KylieX2008

About the tour

After months of speculation it was announced through Kylie's official website that "KylieX2008" would commence in Paris, traveling internationally.

By way of introduction, Minogue stated:

While rehearsing for the tour, Minogue released several behind-the-scenes videos on her website. Concurrently, she released "X" in the United States and filmed two music videos for the third single, "All I See" (including an acoustic rendition).

As the tour began to sell out all over Europe and the UK, many fans speculated that Minogue would bring her tour to Australia and Japan. While promoting her ITV special, The Kylie Show on "Sunrise", she stated: "I just want to have in my head more solidly what the tour will be and if I can manage what I have so far, I would love to come back [to Australia]". It was later revealed that Minogoue would bring a limited numbers of shows to her home country, stating, "The reason I hadn't confirmed dates in Australia is I really didn't know what I was getting into [...] But now I know".

About the show

As with the X album, the tour rippled the "new wave" theme, made popular in the '80s. The show was divided into seven acts with the addition of an encore and interlude. Throughout the course of the tour, the show evolved, with numerous changes to the running order, costumes, set list and even Kylie's hairstyle.

The set consisted of a high-tech three-tier stage. On the left and right, mini-stages were made available for the band and backing singers. The main stage was minimalist, with an illuminated video floor and gigantic moving video curtains as the backdrop. For performances in amphitheaters, open air and small arenas the illuminated floor and the lavish props, such as the giant skull and purple hoop, were removed due to technical limitations.

Minogue described the show as "being a show within a show", stating that each act is dramatically different from one another. Minogue alluded she was inspired by Queen frontman, Freddie Mercury, "I'm releasing my inner Freddie Mercury. It's hard to explain but parts of the show are so over the top. When I sing 'Your Disco Needs You', it's a real Freddie moment."

The first act Xlectro Static act opens the show with a futuristic video showing the outline of Minogue's face polarized in neon colours. The massive video curtains slide open to reveal Minogue perched in a giant hoop dressed in a 'spiderwoman' gown (the dress, however, was changed as the tour reached South America). On technically limited shows, the giant stereo speakers (and other related props) moved rapidly to reveal Minogue. She performed her worldwide hit "Can't Get You Out of My Head" as well as "In Your Eyes" and an unreleased track entitled "Ruffle My Feathers".

The second act Cheer Squad opens with an homage to the Toni Basil hit "Mickey", with Kylie and her dancers appearing as American cheerleaders. Themed as a high-school pep rally, Minogue performed "Heart Beat Rock", "Wow" and "Shocked", the latter being reduced to a dance interlude on some dates. Kylie has cited this act as her personal favourite on the concert.

The third act Beach Party begins with "Loveboat" and goes on with a cover of the Barry Manilow hit "Copacabana". On the opening night, "That's Why They Write Love Songs", a tribute to the many romantic show tunes of the 1940s and 1950s, was also performed, having been dropped since then. Kylie closed the act with the celebratory "Spinning Around".

For the fourth act X-posed, Minogue is dressed as an 'erotic bellboy'. She appears on a gigantic skull suspended high above the stage performing "Like a Drug". The skull descends to the stage and Kylie goes on to perform "Slow", with excerpts of "Free" (from Intimate and Live), and "2 Hearts". The skull received a very positive reaction from the fans, being then 'replaced' by a screen CG reproduction on the concerts it could not be featured due to stage limitations (this additional projection, however, was not present before the South American leg).

The Asian-influenced fifth act Naughty Manga Girl, sees Minogue emerging on stage in a pyramid which unfurls to reveal Kylie in an outfit inspired by Japanese manga, performing "Come into My World", "Nu-di-ty" and "Sensitized". This segment, which opens with a video of the rare single "Sometime Samurai", was completely cut from the technically limited concerts.

The show takes a sombre tone as it progresses into its sixth act Starry NIghts, with Minogue appearing in a blue satin gown and premiering another new song, the power ballad "Flower" together with a ballad version of "I Believe in You". She was described as a blue train by newspapers. The act ended with "Cosmic" on the initial dates, but this song was later dropped.

In the seventh act Black Versus White, Minogue appears as a 19th-century coachman, performing "On a Night Like This", "Your Disco Needs You", "Kids", "Step Back in Time" and "In My Arms". The act begins with a black and white theme and progresses into colour. "Love at First Sight" was performed during this act on initial dates, being later reallocated to the encore section.

Minogue re-emerged on stage in a Cher-esque evening suit performing "No More Rain". Many songs were added and swapped around during this act including "The One", "Love at First Sight", "I Should Be So Lucky" and the acoustic rendition of "All I See". For the first two performances in South America, Minogue performed "Somewhere", a song from the critically acclaimed musical West Side Story, and "Better the Devil You Know" dressed on a green feather dress, before the regular encore. Later, the new costume was dropped and "Better the Devil You Know" was placed in the encore.

Broadcasts and recordings

KylieX2008 premiered on 4 Music in late August 2008. The concert was one of the first broadcast on the new station. It was later shown on Channel 4/4 HD. In October 2008, it was revealed that FremantleMedia will release a DVD entitled Kylie Live: X2008. The disc features the full length concert along with a photo gallery and screen projections. It was released in the United Kingdom and Australia on 1 December 2008. A later release on Blu-ray followed.

Additional notes

Box office score data

^ a Minogue's performances at The O₂ ranked #22 on Billboard's "Top 25 Boxscores" of 2008.
^ b Only 2 out of 3 shows were reported by Billboard Boxscore

Critical reception

The tour received excellent reviews from many critics throughout the UK and Europe. Many called it Minogue's best tour to date. The tour generally sold well throughout Europe and has been seen as a major success. Due to large public demand, several additional dates were slowly added since the tour announcement. Tickets for the original eight shows of the UK leg sold-out in just thirty minutes, and Minogue went on to sell tickets for more than twenty-five shows in England, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. The six shows at the Manchester Evening News Arena made Minogue the all-time most-featured artist at the venue. The UK leg of the tour grossed over 26,000,000 USD (est. 14,000,000GBP), with Minogue performing to just under 300,000 spectators.

Personnel

Adapted from the KylieX2008 credits.

Performers

Technical