Kitsch and glitterball camp, coupled with some exceptional singing and choreography, was the name of the game at Australian pop icon Kylie Minogue’s third concert in Singapore.
Like a temptress in a red fringed dress and armed with a red microphone, she beckoned the more than 45,000-strong crowd on a journey through her greatest hits, kicking off with Better The Devil You Know.
For 90 minutes, the ageless Minogue, who is actually 48, proved she still very much has it, throwing down a slickly choreographed, banter- filled set with songs that still sounded fresh.
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While it was not a full career retrospective, the set covered enough bases to please long-time fans as well as keep newer ones reeled in. She got into material from the early 2000s, such as the sultry club hit In Your Eyes, early on in the set and quickly followed it up with the synth-pop number, Timebomb, from 2012 and the song, Wow, from 2008.
It took the crowd a while, however, to get into the groove, but once it did, the atmosphere was electric, mirroring what the pop princess was exuding.
She also worked up a sweat and made frequent references to the heat and humidity in her banter.
At one point, she said: “You’re telling me you’re accustomed to this heat?”, before tottering in her sky-high heels to one of the on-stage fans for some respite.
At times, the show felt more like a theatre production than a concert. The theatrics came courtesy of the dancers, who were dressed in bizarre red, white and black costumes that seemed to have come straight out of an Alice In Wonderland pantomime featuring the army of playing cards.
At another point during the concert, her female dancers were dressed as sexy, pleather-clad matadors, while her male dancers wore gold boiler suits.
Minogue herself sported an elaborate fascinator and thigh-high boots as she belted out the club classic Spinning Around and an impassioned Your Disco Needs You, which was filled with high notes. She would go on to change her costume three times throughout the night.
Despite all the colourful theatrics, nothing could quite steal the show from the pint-sized entertainer, who commanded the stage like the seasoned performer she is.
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“To be here almost 30 years later is incredible,” she said breathily before segueing into a dreamy, acoustic version of the ballad, I Believe In You.
It was yet another moment in the concert that showcased her chops as a vocalist, except that this time, it was stripped of all the production’s bells and whistles.
She saved her biggest hits for the tail-end of the show and, after a costume change, this time into a black jumpsuit, she sang the earworm, Can’t Get You Out Of My Head, and the retro number, Locomotion, in the 1950s big-band style.
It was her peppy 1980s classic, I Should Be So Lucky, however, that really got the crowd singing along, lyric for lyric, which drew applause from Minogue at the end.
It seemed like the balmy, pop dream of a concert would come to an end when the confetti shower came on during the song, All The Lovers, with the clock pushing 12.40am. But she came back for one last encore with Into The Blue.
This might have been her third concert in Singapore, but she left the crowd with the promise of a return. “I hope to be back real soon,” she said. And given the longevity of her pop career, you don’t doubt it.
Photo GalleryEntertainment highlights for F1 2016
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anjalir@sph.com.sg
This article was first published on September 19, 2016.
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