Showgirl: The Greatest Hits Tour

Showgirl: The Greatest Hits Tour

Showgirl: The Greatest Hits Tour was the eighth concert tour and first greatest hits tour by Australian recording artist Kylie Minogue, launched in 2005 to support her album Ultimate Kylie

Showgirl: The Greatest Hits Tour
Tour by Kylie Minogue
Associated album	Ultimate Kylie
Start date	19 March 2005
End date	7 May 2005
Legs	1
No. of shows	37 in Europe
Kylie Minogue tour chronology

Showgirl: The Greatest Hits Tour was the eighth concert tour by Kylie Minogue. The tour was launched in support of her ninth greatest hits compilation, Ultimate Kylie. Beginning March 2005, over 30 concerts were performed in Europe.

Performances in the United Kingdom grossed nearly $20 million and at the conclusion of 2005, it placed 46th on Pollstar's 2005 "Top 100 Worldwide Tours" having sold 339,105 tickets throughout the year.

Kylie was originally scheduled to perform in Australia and Asia during the tour, but she was forced to cancel the tour when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She resumed the tour – renamed Showgirl: The Homecoming Tour – on 11 November 2006, performing at the Sydney Entertainment Centre, with a revised set list and new costumes

Background

On 24 October 2004, it was announced that Kylie would go on tour to promote her compilation album Ultimate Kylie. Kylie described the tour as "a celebration of pop songs and my career, but also a long-term relationship with my audience".

The tour was set to visit both Australia and Asia in May and June of 2005, with a further 35 shows scheduled for performance; once the European leg had finished, Kylie made the journey to Australia where she was diagnosed with breast cancer just two days before the first show; henceforth, the shows were cancelled. The shows in Australia were rescheduled for November in the following year under the new title of Homecoming and the Asian dates never came to fruition.

Kylie was also scheduled to be the first female to headline Glastonbury Festival since 1999 in June of 2005 but was subsequently forced to withdraw; her slot was filled by Basement Jaxx, who performed "Can't Get You Out of My Head" in honour of Kylie.

Concert Synopsis

Across the tour, each show was split into seven acts with the addition of an encore, with 27 songs performed.

The show opens with an instrumental introduction that features writing on the video screen introducing Kylie. Kylie then rises out of the stage on a platform dressed in a blue showgirl outfit. She opens the show with "Better the Devil You Know", which is quickly followed by performances of "In Your Eyes" and "Giving You Up". Kylie then performs "On a Night Like This", which begins as a ballad, before resuming with the original after the first chorus. The ending is in the same style as the beginning of the song, where Kylie is taken below the stage, closing the section.

The second section, Smiley Kylie, begins with a dance interlude, that uses excerpts of "Shocked" and "Do You Dare?", before Kylie rises out of the centre of the stage as the DNA intro of "Shocked" is heard. She sings up to the middle eight, before a short segue is played using excerpts of "It's No Secret", "Keep on Pumpin' It", "Give Me Just a Little More Time" and "What Kind of Fool (Heard All That Before)", which leads into a two-verse-two-chorus performance of "What Do I Have to Do", which is succeeded by another segue using an excerpt of "I'm Over Dreaming (Over You)" and then a performance of "Spinning Around" (sampling the instrumentation of "Finally"), which is followed by a dance interlude after the middle eight using excerpts of "Step Back in Time" and "Such a Good Feeling".

The third section begins with a performance of "In Denial", a Kylie duet with Neil Tennant. This is followed by a performance of "Je Ne Sais Pas Pourquoi" before Kylie closes the act with a performance of "Confide in Me".

The fourth act, What Kylie Wants, Kylie Gets begins with a spraying sound effect during which fake showers and gym equipment rises onto the stage, before Kylie appears on a box singing "Red Blooded Woman" which features a chorus of "Where the Wild Roses Grow" before the middle eight. Kylie then performs her 2003 single "Slow" which is followed by a small flamenco interlude which precedes a performance of "Please Stay"

The fifth section begins with a cover of "Over the Rainbow" where Kylie rises from behind the stage on a sequined moon. This is then followed by a torch version of "Come into My World". Kylie then performs "Chocolate" on the stage, which morphs at the end of the catwalk to form a "cake", from which Kylie performs "I Believe in You". The act closes with a performance of "Dreams".

