This NFSA compilation highlight reel of news coverage about Kylie Minogue demonstrates her worldwide fame.

Her impact, reach and status as a global icon and superstar are undeniable.

Notes by Beth Taylor

Kylie Minogue – the highest selling Australian-born artist of all time – is inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 2011.  

Having known her for most of her career, an emotional Ian ‘Molly’ Meldrum is clearly brimming with pride as he pays tribute to his friend Kylie. 

Molly introduces an impressive career highlights package made for the ceremony which does a great job of selling her as an icon and global superstar. The compile covers many facets of her career to 2011. 

In a telling excerpt included from a television interview, Kylie says ‘Every image that people have seen, they’re all a part of me. I have so many characters lurking in my body it’s frightening’.

This sentiment is illustrated through the inclusion of short clips from 17 of her music videos including 'Got to Be Certain' in 1988, ‘Where the Wild Roses Grow’ with Nick Cave (1995), ‘Can’t Get You Out of My Head’ (2001), through to singles from her Aphrodite album in 2011. 

When combined, they beautifully illustrate Kylie’s ability to reinvent herself and her music throughout her career and underscore the success she has had over four (now five) decades. 

Kylie is famous for her live shows and the compile includes footage from her tours Intimate and Live (1998), KylieFever2002, Showgirl: The Greatest Hits Tour (2005), Showgirl: The Homecoming Tour (2006–7) and Aphrodite: Les Folies Tour (2011). 

There is also footage from her wins at previous ARIA Awards, interviews with Kylie and Michael Gudinski from Mushroom Records and her Moulin Rouge! (2001) appearance as the Green Fairy. 

The compile doesn’t shy away from touching on harder times for the artist, mentioning her treatment for cancer and the death of Michael Hutchence. 

The highlights package showcases a career unmatched by any other artist in the world. The package itself is a remarkable achievement of sourcing and editing footage.  

After Prime Minister of Australia Julia Gillard inducts Kylie into the Hall of Fame, Kylie makes a comprehensive and polished speech. She shows pure class by barely skipping a beat to reply ‘I love you too’ to a screaming fan (Kylie refers to her fans collectively as ‘Lovers’). 

Some of the figures mentioned in the package are now out of date. As of late 2020, Kylie has now sold 80+ million units and has had number one albums spanning five decades with the release of Disco in 2020.

Notes by Beth Taylor

This short news report from Richard Wilkins is about Kylie celebrating 25 years in the music business in 2012 by releasing a new box set of singles, titled K25, and announcing two live shows featuring her B-sides.

The footage includes a brief package of career highlights with shots from Kylie’s 2011 Aphrodite concerts, a tour where she lived up to her reputation as a consummate stage performer with iconic costumes (such as the star headdress) and flawless choreography.

This news story aired one week after her performance at the 2012 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade and we see footage of her having fun on the night with parade-goers. What the short segment exemplifies is Kylie’s wholly natural and self-effacing personality, despite being a major international superstar, and her devotion among the gay community.

Her status as a gay icon is well documented and, as can be seen from the clip, it is a role she fully embraces, getting among the crowd and making herself accessible to her fans. Parade participants are dressed in some of her iconic costumes, a mark of her status within the community.

Wilkins wraps up the story by referencing Kylie’s longevity and the strength of her brand, indicating that her career is still going strong.

Notes by Beth Taylor

Kylie performs her hit single ‘Spinning Around’ to a crowd of 4,000 adoring fans at the Apollo Theatre in London in 2003. 

The upbeat, highly danceable song was written by Ira Shickan, Osborne Bingham, Kara DioGuardi and Paula Abdul. It’s hard to imagine as you're watching Kylie completely owning the song here, but it was originally written for Abdul to perform.  

Kylie is in her element here, working the stage and getting the audience singing along. It is a slick presentation with the concert captured by a dynamic range of camera movement from close-ups and dolly shots to a ceiling angle and coverage of the audience.

The result is evidence of a seasoned entertainer at the top of her game and truly loved by her audience. While dancers add interest to the background here, it’s Kylie that the cameras focus on throughout. 

‘Spinning Around’ was an important comeback single for Kylie and kicked off the promotion for her Light Years album in 2000. It reached No. 1 in Australia and the UK. The song is synonymous with the gold hotpants Kylie wore in the music video.

