Showgirl: Homecoming Tour was the ninth concert tour by Australian singer Kylie Minogue, in support of her second major greatest hits compilation, Ultimate Kylie (2004). The tour began on 11 November 2006 in Sydney, Australia at the Sydney Entertainment Centre and concluded on 23 January 2007 in London, England at Wembley Arena, consisting of 20 shows in Australia and 14 shows in England.
Minogue was originally scheduled to perform in Australia and Asia during Showgirl: The Greatest Hits Tour in 2005, but the dates were postponed due to her breast cancer diagnosis.Corder, Mike. "Kylie Minogue Has Breast Cancer". CBS. 17 May 2005. Retrieved 9 May 2008. The tour resumed the following year, with a revised set list and new costumes. To accommodate Minogue's medical condition and conserve her strength, both alterations to the choreography and longer breaks between show sections were introduced.Sams, Christine. "Feathered Kylie's fans tickled pink". The Sydney Morning Herald. 12 November 2006. Retrieved 9 May 2008.
Background For the Homecoming Tour, the show was re-vamped and re-structured into a new production. The tour initially started as an Australian-only tour, to compensate those shows cancelled from the previous tour; however, fourteen shows were scheduled in the United Kingdom due to popular demand, with the Asian shows from Showgirl being indefinitely cancelled.hkclubbing.. "Kylie Showgirl Tour for Hong Kong Postponed". CBS. 17 May 2005. Retrieved 26 December 2016.
Concert synopsis
The show was split into seven acts: Homecoming, Everything Taboo, Samsara, Athletica, Dreams, Pop Paradiso, Dance of the Cybermen, with the addition of an encore and an interval. The show opens with an instrumental introduction, before Minogue rises out of the stage on a platform dressed in a pink showgirl outfit. She opens the show with "Better the Devil You Know", which is quickly followed by a performance of "In Your Eyes". After addressing the audience, Minogue performed "White Diamond", and closed the section with "On a Night Like This", which begins as a ballad.
The second section begins with a dance interlude, using excerpts of "Do You Dare?", before Minogue rises out of the centre of the stage to perform a medley of "Shocked" "What Do I Have to Do" and "Spinning Around". Several songs were sampled and interpolated during the medley, including:"It's No Secret", "Keep on Pumpin' It", "Give Me Just a Little More Time", "What Kind of Fool (Heard All That Before)", "I'm Over Dreaming (Over You)", "Finally", "Step Back in Time" and "Such a Good Feeling".
The third section begins with a dance interlude, followed by a performance of "Confide in Me", where the dancers treat Minogue as if she were a puppet. This is followed by performances of "Cowboy Style" and "Finer Feelings", the latter of which is sung by the backing vocalists as Minogue dances. Samsara ends with a performance of "Too Far".
The fourth act begins with a dance interlude of the Sandstorm Dub of "Butterfly", featuring acrobat Terry Kvasnik. Minogue then performed "Red Blooded Woman", featuring an excerpt of "Where the Wild Roses Grow". This was followed with performances of "Slow" and "Kids" before a short interval.
The fifth section begins with a cover of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" where Minogue rises from behind the stage on a sequined moon. This is then followed by a torch version of "Come into My World" and a shortened version "Chocolate". The stage then morphs at the end of the catwalk to form a "cake", from which she sings "I Believe in You". The act closes with a performance of "Dreams".
Pop Paradiso opens with an interlude of Minogue's song "Burning Up", mashed up with Madonna's "Vogue". She then goes on to perform a jazz version of "The Locomotion" which is followed by a performance of "I Should Be So Lucky", featuring an excerpt of "The Only Way Is Up". Minogue closed the section with a remix of "Hand on Your Heart".
The penultimate section opens with a remix of "Can't Get You Out of My Head", leading into the countdown of "Light Years"; this version of the song is mashed up with song "Turn It into Love". For the encore, Minogue performed a sing-a-long version of "Especially for You", before closing the show with a performance of "Love at First Sight", as a video montage of her career shown on the video screens behind her.
