she should think again.
A case brought against the 63-year-old diva by an Australian promoter was thrown out on Wednesday, saving the divine Miss K morethan $2 million.
The promoter sued her after she pulled out of a series of three concerts she was to have given with the fading Australian rocker John Farnham because she was concerned about his "style".
Most music fans would probably be more concerned about Farnham's lack of style, but Kiri - who told the judge that she was "normally called Dame Kiri" - was worried about knickers: Farnham, Oz's answer to Tom Jones, is typically the target of lobbed lingerie at the climax of his concerts.
"I was concerned," she told the court, "about the knickers or underpants and underwear apparel being thrown at him and him collecting it and obviously holding it in his hands as some sort of trophy. How could I, in my classical form, perform in this way."
Well, lightening up would be a good start. We're not sure what was proposed for the double bill - the dame mopping the stage while JF ripped into Sadie the Cleaning Lady or the rocker looking for the backbeat in Handel's Let the Bright Seraphim.
But Kiri hasn't exactly set the concert platform on fire since some time last century. She really needs to get over herself. Of course, she's welcome to pick and choose her gigs, but does she have to sound so snooty about it?