Kylesque opens with a performance of PWL track "Hand on Your Heart", where Kylie emerges on stage in front of a big heart. She then goes on to perform a jazz version of "The Loco-Motion" which is followed by a performance of "I Should Be So Lucky". Kylie then closes the act with a performance of "Your Disco Needs You".

The penultimate section opens with a performance version of "Put Yourself in My Place", and a performance of "Can't Get You Out of My Head" closes the main body of the show.

Kylie then emerged in a blue ensemble for the encore, talking to the audience before performing a sing-a-long version of "Especially For You", with the audience invited to sing Jason Donovan's part. Kylie then closed the show with a performance of "Love at First Sight", with a video montage of her career shown on the video screens behind her.

Set list

Showgirl
1. "Overture"
2. "Better the Devil You Know"
3. "In Your Eyes"
4. "Giving You Up"
5. "On a Night Like This"

Smiley Kylie
6. "Shocked" (contains excerpts from: "Do You Dare?", "It's No Secret", "Give Me Just a Little More Time", "Keep on Pumpin' It" and "What Kind of Fool (Heard All That Before)")
7. "What Do I Have to Do" (contains excerpt from "I'm Over Dreaming (Over You)")
8. "Spinning Around" (contains excerpts from "Step Back in Time" and "Such a Good Feeling" along with elements of "Finally")

Denial
9. "In Denial" (Virtual duet with "Neil Tennant")
10. "Je Ne Sais Pas Pourquoi"
11. "Confide in Me"

What Kylie Wants, Kylie Gets
12. "Red Blooded Woman" / "Where the Wild Roses Grow"
13. "Slow"
14. "Please Stay"

Dreams
15. "Somewhere Over the Rainbow"
16. "Come into My World"
17. "Chocolate"
18. "I Believe in You"
19. "Dreams"

Kylesque
20. "Hand on Your Heart"
21. "The Loco-Motion"
22. "I Should Be So Lucky"
23. "Your Disco Needs You"

Minx in Space
24. "Put Yourself in My Place"
25. "Can't Get You Out of My Head"

Encore
26. "Especially For You"
27. "Love at First Sight"

Notes

• "Dancing Queen" was originally part of the setlist, as this was the song from the Intimate and Live tour that gave birth to Kylie's Showgirl persona; it was, however, discarded.

Tour dates

Date	City	Country	Venue
Leg 1 — Europe
19 March 2005	Glasgow	Scotland	SECC
20 March 2005
22 March 2005
23 March 2005
24 March 2005
26 March 2005	Paris	France	Zénith de Paris
27 March 2005	Rotterdam	Netherlands	Ahoy Rotterdam
28 March 2005	Antwerp	Belgium	Sportpaleis
30 March 2005	Vienna	Austria	Wiener Stadthalle
31 March 2005	Munich	Germany	Olympiahalle
1 April 2005	Basel	Switzerland	St. Jakobshalle
3 April 2005	Aalborg	Denmark	Gigantium
4 April 2005	Hamburg	Germany	Color Line Arena
5 April 2005	Cologne		Kölnarena
7 April 2005	Dublin	Ireland	Point Theatre
8 April 2005
9 April 2005
11 April 2005
12 April 2005
15 April 2005	Birmingham	England	NEC Arena
16 April 2005
17 April 2005
19 April 2005
20 April 2005
21 April 2005
23 April 2005	Manchester		Manchester Evening News Arena
24 April 2005
26 April 2005
27 April 2005
28 April 2005
30 April 2005	London		Earls Court
1 May 2005
2 May 2005
4 May 2005
5 May 2005
6 May 2005
7 May 2005

Cancelled and rescheduled shows

Date	City	Country	Venue	Reason for cancellation
19 May 2005	Sydney	Australia	Sydney Superdome	Breast cancer diagnosis
20 May 2005
21 May 2005
23 May 2005	Melbourne		Rod Laver Arena
24 May 2005
25 May 2005
27 May 2005
28 May 2005
29 May 2005
31 May 2005	Sydney		Sydney Entertainment Centre
1 June 2005
2 June 2005
4 June 2005	Brisbane		Brisban Entertainment Centre
5 June 2005
6 June 2005
8 June 2005
9 June 2005
12 June 2005	Perth		Burswood Dome
13 June 2005
14 June 2005
17 June 2005	Singapore		Singapore Indoor Stadium
20 June 2005	Bangkok	Thailand	IMPACT Arena
23 June 2005	Hong Kong		HKCEC Arena
26 June 2005	Glastonbury	England	Glastonbury Festival