Critical reception
Showgirl: Homecoming Tour received critical acclaim. The Ages Patrick Donovan wrote that Minogue "looked fit and healthy and was in good voice". He also wrote that she was "at her best prowling the stage in a catsuit, playing up to the crowd". Kathy McCabe of The Daily Telegraph newspaper also wrote a positive review, stating it was Minogue's imagination and professionalism which established the "Showgirl Homecoming" concept as a new benchmark for the pop concert. "Simply, Minogue is the best act in town when it comes to pop", she said, complementing that she had exceeded the public's expectations with "dazzling couture costumes, state-of-the-art lighting and staging, and special effects which almost stunned the delirious crowd into silence". Christine Sams in a review for The Sydney Morning Herald described the show as an "extravaganza" and wrote that it was "nothing less than a triumph". Similarly, a writer of The Observer, Kitty Empire said her "bold, brash comeback show is a triumph", and as a whole, "the stagecraft, the lasers, the costumes, the feathers: they all conspire to make Showgirl mesmerising", making it "easy to ignore the songs you don't care for".
CBBC Newsround described the tour as the "perfect comeback" due to its "range of songs, excellent dancers, stage lighting and Kylie's love of performing". Ludovic Hunter-Tilney from the Financial Times noted how "the outfits were as camp as the Rio carnival, the songs were irrepressibly bubbly and Kylie was as much the stage trouper as ever, beaming those huge white teeth at us and making no mention of recent ill-health", and felt her voice had improved since her previous tour. A reviewer from the Manchester Evening News newspaper commented that "Showgirl remains a spectacle filled with genuine moments - not just because Kylie has been ill", attributing it to the "self deprecating and fun as well as emotional" nature of the concert. For Priya Elan of NME magazine, the concert was "nothing less than a ‘Show!’", also commenting how the audience was "just happy to see their heroine healthy again", and "They are overjoyed to see her of course, but a long time ago Kylie Minogue realised that being a national treasure involved being entertaining for entertainment’s sake, and tonight, she is gloriously that".
Broadcasts and recordings
Minogue's performance in Melbourne, Australia on 11 December 2006 was filmed for television and commercial release. The concert premiered on 13 January 2007 in the United Kingdom on Channel 4. On 4 March 2007, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation broadcast the performance without commercial interruptions in Australia. The concert was released to DVD on 10 December 2007 as a double disc set with Minogue's documentary film White Diamond: A Personal Portrait of Kylie Minogue."'White Diamond' in the Shops!" . Kylie.com. 10 December 2007. Retrieved 10 May 2008. Additionally, the second concert in Sydney on 12 November 2006 was recorded and released as a live album titled Showgirl: Homecoming Live in January 2007. It featured a guest appearance by U2 lead singer Bono on the song "Kids". The album reached number seven on the UK Albums Chart and was certified silver by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI).Sexton, Paul. "Lewis, Winehouse Rule The Roost On U.K. Charts". Billboard.com. 15 January 2007. Retrieved 15 January 2007."British sales certificate for Showgirl Homecoming Live" . British Phonographic Industry. 16 February 2007. Retrieved 7 January 2008.
A documentary titled White Diamond: A Personal Portrait of Kylie Minogue was filmed containing behind-the-scenes footage of Minogue's life during the tour. Directed by her stylist and close friend William Baker, it premiered on 16 October 2007 in Australia and three days later in the United Kingdom, before being released commercially on 10 December 2007. The project received mixed reviews from critics.
