Whether it's the air in Beirut, where she was touring last week, or the national honour given to her, Tina Arena, that precocious child star who grew up to be the multilingual, feisty mother hen of Australian pop, is in an unusually blissful state.
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Perhaps unaccustomed to big government gongs, Filippina Lydia "Tina" Arena makes it clear to Fairfax over the phone she wants to be a good sport more than a party pooper as she discusses her Order of Australia (AM) "for services to the music industry … and as a supporter of charitable causes".
"I don't want to throw scalding hot water over myself … I've shot off at the mouth in the past and no right to do that."
Also, Arena isn't offended that her home country took six years longer to bestow a major national honour on her than France did. In 2009, French President Nicolas Sarkozy presented her with the Knighthood of the Order of National Merit. "I believe that everything comes when it's supposed to and only if it's supposed to."
So what does Australia Day mean to Arena? "It's a celebration of an exquisite melting pot. That is what is beautiful about Australia, and it makes me proud.
"I hope it continues to flourish gracefully and that we believe in ourselves … We have a beautiful nonchalance which I love."
She has one wish for her nation on Australia Day: "That we can learn from everything going on in the world and lead by example in thinking outside the box [and] not being scared of the future."
If it sounds like an allusion to hot button issues like refugees or climate change, hold that thought. Technology is what bugs Arena most. She believes the technology we use each day is too complicated and wastes time. "Social media is not a positive distraction, quite the opposite."
So could this honour, earnt from an extraordinary 40-year career that began on Young Talent Time in 1976 and has so far yielded 10 million sales, quieten the sometimes outspoken Arena?
"I'll try not to think about it too much, although I am incredibly honoured. How could I not be?
"[It] won't change who I am [but] as a human being I give respect for whatever levels of society, whether establishment, working class. I'm a working class girl, I worked from ground up, I come from humble beginnings."
Referring to those humble beginnings, set in a traditional Italian household in Moonee Ponds in the 1970s, quickly leads to immigration and Arena doesn't miss a beat: "I'm not frightened [of immigrants], I do want everyone to have the same chance, to have a go.
"A part of me says Australia is so capable of embracing everyone. My parents were embraced, I'd love to see that continued."