Kylie is famous for her live shows, choreography, sets and costumes and this performance is no exception. Kylie has presented exhibitions of her costumes in a touring exhibition produced by the Australian Music Vault which travelled around Australia and the V&A Museum in London.  

The concert was originally streamed live on the internet and later broadcast on Network Ten. 

Notes by Beth Taylor

It is delightful to see sisters Kylie and Dannii Minogue perform a cover of ‘Sisters Are Doin' It for Themselves’ on the variety show Young Talent Time in 1986. 

The original song was written and performed by Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart as Eurythmics with guest vocals from Aretha Franklin in 1985. 

Kylie joined Neighbours the same year this was recorded and her career was taking off, although she’d been acting since she was just 8 years old with a role in The Sullivans. 

Dannii was a regular on Young Talent Time from 1982 to 1988 and has gone on to have a successful career in music and television. 

Young Talent Time was compulsory viewing for Australian kids in the 1970s and 80s. The series ran from 1971 to 1988 with musician-host Johnny Young and his team of young performers. This is episode 86/37 and was broadcast on 18 October 1986.  

This is a good example of the high production values the show was known for as well as the talent and professionalism it fostered. The song itself has become something of a modern feminist anthem which makes the 1980s glamour – big hair, miniskirts, high heels, mirror ball, pink set, pyrotechnics and sequins – seem a little incongruous.

Nevertheless, the Minogue sisters harmonise beautifully and it’s interesting to see how professional and polished the pair already were back then. 

Notes by Beth Taylor

Wild applause accompanies Kylie Minogue’s entrance on a pink convertible at the Royal Bicentennial Concert.  

Seeing as her cover of ‘Locomotion’ was the highest selling Australian single of the 1980s (according to the Australian Music Report), it is a perfect choice for the concert.

It is an engaging performance, notable for the very 1980s neon colours, hair and costumes. The multi-camera shoot covers the action well.

Even this early in her singing career Kylie’s magnetic presence on stage is evident, despite it being obvious that she is miming the song.

It is remarkable to look at how much her live performances have transformed when comparing this clip to her singing at the Olympic Games Closing Ceremony in 2000 or at the Apollo Theatre in 2003.

The song, originally called ‘The Loco-Motion’, was written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King and has been a hit for many artists, dating back to 1962.

Notes by Beth Taylor

Kylie appeared on the very first episode of late-night variety program Rove Live, hosted by Rove McManus, to promote the release of her 2000 album Light Years, featuring the No. 1 hits ‘Spinning Around’ and ‘On a Night Like This’.  

The interview took place in an ‘Op-shop’ – a nod to the revelation that the now iconic gold hotpants she wore in the music video for ‘Spinning Around’ were purchased for 50p (although Rove mistakenly says £5 in his introduction) from an Oxfam Shop for a fancy dress party.

The interview opens with fun and playful banter between Kylie and Rove as they discuss her image and her racy music videos while browsing through the store.

The interview is intercut with clips from the music videos, illustrating Rove's sometimes cheeky comments. Recorded in 2000, both songs are good examples of 70s disco and Europop. Though the clips here are very short, the videos make great use of Kylie’s sultry screen presence in a variety of sexually suggestive and party-girl vignettes.

Kylie reveals a somewhat shy side when she considers the media attention about her sex appeal, at times unwilling to engage in the topic and calling it a ‘storm in a teacup’. However, she strikes a more forthright tone in discussing her new music, career and her relationship with her fans and how they help her stay true to herself.  

The interview suggests an artist who has found her feet and determines the terms of her own career and image.

Notes by Beth Taylor

Comedian duo Hamish Blake and Andy Lee interview Kylie Minogue in this excerpt from their Hamish & Andy radio show from 2012.

Kylie talks about the origin of her famous booty dance, which is now an essential part of her dance repertoire in concerts and music videos.

She traces it back to being 9 or 10 years old. When dancing with sister Dannii and her brother, they used to compare whose bums wiggled the most!

The dance is discussed in the context of her being allowed to perform her racy trademark move at The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Concert on 4 June 2012.

Her ability to laugh at herself is beautifully illustrated in this excerpt. It sounds like she even takes Hamish and Andy by surprise with her graphic description.