Set listAct 1: Homecoming "Showgirl Theme" (Instrumental Introduction) "Better the Devil You Know" "In Your Eyes" "White Diamond" "On a Night Like This"Act 2: Everything Taboo' "Shocked" (contains excerpts from "Do You Dare?", "It's No Secret", "Give Me Just A Little More Time", "Keep on Pumpin' It" and "What Kind of Fool (Heard All That Before)") "What Do I Have to Do?" (contains excerpt from "I'm Over Dreaming (Over You)") "Spinning Around" (contains excerpts from "Step Back in Time" along with elements of "Finally" and "Such a Good Feeling")
Act 3: Samsara "Temple Prequel" (Interlude) "Confide in Me" "Cowboy Style" "Finer Feelings" (Performed by backing vocalists) "Too Far"
Act 4: Athletica "Butterfly" (Sandstorm Dub) (Dance Interlude) "Red Blooded Woman" (contains excerpts from "Where the Wild Roses Grow") "Slow" "Kids"
Act 5: Dreams "Rainbow Prequel" (Interlude) "Over the Rainbow" "Come into My World" "Chocolate" "I Believe in You" "Dreams" (contains excerpts from "When You Wish upon a Star")
Act 6: Pop Paradiso "Burning Up" / "Vogue" "The Locomotion" "I Should Be So Lucky" (contains excerpts from "The Only Way Is Up") "Hand on Your Heart" Act 7: Dance of the Cybermen "Space Prequel" (Interlude) "Can't Get You Out of My Head" (contains excerpts from "Rise of the Cybermen" along with elements of the "Doctor Who Theme") "Light Years" / "Turn It into Love" (contains elements of the TARDIS dematerializing)
Encore "Especially for You" (Intro contains an excerpt of "Love's in Need of Love Today") "Love at First Sight"
Tour dates + List of 2006 concerts Date (2006) City Country Venue Attendance Revenue 11 NovemberSydneyAustraliaSydney Entertainment Centre34,774 / 34,774$2,963,147 12 November 14 November 17 NovemberBrisbaneBrisbane Entertainment Centre35,574 / 37,884$3,354,548 18 November 20 November 23 NovemberSydneyAcer Arena51,852 / 51,852$4,963,147 24 November 26 November 30 NovemberAdelaideAdelaide Entertainment Centre21,583 / 22,411$2,369,124 1 December 4 DecemberPerthBurswood Dome36,774 / 38,774$3,554,147 5 December 7 December 10 DecemberMelbourneRod Laver Arena76,526 / 76,526$7,578,217 11 December 13 December 14 December 16 December 17 December 31 DecemberLondonEnglandWembley Arena78,526 / 78,526$7,578,217 + List of 2007 concerts Date (2007) City Country Venue Attendance Revenue 2 JanuaryLondonEnglandWembley Arena—— 3 January5 January 6 January 8 January 9 January12 JanuaryManchesterMEN Arena100,072 / 100,072$7,976,08913 January18 January19 January21 January22 January23 JanuaryTotal435,681 / 440,819 (99%)$40,336,636
Personnel
Kylie Minogue - executive producer Terry Blamey - executive producer William Baker - creative director and designer Steve Anderson - musician production Kevin Hopgood - production manager Alan MacDonald - production design John Galliano - costume design Karl Lagerfeld - costume design Dolce & Gabbana - costume design, shoes Addae Gaskin - costume design Gareth Pugh - costume design Matthew Williamson for Emilio Pucci - costume design Bvlgari - jewelry Manolo Blahnik - shoes Stephen Jones - millinery Rafael Bonachela - choreographer Akram Khan - choreographer Michael Rooney - choreographer Sean Fitzpatrick - tour manager Andrew Small - drums Steve Turner - keyboards Chris Brown - bass Mark Jaimes - guitar Valerie Etienne - backing vocals Hazel Fernandez - backing vocals Janet Ramus - backing vocals Dance Captain: Annoulka Yanminchev Dancers: Jason Beitel - dancer Marco Da Silva - dancer Jamie Karitzis - dancer Alan Lambie - dancer Welly Locoh Donou - dancer Claire Meehan - dancer Jason Piper - dancer Nikoletta Rafaelisova - dancer Andile Sotiya - dancer Nikki Trow - dancer