Showgirl: The Homecoming Tour

Showgirl: The Homecoming Tour

Promotional poster for 2006 tour
Tour by Kylie Minogue
Associated album Ultimate Kylie
Start date 11 November 2006
End date 23 January 2007
Legs 2
Shows 20 in Australia
14 in Europe
34 in Total
Box office US $40.11 million ($45.62 million in 2015 dollars)[1]
Kylie Minogue concert chronology
Showgirl: The Greatest Hits Tour
(2005)		 Showgirl: The Homecoming Tour
(2006–07)		 KylieX2008
(2008–09)

Showgirl: The Homecoming Tour was the ninth concert tour by Australian singer Kylie Minogue. Minogue was originally scheduled to perform in Australia and Asia during Showgirl: The Greatest Hits Tour in 2005, but she was forced to cancel the tour when she was diagnosed with breast cancer.[2]

Minogue resumed the tour on 11 November 2006, performing at the Sydney Entertainment Centre, with a new set list and costumes. The dance routines from Showgirl: The Homecoming Tour were reworked to accommodate her medical condition and longer breaks were also introduced between sections of the show to conserve her strength.[3]


Critical reception

Showgirl: The Homecoming Tour received positive reviews from critics. 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".[3] The Age's 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".[4] 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".[5]

Broadcasts and recordings

Main articles: White Diamond: A Personal Portrait of Kylie Minogue and Showgirl Homecoming Live

Minogue performance in Melbourne, Australia on 11 December 2006 was filmed for television and DVD release. The concert premiered on 13 January 2007 in the United Kingdom on Channel 4.[6] On 4 March 2007, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation broadcast the performance without commercial interruptions.[7] The concert was released to DVD on 10 December 2007 as a double disc set with Minogue's documentary film White Diamond.[8]

Minogue's second Australian concert in Sydney on 12 November 2006 was recorded and released as a live album in January 2007. Showgirl Homecoming Live 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.[9][10]

Concert Synopsis

Like Showgirl: The Greatest Hits Tour, the tour was divided up into seven acts: Homecoming, Everything Taboo, Samsara, Athletica, Dreams, Pop Paradiso and Dance of the Cybermen, with the addition of a half an hour intermission and an encore. The set was exactly the same as the last tour only this time there were longer breaks between acts and reworked dance routines to accommodate Minogue's medical condition, and a new set list was introduced.

Homecoming opens the show with "The Showgirl Theme", with the same opening as the previous tour. This time however, there is a 30 second period when the crowd are cheering and Kylie is smiling and waving. She is wearing a pink showgirl hat, a pink corset, a long pink, feathery bussel and a shoulder attachment made of the same thing. She sings "Better the Devil You Know" then "In Your Eyes". She then receives a glass of water on stage before talking to the audience and smiling and laughing with them. On one occasion, a technical difficulty, regarding the metronome that keeps everyone in time, occurred, so Minogue had to fill for 15 minutes. She sang "Your Disco Needs You" and spoke to the audience about things that infuriated her. She left the stage for 15 minutes before the problem was fixed and she returned to the stage to sing again. She sang "White Diamond", a song wrote with the Scissor Sisters. She then sang "On a Night Like This" and exited the stage facing away from the audience on the same lift which she entered the stage on.

Everything Taboo is a Medley Act. It begins with flashing lights and has excerpts of "Do You Dare?" before it turns to the piano and Minogue rising out of the middle of the stage. She sings "Shocked" up until the rap part and it changes to excerpts of "It's No Secret" (the title once), "Give Me Just a Little More Time", (brrr 3 times), "Keep on Pumpin' It", (title 3 times) and "What Kind of Fool (Heard All That Before)". She then sings "What Do I Have to Do" and asks if the crowd knew it. She sings one verse and one chorus and returns to center stage. An excerpt of "I'm Over Dreaming (Over You)", and goes into "Spinning Around". She sings up to "Baby baby baby, you know you like it like this" and it breaks up into excerpts of "Step Back in Time". "Spinning Around" plays with excerpts of "Step Back in Time" and "Such a Good Feeling" plays over the top. Kylie points to the audience and walks through the door at the back of the stage while the dancers carry on dancing until the end of the song where the lifts either side of the stage take them down.

