Minogue wows Melbourne fans

Dec 10, 2006 04:12:01

Minogue wows Melbourne fans Cameron Adams (Herald Sun) December 11, 2006 SYDNEY was the first stop on Kylie Minogue's reactivated Showgirl Homecoming tour, but her first Melbourne show was always going to be the most emotional. Last night, as Minogue returned home to take the stage at Rod Laver Arena, it's clear she saved the best for last. In front of a crowd that included mum Carol, dad Ron and sister Dannii, Minogue received a rapturous standing ovation from the home-town crowd that left her speechless. "I wondered for some time what I would say at this moment and now I'm speechless," Minogue said. The singer asked for a show of hands from fans who held on to their tickets after her tour was postponed in May last year. "That was truly remarkable," Minogue said. More relaxed than when the tour kicked off a month ago, Minogue is now comfortable and chatty on stage again. Showgirl Homecoming has been slightly tweaked from the version that toured Britain last year. It's her best show to date because it cleverly takes the top moments from previous tours. It's not merely her string of hits that Minogue is reliving, but her skills as a performer. Beyond the camp costumes and dizzying pop hits there's also something a little deeper. Fan favourites Too Far, Finer Feelings and Cowboy Style all feature in the show's new Indian-inspired segment. The musical diversity is impressive, from the cheesier karaoke version of Especially for You to the minimal electro of Slow. In the urban-flavoured Red Blooded Woman, while Minogue is book-ended by near naked male dancers, she breaks into a burst of the Nick Cave penned murder ballad Where the Wild Roses Grow. While the show is slickly choreographed and precision timed, Melbourne got to see a rare glitch in the Minogue machine last night when the stage malfunctioned two songs into the set. Minogue, who thrives on routine, killed time with an a cappella rendition of early hit Got to be Certain. "I was amazed I knew the words to that," Minogue said. "Notice I didn't go past verse two. I'm really bad at verse twos." It is likely to be an emotional week for Kylie, with her managers deliberately keeping her beloved Melbourne as the last city on her touring schedule. At two and a half hours, the Showgirl Homecoming is longer than her British shows and has an interval. Minogue performs at Rod Laver Arena tonight, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday and good tickets have just been released.