Box office score data

Venue	City	Tickets sold / available	Revenue
NEC	Birmingham	65,976 / 65,976 (100%)	$4,572,554
SECC	Glasgow	43,100 / 43,100 (100%)	$3,040,468
MEN Arena	Manchester	74,060 / 74,060 (100%)	$5,234,740
Earls Court	London	105,840 / 105,840 (100%)	$7,125,132
TOTAL		288,976 / 288,976 (100%)	$19,972,894

Broadcasts and recordings

See Showgirl (video) and Showgirl (album)

Kylie's performance in London, England on 6 May 2005 was filmed for TV broadcast and DVD release. The performance was released on DVD and Universal Media Disc on 28 November 2005. The DVD also featured "Behind the Feathers", a documentary, screensavers and exclusive photographs.

The DVD reached number twenty-six on Australia's End of the Year Music DVD Chart in 2005. It was certified platinum in the UK in 2005 and four times platinum in Australia in 2006. Kylie Showgirl was nominated for "Best Music DVD" at the 2006 ARIA Music Awards, losing to Eskimo Joe.

On 12 December 2005, Kylie released a digital EP featuring eight songs recorded in London, England during the Showgirl: The Greatest Hits Tour.

Personnel

• Direction: Russel Thomas
• Executive Producer: Bill Lord, Kylie Minogue and Terry Blamey
• Creative Director: William Baker and Alan MacDonald
• Musical Producer: Steve Anderson
• Tour Manager: Sean Fitzpatrick Choreography: Michael Rooney and Rafael Bonachela.
• Costumes designed by: John Galliano, Karl Lagerfeld, Julien Macdonald, Ed Meadham and Gareth Pugh
• Shoes by: Manolo Blahnik
• Jewellery: Bvlgari
• Millinery: Stephen Jones
• Hair Stylist: Karen Alder

Costume gallery

• Act I
• Act II
• Act III
• Act IV
• Act V
• Act VI
• Act VII
• Encore

Showgirl
1. "The Showgirl Theme" (Instrumental introduction)
2. "Better the Devil You Know"
3. "In Your Eyes"
4. "Giving You Up"
5. "On a Night Like This"

The corset was designed by John Galliano

The headset and bustles were designed by Mr Pearl

The shoes for the show were from Malono Blahnik

Smiley Kylie
1. "Shocked" (with excerpts of "Do You Dare?", "It's No Secret", "Give Me Just a Little More Time", "Keep on Pumpin' It" and "What Kind of Fool (Heard All That Before)")
2. "What Do I Have to Do" (with excerpts of "I'm Over Dreaming (Over You)")
3. "Spinning Around" (with elements of "Finally" and "Such a Good Feeling", along with excerpts of "Step Back in Time")

Denial
1. "In Denial" (Virtual duet with Neil Tennant)
2. "Je Ne Sais Pas Pourquoi"
3. "Confide in Me"

What Kylie Wants, Kylie Gets
1. "Red Blooded Woman" / "Where the Wild Roses Grow"
2. "Slow"
3. "Please Stay"

A red flamenco dress was added for the performance of "Please Stay"

Dreams
1. "Rainbow Prequel" (Interlude)
2. "Somewhere Over the Rainbow"
3. "Come into My World"
4. "Chocolate"
5. "I Believe in You"
6. "Dreams"

The moon was given sequins to make Kylie the centre of the show

The dress for Dreams was designed by Jean Paul Gaultier

The stage transformed to make a cake lift for the performance of "I Believe in You"

Kylesque
1. "Hand on Your Heart"
2. "The Loco-Motion"
3. "I Should Be So Lucky"
4. "Your Disco Needs You"

A heart prop was used for "Hand on Your Heart"

A hat was added for "Your Disco Needs You"

Minx in Space
1. "Put Yourself in My Place"
2. "Can't Get You Out of My Head"

Encore
1. "Especially For You"
2. "Love at First Sight"

Discography  · Videos  · Videography  · Showgirl Live  · Homecoming Live  · Performances  · Showgirl Tour  · Homecoming Tour  · Gallery "I Believe in You" "Giving You Up" "Over the Rainbow" "Sometime Samurai" "B.P.M" "Made of Glass"