Samsara begins with the dancers rising out of the stage and performing a dance. This was dubbed as "The Temple Prequel" on the album. Kylie then rises out of the floor whilst lying similar to how the Sphynx lies. There's a short period where the crowd are cheering and then "Confide in Me" plays and the dancers treat Kylie like she's a puppet. She then goes onto sing "Cowboy Style" performing another dance before sitting and singing. It then breaks up and the backing dancers sing a chorus of "Finer Feelings" before the music ends. "Too Far" then plays and Kylie acts as though she's trying to escape from her dancers. She goes to the end of the catwalk before singing a bit and turning and sitting where she stands. The lights extinguish on her and she is taken under the stage on a lift. The dancers continue dancing and the backing singers singing. The dancers go beneath the stage.

Athletica begins with a dance interlude by acrobat Terry Kvasnik dancing around the stage and getting the audience pumped up. He dances to the Sandstorm Dub Mix of "Butterfly". He strips to his briefs and jumps to below stage. This performance was omitted from the CD. The same version of "Red Blooded Woman" from the previous tour is played and Kylie rises seated on a pommel horse in a jaguar onsie with a hood and ears and boxing gloves. She sings a chorus of "Where the Wild Roses Grow" and goes back to "Red Blooded Woman". It then goes into "Slow". She gets the male dancers to do a press-up line down the catwalk. After they have made their bodies say "SLOW", Kylie goes onto sing "Kids". On occasion, she performed the song with Bono, Dannii Minogue and simply with her backing vocalists. She then descends a lift and the intermission begins.

Dreams begins the second half with a video interlude dubbed "Rainbow Prequel". Like in The Greatest Hits Tour, Kylie rises from behind the set seated on a moon in a red Chanel dress. She sings "Over the Rainbow". She then performs the ballad version of "Come into My World" being lowered to the stage. "Chocolate" is then performed but the second verse is omitted. The "cake lift" then moves into place and Kylie performs "I Believe in You". The lift remains in this was until Minogue performs a chorus from "When You Wish upon a Star". "Dreams (Impossible Princess)" plays and the set returns to normal. The dancers leave the stage and Minogue descends the catwalk and the lights extinguish.

Pop Paradiso begins with the mashup of Minogue's song "Burning Up" and Madonna's song "Vogue". Minogue is wearing a short navy dress, big navy heels, a navy mo-hawk wig and navy gloves. She then sings the jazz version of "The Locomotion". After this, she sings "I Should Be So Lucky" with an excerpt of "The Only Way Is Up". She finishes the act with a performance of "Hand on Your Heart".

Dance of the Cybermen begins with an instrumental interlude dubbed "Space Prequel". Minogue rises out of the floor dressed in a sleeveless onsie, with wings attached and a silver wig. She sings her worldwide hit single "Can't Get You Out Of My Head" with excerpts of "Rise of the Cybermen". She finishes the song which leads straight into the countdown that begins "Light Years". She descends the catwalk with the dancers at the halfway point of the second chorus. The "cake lift" then moves up and Minogue begins a mashup verse and a chorus of "Turn It into Love". She then returns to "Light Years" and the set returns to normal at the start of the final chorus. The middle lift then descends with Minogue and the dancers on it.

The Encore section begins with Minogue entering from the left. She invites the audience to sing Jason Donovan's part of "Especially for You". She then sings "Love at First Sight" and thanks everyone and exits the stage through the door in the back.

