Kylie’s Down Under Comeback
The Showgirl must go on.
Pint-sized pop star Kylie Minogue has announced plans to resume the Australian leg of her Showgirl: The Greatest Hits tour after canceling it earlier this year following her breast cancer diagnosis.
The Aussie singer, 37, was forced to indefinitely postpone all of her Down Under dates last May, less than a week before the tour was scheduled to begin, so she could undergo treatment.
The Frontier Touring Company, Minogue’s concert promoter, said Monday that the canceled tour has been revamped and rescheduled for the end of 2006.
“We appreciate the end of next year is a long time away for ticketholders,” promoter Michael Gudinski said. “Our aim is to give Kylie the time she needs to recover fully.”
“Kylie’s been thinking about these shows a lot over the past months, and they are going to be something special…It will be varied and updated as a thank you for the patience and understanding of Australian ticketholders.”
And there are a lot of them.
The Australian leg of Minogue’s Showgirl tour was a sellout, with close to 200,000 tickets snapped up. Those tickets will be honored for the new dates, with Frontier donating all earned interest on the tickets to a charity of Minogue’s choice.
Exact dates for the new and improved shows are expected to be announced early next year, possibly with extra shows added to cope with demand.
The multiplatinum “Can’t Get You Out Of My Head” songbird continues to receive chemotherapy in Paris with actor beau Olivier Martinez by her side.
Last week, Minogue’s Australian publicist, Kylie Martin, announced the pop diva’s final treatment was scheduled for Dec. 18, though she would be staying in France through the new year to await blood test results.
The singer first underwent surgery in Melbourne last May, shortly after her diagnosis, before going to London, then Paris, to continue treatment.
As she continues to convalesce, fans can still get their fix of Minogue music.
A digital single featuring a live version of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” recorded earlier this year at London’s Earl’s Court, along with Minogue’s version of “Santa Baby” will be available only via download on Christmas Day. Both tunes are already in heavy rotation on British radio.
There’s also word that another Kylie project may be in the works.
A jazz standards album she recorded two years ago may finally be released sometime next year.
Aguilera, a Mouseketeer turned pop diva, has earned considerable raves for her vocal chops over the past several years, chalking up a Best New Artist Grammy in 1999, a Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals Grammy in 2002 for “Lady Marmalade” and the Best Female Pop Vocal Performance Grammy for “Beautiful” in 2004.
She is currently at work on her upcoming album, which she recently described on her paid fan site as a “throwback to the 1920s, ’30s and ’40s” and her “best work yet.” The as-yet untitled album is expected in the spring.
“It’s been really fun experimenting, challenging and pushing myself to bring you something completely different and revealing,” Aguilera wrote on her site.
The singer attributed some of her musical growth to her relationship with Bratman.
“We have introduced each other to whole new worlds of music, so it will definitely show!” Aguilera wrote.
“I start to cry when I think of all he has brought to my life,” she wrote. “As a team, we make each other stronger, wiser…just better.”
Here’s to many more years of reciprocal betterment for the “Stripped” singer and her new husband.
By Gina Serpe
E!Online