Live4MusiC

By Clara Chow

Whenever Kylie Minogue sashays into town on her platform stilettos, sequins and feather boas are fished out from the back of closets all over.

And on the Australian popstar's stadium outing here – her first, since 2008's Kylie X gig – the "camp" camp turned out in full force. Spotted in the audience: Adorable little showgirls, wing-eared Cupids and countless dudes in tight T-shirts.

But the moment the pint-sized singer appeared on stage in a giant golden clamshell, a la The Birth Of Venus, all eyes were on her. She promised fans a non-stop dance party, and – boy – did she deliver.

The 21/2-hour show, with a rumoured price tag of £15 million (S$30 million), was theatrical and unabashedly excessive. It had, among other things, the diva perched atop a golden Pegasus prop (while industrial-strength fans went at her chiffon train at full blast), brief-clad beefcakes in cowboy hats and twirling dancers in loincloths suspended from the ceiling.

At times, it was a bit like Cirque du Soleil for the "alternative lifestyle" demographic. At others, when Spartan warriors and Persian-influenced striptease oracles took the stage, it seemed Kylie and her creative team had watched the action film 300 a tad too many times.

In the midst of all this fabulous-ness was Kylie herself, channelling Aphrodite. The Goddess of Love presided over her adoring devotees from her Grecian set, singing mostly songs from her latest Aphrodite album, such as Get Outta My Way and The One, with a few "ancient" hits like Locomotion and I Should Be So Lucky thrown in for good measure.

The crowd started getting into the groove six songs in, with neo-disco Spinning Around popping them out of their seats. An undeniable highlight was Slow, reinterpreted as a sizzling, jazzy, Chicago-esque number – with feather fans and gentlemen in attendance.

With all that showgirl-ship, it didn't matter that Kylie left most of the vocal heavy-lifting to two babelicious back-up singers, whom she introduced as "Roxie" and "Lucy".

Midway through the concert, she pointed a perfectly manicured finger straight at this reviewer, bopping up and down at stage right.

"Looking lovely in the purple sequins!" she chirped graciously. It's not every day you get singled out by a veritable, mighty Aphrodite.

And that's the thing about the iconic Impossible Princess: Togged in her beautiful Dolce & Gabbana costumes, she can still pay you a compliment like the girlfriend next door.

From where I sat, the set looked like papier mache boulders, cellophane-paper ponds, and a stencilled Parthenon on black fabric. Missing from it were the water jets and "splash zone" that were featured in larger venues on her tour.

Yet, from the moment the house lights dimmed and the spotlights went up, the stage was the altar from which an elaborate, fantasy world was projected.

Perhaps the secret to Kylie's success lies in how she understands the power of facade – that one may need a glamorous aura to protect a vulnerable, tacky, self. And that true transformation is always possible.