Set list

Act 1: Homecoming

Act 2: Everything Taboo

Act 3: Samsara

Act 4: Athletica

Act 5: Dreams

Act 6: Pop Paradiso

Act 7: Dance of the Cybermen

Encore

Tour dates

List of concerts, showing date, city, country, venue, tickets sold, amount of available tickets and gross revenue
Date City Country Venue Attendance Revenue
Leg 1 — Australia
11 November 2006 Sydney Australia Sydney Entertainment Centre 34,774 / 34,774 $2,963,147
12 November 2006
14 November 2006
17 November 2006 Brisbane Brisbane Entertainment Centre 35,574 / 37,884 $3,354,548
18 November 2006
20 November 2006
23 November 2006 Sydney Acer Arena 51,852 / 51,852 $4,963,147
24 November 2006
26 November 2006
30 November 2006 Adelaide Adelaide Entertainment Centre 21,583 / 22,411 $2,369,124
1 December 2006
4 December 2006 Perth Burswood Dome 36,774 / 38,774 $3,554,147
5 December 2006
7 December 2006
10 December 2006 Melbourne Rod Laver Arena 76,526 / 76,526 $7,578,217
11 December 2006
13 December 2006
14 December 2006
16 December 2006
17 December 2006
Leg 2 — United Kingdom
31 December 2006 London United Kingdom Wembley Arena 78,526 / 78,526 $7,578,217
2 January 2007
3 January 2007
5 January 2007
6 January 2007
8 January 2007
9 January 2007
12 January 2007 Manchester Manchester Evening News Arena 100,072 / 100,072 $7,976,089
13 January 2007
18 January 2007
19 January 2007
21 January 2007
22 January 2007
23 January 2007
TOTAL 411,720 / 415,056 (99.20%) $40,111,034

Show cancellations

On 13 January 2007 at the Manchester Evening News Arena in Manchester, England, Minogue was forced to end her concert after performing for an hour due to illness. Minogue's spokesman later confirmed that she had been diagnosed with a respiratory tract infection.[11] Two additional scheduled performances at the Manchester Evening News Arena were postponed and rescheduled at the end of January 2007.[12]

Personnel

Executive Producer: Kylie Minogue and Terry Blamey
Creative Director and Designer: William Baker
Musical Producer: Steve Anderson
Production Manager: Kevin Hopgood
Production Design: Alan MacDonald
Costumes designed by: John Galliano, Karl Lagerfeld, Dolce & Gabbana, Addae Gaskin, Gareth Pugh and Matthew Williamson for Emilio Pucci
Jewellery by: Bvlgari
Shoes by: Manolo Blahnik and Dolce & Gabbana
Millinery: Stephen Jones
Choreography: Rafael Bonachela, Akram Khan and Michael Rooney
Tour Manager: Sean Fitzpatrick
Drums: Andrew Small
Keyboards: Steve Turner
Bass: Chris Brown
Guitar: Mark Jaimes
Backing vocals: Valerie Etienne, Hazel Fernandez and Janet Ramus
Dance Captain: Annoulka Yanminchev
Dancers: Jason Beitel, Marco Da Silva, Jamie Karitzis, Alan Lambie, Welly Locoh Donou, Claire Meehan, Jason Piper, Nikoletta Rafaelisova, Andile Sotiya, Nikki Trow, Rachel Yau
The acrobat: Terry Kvasnik
Choreographers: Rafael Bonachela, Akram Khan and Michael Rooney

References

  1. ↑ Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–2014. Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Retrieved February 27, 2014.
  2. ↑ Corder, Mike. "Kylie Minogue Has Breast Cancer". CBS. 17 May 2005. Retrieved 9 May 2008.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Sams, Christine. "Feathered Kylie's fans tickled pink". The Sydney Morning Herald. 12 November 2006. Retrieved 9 May 2008.
  4. ↑ Donovan, Patrick. "Kylie – Showgirl Homecoming Tour". The Age. 11 December 2006. Retrieved 9 May 2008.
  5. ↑ "Concert Review: Kylie". CBBC Newsround . 8 January 2007. Retrieved 9 May 2008.
  6. ↑ Hooper, ++++. "Kylie, 05/01/07, Wembley Arena". Channel 4. 8 January 2007. Retrieved 10 May 2008.
  7. ↑ "ABC TV To Screen Kylie Showgirl Homecoming Tour". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 5 February 2007. Retrieved 10 May 2008.
  8. ↑ "'White Diamond' in the Shops!". Kylie.com. 10 December 2007. Retrieved 10 May 2008.
  9. ↑ Sexton, Paul. "Lewis, Winehouse Rule The Roost On U.K. Charts". Billboard.com. 15 January 2007. Retrieved 15 January 2007.
  10. ↑ "British sales certificate for Showgirl Homecoming Live". British Phonographic Industry. 16 February 2007. Retrieved 7 January 2008.
  11. ↑ "Fans await Kylie health decision". BBC. 15 January 2007. Retrieved 9 May 2008.
  12. ↑ "Kylie Minogue announces rescheduled Manchester date". NME. 17 January 2007. Retrieved 9 May 2008.

External links