Ernie Dingo, ABC News Breakfast host Bridget Brennan, and musician Isaac Compton will front a new First Nations variety program that will screen on the ABC ahead of this year’s NAIDOC Week celebrations.
To be broadcast in front of a live studio audience, That Blackfella Show will feature guests including Steph Tisdell, Dane Simpson, Abbie Chatfield, Jimmy Barnes, Outback Tom, BARKAA, Kevin Kropinyeri, and many more.
There will also be performances of iconic black anthems from the Aboriginal Australian music duo Electric Fields, Maningrida all-female rock band The Ripple Effect Band, and ARIA-nominated singer, songwriter, rapper Miss Kaninna.
The hour-long program is executive produced by Rowdie Walden, in collaboration with ABC head of Indigenous, Kelrick Martin.
Walden said the program was about “celebrating mob and bringing audiences along with us”.
“I haven’t been this excited about making a show since my high school adaptation of Alice in Wonderland,” he said.
“It’s very different to a lot of Indigenous content on screens at the moment – it’s a one-of-a-kind Indigenous variety show that aspires to connect all Australians— especially as we gear up for NAIDOC Week.”
That Blackfella Show will premiere on Saturday, July 5 at 7.30pm on ABC TV and ABC iview. This year’s NAIDOC Week celebrations will be held from July 6 – 13.