‘I was gone, and now I’m back… I’m an Aphrodite’ sang Kyles as she kicked off another sell out world tour last year. Cue rapturous applause and queues for tickets galore. She really is back on top, and celebrating 25 years in the business this year. But this tiny Aphrodite isn’t only a goddess of pop, but a muse.
It is time to give credit where it is due; Madonna, Beyonce and Gaga (to name but a few) really should be taking their hats off to Minogue this year. Amongst these lady Olympians there is the sense that because Kylie hasn’t fully cracked the American market she is a little behind. What baloney. She is miles ahead and leading the pack.
Look at Madonna’s recent Super Bowl performance. The theme? Classical, featuring semi-naked gladiators and Madonna in the centre of it all, resplendent and writhing. It rang bells. I had seen it all before. Then it came to me – Kylie did it in her Aphrodite tour.
From antiquity emerged a modern Americana – a cheerleader, to be precise. Madge belted out her recent tune Give Me All Your Luvin’ complete with backing chant, a la high school. Just like Kylie did a year earlier to Heartbeat Rock.
Take a look at Madonna’s latest video for Girl Gone Wild. Without meaning to harpoon her too much, this video features male backing dancers in tights and high heels – quite niche, no? No, I’m sure Madonna’s team would say, because when stepping back in time to Kylie’s Fever tour you’ll see her dancers bedecked in exactly the same garb during her rendition of The Locomotion. That was 10 years ago. I think that lays to rest any suggestion that Madge isn’t copying Kyles.
Last week I amazed when casually watching MTV to see lady Gaga in the Telephone video in a leopard-print catsuit. Imitation may be the most sincere form of flattery but if I were Kylie I’d be a little peeved that Gaga is apparently very current, while copying a look first sported five years ago by Minogue in her Homecoming tour.
Then there’s Beyonce. Even the celebrated B has been at a little Kylie imitating – just take a gander at her trussed up as a robot compared to Minogue:
It is patently obvious that while Minogue may be diminutive in height, she is a towering beacon amongst even the most successful of her peers, although I’ve yet to see any of her rivals don an itsy bitsy pair of gold hot pants – perhaps that is a comparison they are keen to avoid.
So, happy quarter-century in the business Kylie. I am sure that the Olympians over in the USA can’t wait to see what she does next just as much as I can’t.
