Returning home after 16 years in Hong Kong, Bermuda's singing star Pinky Steede is all set to revitalise the Island's hotel entertainment scene.

With her latest record (entitled simply, "Pinky'') due out at the end of February, the diminutive singer who starred in the London smash hit, "Bubbling Brown Sugar'', and was chosen to perform in a Royal Command Performance before the Queen, is already working on what she hopes will be a major show for the '94 tourist season.

Admitting that it was in some ways hard to leave the Far East, where she has scored a huge personal success, Pinky Steede says it seemed "the right time to come home. It's thrilling to be back, absolutely wonderful -- I feel like jumping up and down on the pavement, I'm so happy to be here!'' Voicing dismay at the fact that the local entertainment scene has, in her view, taken a giant step backwards since the "golden years'' when she and former husband, Gene Steede, took the Holiday Island Revue and then their own shows to hotels throughout Bermuda, she says: "All of Front Street was involved in the Holiday Island Revue, and everyone worked to make it a success. I would really like to see a show like Gene's or mine in every hotel again. If it could be done then, why can't we do it now? After all, what goes around, comes around!'' Emphasising that she would like to see more of a local flavour ("more Bermudian kids -- black, white or whatever -- so long as they're talented''), the consummate professional says that one of the problems with some local musicians is that they won't, or cannot, play what the average tourist wants to hear.

"They have to understand that this is a profession, and we're paid to please the general public. I am used to singing with big bands, good bands. Tourists don't want to hear non-stop Thelonius Monk in the hotel dining room! The entertainment people here have to realise this. It's their problem and if they want to be hired, they're going to have to do something about it.'' Her first action on arriving home, says Ms Steede, was to contact the person who "taught me everything I know.'' This is Mrs. Elsbeth Gibson who, with her late husband, Don, transformed the potential for local entertainment into a reality when they staged the Holiday Island Revue.

"I shall be seeking Elsbeth's advice on anything I plan to do here in the future because she is the very best this Island has to offer. There is no one else I could possibly ask.'' Expressing surprise that younger, would-be performers are not "queueing up'' for her advice, she adds, "They really should be taking advantage of her immense show-biz knowledge. She knows the public as no one else does.'' Pinky Steede says it is unfortunate that young people today seem to have so little understanding of the sort of help mature professionals such as Elsbeth Gibson can offer. "I was with her and Don for ten years. I had no formal vocal or acting training, but to be with them was, in itself, just about the best training you could get. But I don't think young people are prepared to put in the sort of work and dedication that Gene and I did.'' Pointing out that she had known the Gibsons since she was about 15, she laughs about a recent incident. "I always called them `Mr. and Mrs. Gibson' because I was brought up in a household where respect for people was the most important thing in the world. So, when I met her a couple of weeks ago, she asked me `Why aren't you calling me Elsbeth?' '' Asked what had been the most exciting moments in her career, Ms. Steede says that she will never forget the moment she walked onto the West End stage in the role of Ella in Bubbling Brown Sugar. "Theatre is so different from singing and cabaret work. All the others in the cast were professional hoofers and this was my first professional run in a theatre setting. I believe I was the first Bermudian to appear in a West End show.'' When it was subsequently named best musical of the year, she was invited to take part in the Royal Command Performance. Another highlight of the London period was when she appeared in the special tribute to Sammy Chan, attended by Prince Charles. A never to be forgotten moment, she says, was when she was invited to head the Bermuda Night of Stars in the 1979 Bermuda Festival, the first occasion on which locals were included in the annual celebration of arts and entertainment.

For the tiny singer with the giant-sized voice, her introduction to the world of entertainment began at about the age of three, when she first appeared onstage. "I was a pain in the butt, and from that moment on, wanted to know everything and be a part of everything.'' During those early years, she appeared at the Little Theatre and the old Colonial Opera House, often in rock 'n roll concerts in company with her three elder singing and dancing brothers.

Her big break came after the Island Revue days, when an American producer saw her show at the Sonesta Hotel and asked her to audition in New York for the London cast of Bubbling Brown Sugar. When she left that show, she appeared in the city's top night spots, including the famous Cafe Royal, The Empress, Playboy and Aphrodites Clubs and the Dorchester Hotel. She was also the lead vocalist with the famed Ted Heath Concert Band. Before going to the Far East, where she topped the bill in Thailand, Japan and at the Regent, Hyatt, Excelsior and Sheraton Hotels in Hong Kong, she toured Southern Africa for Holiday Inns. British T.V. credits include excerpts from Bubbling Brown Sugar, and appearances on New Faces, Talk About, and Songwriters with Mel Tobias. On BBC radio she starred in jazz shows, such as You, The Night and the Music, and Around Midnight.

Pinky Steede's success has not come without sacrifice, however. She is the first to admit that a career on the entertainment circuit takes "a terrible toll'' on family life. "Neither of my children are interested in showbiz. I think they resented the fact that I could not spend as much time with them as perhaps other parents did,'' she says of her son and daughter by Gene Steede.

"I have tried to make my peace with them, but in spite of the difficulties, I would have to say that I wouldn't change a thing. I don't believe you can change your vocation. If you have a career like I have had, you have to be dedicated to the point of being boring about it! Both Gene and I had that dedication.'' Since 1979, she has been married to Englishman Michael Cornwall-Wall who, she is quick to point out, "has absolutely nothing to do with showbiz. He's a specialist in concrete who helped build the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank.'' Pinky Steede plans to make Bermuda her home base now, although she expects to do further shows in the US, Canada, and even the Far East.

In the meantime, she is excited about her new album which she recorded in Hong Kong in October. She has dedicated the album to the memory of her brother, dancer Webster (Red) Caisey, who died two and a half years ago. "It was Red,'' she recalls, "who first introduced me to the sound of `big band' music, when I was about 12 years old. "It's jazz and big band-oriented. The music I've chosen seems especially suitable now. All over the world, there seems to be a yearning for this kind of music with really good musicians. I've paid tribute to the band. They play the score of Twilight Zone which features Samson Deguzman, who's a marvellous pianist. Then, Rolando Bernal is the arranger and he's also a great trombone player. I think there's a nice combination of the old and new.'' That combination includes such classics as Someone to Watch Over Me, Georgia Brown, Big Spender, and My Man, while a touch of the contemporary comes with hits by Elton John and the Beatles.

And yes, a sneak listen-in confirms that the tone is still a dulcet one.

SHE'S BACK! Pinky Steede plans to shake things up. Ms Pinky Steede.