While you were sleeping, it was 1:00 PM in Australia, and Kylie Minogue took the stage at the Melbourne Cricket Ground to become the main musical centerpiece of the AFL final. The Australian star used her homecoming to run through some of her biggest hits before thousands of spectators.
The production, not aiming to showcase the grotesque spectacle of the American Super Bowl, did not skimp on resources. Minogue began with Love at First Sight and then moved through In Your Eyes, On a Night Like This, All the Lovers, Spinning Around, Confide in Me, Slow, Padam Padam, and The Loco-Motion. She also revisited Can’t Get You Out of My Head, which ultimately emerged as a Dom Dolla remix version.
G Flip, who had opened the show with The Worst Person Alive and Bed on Fire, returned to the stage to accompany Minogue in Padam Padam. Also appearing were musician William Barton, who played guitar on Confide in Me, and Dom Dolla himself at the end of Can’t Get You Out of My Head.
The show included a giant football turned into a disco ball, several wardrobe changes, dozens of dancers, and fireworks. The performance also served as a tribute to Melbourne, Minogue’s hometown, with her on stage asking both Docker and Lions supporters how they were experiencing the final.
The pre-match musical bill was rounded out by G Flip and Mike Brady, who performed the traditional Up There Cazaly. As for Minogue, the repertoire functioned as a fairly thorough survey of her career, from The Loco-Motion to Padam Padam, covering some of her biggest hits from the 80s, 90s, 2000s, and 2010s.
There is not yet an official full 20-minute video of the performance, although several clips circulating on social media give a sense of the spectacle.
@afl Everybody do the Loco-Motion with Kylie 💃 Thanks to @Telstra #afl #aflgf #kylieminogue ♬ original sound – afl
@afl La la la la la la la la 🎶 Thanks to @Telstra #afl #aflgf #kylieminogue ♬ original sound – afl
@afl Can’t get YOU out of our head, @Kylie Minogue 😍 Thanks to @Telstra #afl #aflgf #kylieminogue #domdolla ♬ original sound – afl
@afl Padam Padam popped off 💓 Thanks to @Telstra #afl #aflgf #kylieminogue #gflip ♬ original sound – afl
