Kylie Minogue’s energy and enthusiasm is second-to-none, and it was exactly what was needed for the Dubai World Cup’s after-race concert on Saturday, where hundreds of weary racegoers, heels in hand and ties loosened, suddenly found the energy to dance like no one was watching.
The Australian singer promised tabloid! she’d deliver “hits, hits, hits” and she did exactly that in a tweaked version of her Kiss Me Once tour, one that isn’t shy in playing up the greatest moments from her past.
Minogue was gleeful in introducing her first hit, from 1987, telling us the name through mime as she chugged her arms along her body like a loco-loco-motion. Yes, she really is that silly, adorably so. She was another ball of fun during I Should Be So Lucky, which had a pop-art video of dancing bananas and a one-eyed mermaid behind her. Nope, we don’t know why either, except that by midnight on a long Dubai World Cup day, it was hilarious to many in the crowd. Equally bizarre but all part of the show were her dancers’ early costumes, like robots, but with giant spheres for hands. Don’t ask, just have fun.
Vocally, Minogue is on solid ground, calling on the audience to join her in the high notes in her new single Right Here, Right Now, or showing off with an a cappella version of Can’t Get You Out of My Head. Her concert staple, Inxs’ Need You Tonight, is a faithful rendition of the song by her late lover Michael Hutchence; she ended it with a finger pointed to the sky.
What Minogue doesn’t do is change up her songs live; like the Inxs song, they are very close to the recorded versions, but made even more danceable thanks to her impeccable timing, non-stop dance moves and colourful stage show. I guess nobody goes to a Minogue concert to hear her doing an extended take on Spinning Around. It’s song, dance, chat and costume change — but by no means does it feel formulaic, thanks to the singer’s absolute charm.
Her hour-and-a-half set ran through two immensely covetable costume changes — from a red jumpsuit, to a dazzling little silver mini dress and back to a jumpsuit, this time black, paired with chunky heels as glittery as a disco ball. Those jumpsuits were noticeably conservative compared to her usual showgirl-style leotards and flicky little skirts that showcase her figure.
How she danced up and down that catwalk, as she did all night long, is beyond me, although the 46 year old admits she would did take a breather towards the end, perching on her red pout-shaped seat. But she didn’t stay still for long, like an eager child at a birthday party when musical chairs starts up — as she started to sing, she couldn’t help but get up and boogie along with the rest of us.
Her connection to the audience was constant, bantering with them like a stand-up comedian, and responding when people called out “I love you”. A bouquet of roses was delivered to her; taking a single stem, she asked the crowd to pass it along to each other, urging them to speak to someone new; speed-dating, Minogue style.
After cracking through her 1990s and noughties dance-y favourites — On A Night Like This, Wow, Spinning Around, Love At First Sight, her duet with Robbie Williams, Kids, and All The Lovers — she ended the night on a newer, and uplifting note with 2014’s Into The Blue, an empowering track with the lyric: “I don’t care if the world is mine
‘Cause this is all I know”.
