Pick of the week: Kylie Minogue

Source: TimeOnline: 29-6-08

SECC, Glasgow, Sat-Sun and July 8-9

It’s one of the laws of pop music that nobody is allowed to say a bad word about Kylie Minogue. She is an icon of our times: the girl we grew up with on Neighbours and the pop star who defied the odds to sign a contract with Stock, Aitken & Waterman and live to tell the tale.

This tour is a comeback of sorts, one of the many that have defined her career. It has been a rough few years for the diminutive Australian, but she has battled breast cancer, and a much publicised break-up with her French movie star boyfriend, Olivier Martinez to return with breezier music and better outfits than ever before. She’s done the TV interview and the behind-the- scenes documentary and now it’s back to business.

Her latest album, X, is far from being a classic, but it’s a cheery effort that adheres to the get-them-on-the-dancefloor formula that has served her so well since the phenomenal success of the Fever album. It should have been much better. The final 13 tracks were reported to have been chosen from a list of 40. Who knows what the other 27 sound like, but at least two of them must be more interesting than the dreary All I See or the silly Nu Di Ty. The strongest track is the single 2 Hearts, while In My Arms and Heart Beat Rock, produced by Calvin Harris, add the touch of musical credibility that she must have had in mind when she hired the services of the Dumfries dance whizz.

But the songs are almost an afterthought in the behemoth that is a Kylie Minogue world tour. It’s all about the costume department and this one is Jean-Paul Gaultier at his brashest. There are no fewer than eight costume changes in the show, including the requisite Gaultier sailor suit, a racy red dress with knee-length boots that looks like something a communist stranded in a Star Trek episode might wear, a cheerleader outfit and a magnificent spider-inspired gown that would have graced the exhibition of her stage outfits that visited the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum last year. Kylie is back, and so is her substantial wardrobe.

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