Kylie Minogue will perform not just one song as expected at the Mardi Gras party, but a medley of hits from her 25 years of recording in a 20-minute audio-visual spectacular, The Sun-Herald can reveal.
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Minogue, backed by 16 Australian dancers and other surprise performers, will sing hits from her first album released in 1988, simply called Kylie, which included The Locomotion and I Should Be So Lucky, through to her most recent album, Aphrodite, which spawned the hit All the Lovers, at the post-parade party on March 3.
The 43-year-old star will sing for the entire performance, in a show whose backing track and arrangements are unique to Mardi Gras, co-choreographer Ash Evans of Australian production team The Squared Division said during a break in rehearsals with the dancers. Minogue is believed to still be in London.
Not every partygoer will get into the Royal Hall of Industries (RHI) to see Minogue's live performance, however. Some 15,000 tickets are expected to be sold to the party but the RHI, like the Hordern, has a general admission capacity of roughly 5500. Screens beaming the show live will be erected within the party outdoor area for ticketholders who can't get into the RHI.
Evans said he was “sure the show won't be too late in the morning” and hopes Minogue might make herself seen elsewhere at the party. “Why wouldn't she want to?” he said. “But it's up to her.”
Minogue's management finally signed off on her party appearance five days ago, after it was announced in late January that the gay icon would feature in the parade. It will be Minogue's third performance at Mardi Gras. She sang Better the Devil You Know in her last appearance in 1998.
Her first Mardi Gras performance, in 1994, was dramatic: 10 minutes before the show, as crowds swelled the RHI, the programmed lighting show malfunctioned, and whole lighting desks were ripped out and the improvised lighting substituted as Minogue skipped out in a burlesque pink outfit singing What Do I Have to Do amid dancers with heart shapes affixed to their bottoms. Revellers were unaware of the backstage mayhem.
“Being part of Mardi Gras this year is so important to me because I know that so many of my fans make up the amazing community it represents,” Minogue said in a statement.
“Performing at the party is my way of saying thanks for 25 amazing years together. It's been a really beautiful relationship that has always been filled with overwhelming support and a lot of love.”
