Amy Castles was a simple girl from Bendigo with a rich powerful voice. Nellie Melba was the most conspicuous Australian in 1899. Could Amy displace the world-famous diva? Melba was at the zenith of her career but was yet to return home to Australia when, in 1899, Amy Castles was vigorously promoted to topple her. Even before taking serious lessons to build her technique, Amy was touted as 'the New Melba' and her promoters within the Catholic Church and the Catholic press built for her an image of a virginal convent girl in vivid contrast to the worldly scarlet they attributed to Melba. Non-Catholic papers doubted their boasts, turning an artistic question into a sectarian free-for-all. The Castles boom of 1899 began the Melba bashing that exposed Australia’s cultural insecurities. It also condemned Amy to a life of tragically futile efforts to overtake and displace the great diva. Jeff Brownrigg is one of Australia’s foremost exponents of Australia’s sound culture. An Adjunct Professor of Cultural History at the University of Canberra, he is currently a Visiting Fellow at the Centre for Cross-cultural Research, Australian National University.