Anastacia Makes a Surprise Comedy Turn in Australian Series ‘Urzila’

Anastacia is best known for powerhouse pop, but her latest appearance lands her in a very different lane: comedy. The U.S. singer and songwriter pops up in the new Australian series Urzila, fronted by South Africa-born, New Zealand-based comedian and actress Urzila Carlson, in a cameo that leans into the kind of self-aware silliness that can only really work if the guest star is in on the joke.

In the clip, Anastacia is presiding over a room full of backing dancers as they work toward a new single described as a “dancehall banger.” The brief is simple enough: the performance needs heat. But the scene quickly tilts into something stranger and funnier, as Anastacia, who was once a professional dancer, singles out Carlson’s off-kilter moves over the more polished effort from Davis, the apparent frontrunner.

That choice is the gag, of course. While Davis objects, insisting Carlson is from a “lesbian outreach program,” Anastacia still backs her. “Maybe I do agree, she wasn’t dancing very good. But I think she was dancing great,” she says, with a deadpan flourish that feels less like a cameo than a tiny pop-culture detour into Simon Cowell territory.

From there, Carlson is crowned the one to lead the choreography for the track, and the result is exactly as unruly as the setup suggests: finger guns, eyebrow lifts, key searches, and full “drunk aunty at a wedding” energy. It’s a neatly absurd bit of casting, especially from a singer whose early-2000s run made her a major figure in the U.K. and across Europe.

That era still defines a large part of Anastacia’s career footprint. She emerged in the early 2000s with hits including “I’m Outta Love,” “Left Outside Alone” and “Sick and Tired,” and went on to place 12 songs in the top 40 of the Official U.K. Singles Chart, with three reaching the top 10. Six of her albums also made the U.K. top 10, including her self-titled 2004 release, which went all the way to No. 1.

Anastacia previewed the sketch on social media before its release, writing, “Such a joy being part of this! Thank you so much, Urzila Carlson, for having me – I had an absolute blast filming this skit with you. I’m beyond excited for you all to see it! As Urzila says: You’re gonna laugh your head off.” The line fits the tone of the appearance, which feels like a rare instance of an artist with a very specific pop legacy happily stepping outside it.

Urzila airs Wednesday evenings on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and on-demand at ABC iView. Watch Anastacia’s sketch here and below.