AMERICAN talkshow queen Ellen DeGeneres is bringing her dance moves Down Under - and with it the hopes of boosting Australian tourism dollars.
Like her former TV rival Oprah Winfrey, DeGeneres will fly more than 400 audience members to visit Sydney and Melbourne.
With Nicole Kidman by her side, the announcement of her Aussie visit was made during her show, which was filmed in Los Angeles yesterday.
DeGeneres will be joined on her first visit to Australia by her Australian partner, actress Portia de Rossi. The trip is being funded by the NSW government, Qantas and Swisse Wellness as part of its launch in the US.
It comes after taxpayers spent $5 million to bring Winfrey and 300 American fans to Australia in 2010 to record two episodes at the Opera House and a series of TV specials.
Ellen DeGeneres announces to her audience, with the help of Nicole Kidman, she's taking them all to Australia. Picture: Supplied
Winfrey and her entourage were mobbed by fans everywhere they went, but visitor numbers from the US initially dropped after the episodes aired in early 2011 before rebounding strongly in 2012.
The NSW government is hoping DeGeneres's visit will boost the local economy.
NSW Acting Premier Andrew Stoner - who did his best "Ellen dance" in Sydney yesterday - said the state's contribution was "modest".
"Those details are commercial in confidence but we are confident as a government that there will be a huge return for NSW and the taxpayers of NSW out of our very modest investment," he said.
Ellen DeGeneres and Portia De Rossi.
"We've struggled a little with the high Aussie dollar but, I tell you what, having 16 million people see Ellen enjoy herself in sensational Sydney will be worth every cent."
DeGeneres will arrive in Australia on March 15 but the exact details of her trip, including which landmarks she will showcase, are still being finalised. In what is bound to become another NSW v Victoria rivalry, our southern rivals might have the leg-up courtesy of several drawcard events.
The Australian F1 Grand Prix and the L'Oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival are to be held at that time.
A trip to Geelong also seems a likely option as the glamorous de Rossi's birthplace and home to her family.
The pair will arrive two weeks after Sydney's famous Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, but a trip to the Royal Easter Show might be a possibility.
In a coup for Swisse, the 13-time Emmy Award winning entertainer will shoot segments in NSW and Victoria as part of a commercial agreement to support the company's launch in the US.
"I am partnering with Swisse and I love it because they're an Australian company and they want to help me get to Australia," DeGeneres told her audience during the episode, to air on pay-TV's Arena channel today.
"So, I am actually for the first time in my life going to Australia. I'm going in March and I'm going to shoot a bunch of stuff in Melbourne and Sydney. We're going to do tape pieces and meet the fans and hang out."
The visit is also a coup for Qantas in its battle against Tourism Australia. Both organisations were instrumental in bringing Winfrey to Australia, but Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce severed ties and suspended the airline's $50 million marketing commitment with the tourism body last November.
It is understood Qantas has channelled some of the money originally intended for TA into helping bring the Ellen show here.
"It's an example of Qantas now working closely with the states on tourism initiatives and building up new initiatives to get more tourists to Victoria and here to NSW," Mr Joyce said.
"I think this is an example of how Qantas works at a national level and at a state level to make sure we get the best bang for our buck."
Tourism Australia managing director Andrew McEvoy said the DeGeneres visit would be terrific for Australia: "Ellen has huge appeal within the US, a key market for us, and will do a fantastic job in shining the media spotlight on the whole country, just as Oprah did for us in 2010."
While DeGeneres will not shoot an entire show Down Under, details of how local fans can win the chance to participate in filming are expected to be announced closer to the star's arrival in Australia.
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