Kylie clearly loves comedy and shines in her cameo performances on The Comedy Company (1989) and Kath and Kim (2004) where she appeared as Epponnee-Raelene Charlene Kathleen Darleen Craig.

Cover image - Kylie Minogue in 'Spinning Around'. Courtesy Mushroom Records Pty Ltd. NFSA title: 1594997.

Notes by Beth Taylor

This excerpt from the 99 Per Cent Fat Free episode of comedy series Kath and Kim begins with Kath Day (Jane Turner) talking to her baby granddaughter Epponnee-Raelene Charlene Kathleen Darleen Craig (Zara Harrington).

A flash-forward dream sequence follows featuring a cameo from Kylie Minogue as grown-up Epponnee-Rae on her wedding day.

All the show’s favourite characters are there in deliberately dodgy ageing make-up – Sharon Strzelecki (Magda Szubanski), Kel Knight (Glenn Robbins), Brett Craig (Peter Rowsthorn) and Kim (Gina Riley).  

There are so many layers of cultural references in Riley and Turner’s deeply satirical but equally loving observation of Australian suburban life that this short clip is simultaneously delightful, awkward and devilishly funny to watch.

Riley and Kylie deliver their ridiculous lines about ‘leg o’ mutton sleeves’, ‘horn bags’ and ‘foxy morons’ with aplomb.

Kylie is an inspired choice for the role as her very presence (along with Baby Eps’ middle name Charlene) references the popular wedding episode of Neighbours – Australia’s most famous ‘fairytale’ TV wedding. This clip is an excellent example of Kylie’s ability to not take herself too seriously, also shown by her appearances on The Comedy Company.  

Kylie's other guest roles include a small part on Doctor Who in 2007 and she has even made an appearance in a show with The Wiggles.

Kath and Kim, produced by Riley Turner Productions, ran for four series and was broadcast on the ABC and later Seven Network. This episode was the finale to the third season and was originally broadcast on the ABC on 25 November 2004.

Notes by Beth Taylor

This episode of The Sullivans (1976–83) features 8-year-old Kylie Minogue in her first TV acting role. Kylie was in eight episodes of the show as Carla, a young Dutch girl who has lost her family in the war.  

In this scene, Carla has accidentally stumbled across Norm Baker (Norman Yemm) and Tom Sullivan (Steven Tandy), who are hiding from the Germans in a house in Amsterdam. 

The role required Kylie to adopt a Dutch accent and she does an admirable job for a child actor of her age in 1970s Australia.  

The Sullivans was a beloved Australian drama series starring Lorraine Bayly and Paul Cronin that told the story of an Australian family living through the Second World War years. 

Kylie is among many other famous names for whom The Sullivans was a launching pad, including Sam Neill, Sigrid Thornton, Kerry Armstrong and Mel Gibson.  

Interestingly, Kylie’s sister Dannii Minogue also played Carla in a 1980 episode of the series.  

Notes by Beth Taylor

Kylie’s passionately dedicated gay fans have been a key part of her success. In this short clip from Molly Presents the Divas (2006) Molly Meldrum refers to Kylie’s hit ‘Better the Devil You Know’ (1990) as a ‘Kylie anthem‘. An excerpt of the iconic music video, directed by Paul Goldman, features.  

The song was written and produced by Stock Aitken Waterman and was released on her third studio album Rhythm of Love (1990). As the raunchy dancing and costumes in the video illustrate, ‘BTDYK’ as it’s known by hardcore Kyliephiles, is credited with reinventing Kylie’s image from girl-next-door to sex symbol. It is also a key song for her gay audience and, in a sign of devotion, London’s G-A-Y club plays it every Saturday night at 12:30 am.

It is interesting to note that Kylie credits the making of this career-changing video clip as the first time she 'felt part of the creative process'. She told the Sydney Morning Herald in 2011 'I wasn’t in charge but I had a voice. I’d bought some clothes on King's Road [London] for the video. I saw a new way to express my point of view creatively.'

Kylie is held in the highest esteem and adored by her gay male fans. Her performances at the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Party in 1994, 1998 and 2012 are legendary. She says her gay fans have been with her through thick and thin, although she was never specifically marketed to that audience when she was starting out. Singer songwriter Rufus Wainwright summed it up nicely: 'She is the gay shorthand for joy'.

