Hello! And welcome to the Mercury's 2013 TBA blog, your source for news, reviews, interviews, and any other "ews" we can come up with. To kick things off in style, we're giving a way a few pairs of tickets to one of the most high-profile shows on the TBA bill: The Cat's Meow, a collaboration between acclaimed Australian cabaret singer Meow Meow and Pink Martini's Thomas Lauderdale. Here's our preview:

Billed as a kamikaze cabaret diva, Meow Meow is glamour incarnate—the Australian chanteuse is covered in sequins and fake eyelashes and charisma and heartbreak. She’s also a damned funny broad. Her pal Thomas Lauderdale (of Pink Martini) and the Oregon Symphony will provide the accompaniment as Meow Meow sings beautiful torch songs with an ever-present cigarette (or two) in hand. This gal’s a cheeky sex bomb, but with her clarion voice and lovely range, she’s just as likely to make your eyes cry martini tears. The cabaret star is not unlike a (slightly) less tragic Isabella Rossellini from Blue Velvet, only with more stage lolling and crowd-surfing in a cocktail dress. So, pretty much utterly delightful.

Convinced? The show is this Saturday, September 14 at 8 pm at the Schnitz; to win tickets, just email me by noon on Wednesday, Sept 11 with "Cat's Meow" in the subject line. Or if you'd rather not take your chances, PICA can accommodate your ticket purchase right over here.