The Weekly's Associate Editor Bryce Corbett reports from Kylie Minogue's press conference in Brisbane.
For someone so small, the logistics of getting Kylie Minogue from Point A to Point B are formidable.
The diminutive singer alighted on home soil and fronted the press today to kick off the Australian leg of her celebrated "Aphrodite — Les Folies" world tour.
Standing before assembled members of the media in the cavernous surrounds of an empty Brisbane Entertainment Centre, Kylie declared she was happy to be home — albeit a little nervous.
"I'm always a little more nervous performing to a home crowd," she said. "But I'm so happy to be back on home turf."
In the past couple of weeks, seventeen containers and an entire planeload of Kylie concert-inspired freight has been making its way to Australia. One hundred crew-members, 200 costumes — many borrowed from the Paris cabaret "Le Lido" and others hand-crafted by her designers du choix, Dolce e Gabbana — a 250 tonne stage incorporating 16 industrial-strength water pumps and 25 dancers and musicians have accompanied Kylie to Australia to put on a $25 million show that has been hailed by critics as "pure entertainment".
"The audience response has been so incredible, so joyful and uplifting," Kylie said.
To questions about her longevity as a pop princess, Kylie said she felt she had matured as an artist.
"I have discovered a new dimension to my life as a performer. In many ways, I have just decided to let go and do it."
Her Brisbane concert on Friday will be the 57th show on this world tour and will kick off a national circuit that will also take in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth.
The schedule to date has been — and will continue to be — a grueling one. The question then, is how much longer does the fresh-faced 43-year old and breast cancer survivor think she can keep it up?
"I don't know," she admitted. "I really don't know. Some of my idols like Jane Fonda and Dolly Parton are both ladies of a certain age. I would like to think that if I still had the inspiration to do what I wanted to do (I would be able to emulate them), that would be great."
And then finally, before disappearing back into the bowels of the Brisbane Entertainment Centre and being swallowed up by the impressive machinery of her hi-tech set, Kylie paid careful attention at the end of the press conference to hose down rumours her sister, Dannii and her partner Kris Smith were in the midst of a relationship wobble.
"I spoke to her (Dannii) yesterday," Kylie said. "She said to me: 'We are happy together and we are home,' Kylie said. "I would like to think the attention they are getting is because they are a family unit and people love to see them together."
Your say: Are you excited Kylie is back in Australia?
Video: Kylie Minogue wraps up her US tour
Home