The clip finishes with home video footage of Melbourne-based drag queen Millie Minogue miming to a recording of ‘Shocked’, also from Rhythm of Love. Despite the poor quality of the footage, it’s easy to see why it was included – that a drag queen has a full-time gig impersonating her shows the extent of Kylie's gay male following. Millie told The Star Observer in 2010 that Kylie ‘knows what to give the gay people. Camp feathers, lovely boy dancers – all those ingredients make the perfect recipe.'

It’s amazing how much this clip covers in under one minute. This is down to Kylie’s skilled soundbite responses to Molly’s questions, their obvious rapport, and the right choice of video clips to illustrate and add colour and movement to the static interview setting.

Notes by Beth Taylor

This report from Ten News covers Kylie’s guest appearance on the long running British sci-fi series Doctor Who.

Kylie appeared opposite David Tennant in the 2007 Christmas special, titled Voyage of the Damned, as waitress Astrid Peth, a role written specifically for her.

The starring role came as a big surprise to fans of both the pop star and the TV show, which was viewed by more than 13 million people – the show's highest viewing figure since 1979 – when it went to air in Britain on Christmas Day 2007.

The brief news report gives us a glimpse of Kylie in costume during filming, through a series of production stills, including one shot where she shares a much talked-about kiss with Tennant.

These work well to tease the viewer without giving away anything of the plot.

Kylie’s casting in the cult TV show certainly speaks to her colossal fame. A collaboration between real-life and fictional icons, Kylie and Doctor Who, is a match made in British pop culture heaven.

Notes by Beth Taylor

In one of Australian television history’s biggest moments, two million Aussies and almost 20 million viewers in Britain tuned in to Episode 523 of Neighbours for the wedding of Scott Robinson and Charlene Mitchell (played by Jason Donovan and Kylie Minogue).  

Kylie’s role as Charlene, and indeed this specific scene, launched Kylie’s international career. With Kylie’s No. 1 debut single ‘Locomotion’ released less than a month after this episode aired on Australian television on 28 July 1987, the stage was set for her rise to international stardom.

Legend has it that Kylie herself chose the unlikely soundtrack – pub rocker Angry Anderson performing the ballad ‘Suddenly’. The crashing drumbeats and raw vocal track, along with the zooms and rhythmic editing, underscore the emotion of the scene in the most 1980s way possible.

It's clear the show’s producers were aware that this scene would become a part of Australian television history and gave it the attention it deserved. They captured Kylie’s combination of cheeky girl-next-door image, and her magnetic star quality is obvious.

The scene revolves around the pair’s palpable chemistry which is evident here. The episode’s director Rod Hardy put it down to their budding behind-the-scenes romance.

The clip evokes a powerful sense of 80s style that transports us back in time. Along with the soundtrack, Kylie’s lacy OTT wedding dress, the puffy coral-coloured bridesmaid’s dresses and Jason’s mullet haircut all combine to make this a key Australian 80s cultural moment.

Many people in Australia and the UK still remember watching it.

Notes by Beth Taylor

Before their famed roles in Neighbours, Kylie and Jason appeared on screen together years earlier as sister and brother in the Crawford Productions television series, Skyways (1979–81). 

In this clip, an excerpt from the Nine Network special 35 Years of Television (1991), we see Kylie and Jason first as bickering young siblings, Robin and Adam, who have been left at an airport by their pilot father in episode 15 of Skyways (1979). 

Then we see them as Charlene and Scott in the roles that shot them to soapie stardom years later in the long-running series Neighbours.  

Skyways featured Tony Bonner and Ken James (both of Skippy fame), and a host of other well-known Australian actors, and it centred around the fictional Pacific International Airport. 

Notes by Mel Bondfield

This short ad from 1991 featuring Kylie Minogue is a memorable example of Coca-Cola’s use of celebrity endorsements to sell their product to a young fan base. 

The ad cleverly evokes the fantasy of meeting a pop star, as a pizza delivery boy meets Kylie and the two drink cans of Coke together. 

The soundtrack features ‘Better the Devil You Know’ from her 1990 Rhythm of Love album. The song and its video clip showed a sexier side of Kylie and the ad recognises this shift in her image, using close-up shots of her in a little black dress. 

