The singer, along with fellow performer Lior, touched down on Friday to prepare for the Saturday's Australia Celebrates Live concert, where the pair will kick off the evening at 5pm with pre-awards entertainment for the gathering masses.

''The thing about people in orderly cities is they usually really know how to party - [there's] some weird correlation there,'' Washington said with a smile.

With a full set to play later in the night, too, she promised some familiar songs, with plenty of new ones from her upcoming album thrown in.

''You've got to wean people,'' she said. ''You want to play songs for people that they know and like, but you also want them to know and like your new stuff.''

Lior, an Israeli-Australian who rose to fame with his debut album Autumn Flow in 2005, will lead an hour-long tribute concert to start the festivities. He will play a combination of his own songs and Australian classics.

Organising the concert is one of a number of projects that have kept him busy of late; he is touring an orchestral piece he developed with composer Nigel Westlake, and is also about to release a new album, funded entirely through crowd sourcing.

For fans wanting more after the concert, some crowd-funding rewards still on offer include a lounge-room performance or a Skype session.

While Washington will head home to Sydney on Sunday for her Australia Day celebration - which like many Australians, involves Triple J's Hottest 100 countdown and a kid's paddling pool - Lior has another gig.

''I'm performing at the citizenship ceremony as well … I came to Australia when I was 10 and went to a citizenship ceremony of my own, so it's really nice to be on the other side of that now and performing to a bunch of new citizens,'' he said.