Kylie stages comeback concert
Pop star Kylie Minogue returned to the stage on Saturday night for the first time since recovering from breast cancer, energetically belting out
Golden Goose UK Sale her trademark hits in front of a cheering crowd of thousands at the Sydney Entertainment Centre.
Dressed in feathers from head to toe, with an Australian cockatoo's plume on her head, she began the concert with an overture of her best-known songs before whipping into the single,"Better the Devil You Know".
After her bout with cancer, the diminutive singer renamed her concert tour the "Showgirl Homecoming Tour", and has been forced to scale back on her previously lavish, high-octane musical spectaculars.
"I actually can't do the same things," Minogue told reporters in Sydney this week when she launched her own perfume.
"I can't wear the same costumes. How can I do that a year-and-a-half later and feel that I'm meant to be replicating what that was, when I'm not the same person?"
The 38-year-old Minogue was diagnosed with breast cancer only days before she was to perform in Australia last
Golden Goose UK year.
She immediately cancelled her "Showgirl" world tour and underwent successful surgery in Melbourne in May, 2005.
Minogue, a darling of the paparazzi, then underwent a course of chemotherapy in Paris where her boyfriend, French actor Olivier Martinez, has a home. During her recovery she penned a children's book, The Showgirl Princess.
In recent months, the former soap opera actress turned international celebrity has made occasional appearances in public, including a television interview, a book signing in London and Dolce & Gabbana's catwalk show in Milan.
She also appeared on the cover of the Australian edition of fashion bible Vogue with her new short hairstyle.
Before Saturday's comeback concert, Minogue said she was excited about performing after the long lay-off.
"I'm just going to try and enjoy the moment, roll with the crowd and take a few more risks," she said.
And the 152-cm tall showgirl did not let her fans down, performing on a huge art-deco stage with 13 dancers, half a truck of feathers imported from the Lido theatre in Paris, and a $10 million video and laser show.
Minogue is to perform 20 concerts in Australia, six in her hometown of Melbourne, before taking her tour overseas.
But the encounter with cancer has seen the dynamic Minogue contemplating a slower life when she finally decides to give up show business.
"I dream of that kind of thing. Sometimes I want to release that earthy Australian hippie ... get your tent, go out, learn how to catch a wave and walk through the rainforest ... be an Aussie chick," Minogue said at the perfume launch.
-Reuters