This full-length version of the ad would have screened in cinemas and it’s clear that the agency has used the language of a short film to build tension with the use of music, montage and CC-TV footage as the pizza delivery boy travels through the building, trying to get closer to Kylie and avoid hotel security.  

Kylie is an astute businesswoman, and this ad is an excellent example of her using her personal brand to sell products aside from her music and film and TV roles. Kylie has been a part of many successful product endorsements including her own wine, fragrances, fashion, water, books and homewares. 

Notes by Beth Taylor

Kylie performs her biggest hit single, ‘Can’t Get You Out of My Head’, at the Apollo Theatre in London in 2003. 

The song reached number one in 40 countries and broke through to the top ten in the US. It was written by Cathy Dennis and Rob Davis. 

Camera shots from multiple angles cover the action well and flawless sound creates a front-row vibe for viewers at home. It is interesting to see how the dancers' costuming and angular, jagged choreography style references the song’s iconic music video.

Kylie's red costume and slinky dance moves are in direct contrast to the regimented choreography of her back-up dancers who are all dressed in black.

Kylie is famous for her live shows, choreography, sets and costumes and this performance is no exception. Kylie has presented exhibitions of her costumes in a touring exhibition produced by the Australian Performing Arts Collection and Australian Music Vault which travelled around Australia and the V&A Museum in London. 

The concert was originally streamed live on the internet and later broadcast on Network Ten.

Notes by Beth Taylor

Music critic Ian ‘Molly’ Meldrum has believed in Kylie’s talent and appeal since the very start of her musical career. 

In this clip from We Should Be So Lucky he discusses the success of her first single ‘Locomotion’ (1987), despite the song’s lack of radio airplay. The clip includes a short excerpt of Kylie’s music video for the song, originally called ‘The Loco-Motion’, which was written in 1962 by Gerry Goffin and Carole King. 

Her cover of the song reached No. 1 in Australia and (in an updated version released the following year) was a top five hit around the world including the UK, US, Canada and across Europe. 

The confidence Kylie displays here is striking. The production values of the music clip show a deep understanding of the pop-loving young people she is targeting, with an extension of her effervescent girl-next-door role from the television soap, Neighbours. 

Kylie is interviewed here by Brad Robinson. 

Notes by Beth Taylor

In this clip from Parkinson in 2002, veteran broadcaster Michael Parkinson speaks with Kylie Minogue about the secret behind her longevity.  

The classic TV talk show elements that made the show a success since its first episode in 1971 are evident here, including the candid, personal reflections Parkinson elicits from his famous guests.

It’s refreshing to see Kylie alluding to the anger she feels when thinking back to how she was dismissed as a ‘singing budgie’ by critics at the start of her music career in the late 1980s, saying succinctly, ‘there is a tiny place in me called rage for that time’.

There is something about Parkinson’s approach that is disarming for guests and enables them to show a more vulnerable, introspective side. Here, we see him building trust and rapport with Kylie when he shares his admiration about her not letting critics see they’d hurt her. It feels more like a conversation than a journalistic interview.

Although Kylie will always call Australia home, she has been living in the UK for decades and references the immense goodwill towards her there.

Notes by Beth Taylor

Kylie is a style icon, who continually inspires her fans. Whole exhibitions have been dedicated to her outfits created by world-famous designers including Jean Paul Gaultier, Stella McCartney, Dolce & Gabbana and Alexander McQueen. 

This excerpt from the live video album Live in Dublin features fashion designer John Galliano, who designed costumes for her Let’s Get to It tour in 1991.  

The sexy outfits seen here caused a stir in the UK, with Kylie going on to say they were deliberately provocative. They show how Kylie embodies what Galliano playfully refers to as ‘the joy of dressing’, and that she understands how to use the power of costume to continually reinvent herself, even relatively early in her career. 

Galliano describes Lolita (the title character of Vladimir Nabokov’s controversial 1955 novel, filmed by Stanley Kubrick in 1961) and Jane Fonda in the classic futuristic film Barbarella (Roger Vadim, 1968) as influences. 

The fashions remain striking in this clip, which deftly offers insights into the knowledge, effort, cultural references, technical expertise, attention to detail – not to mention time and money – that go into producing a live tour on this scale.

Inter-cutting the interview with hand-drawn sketches and concert footage of Kylie singing ‘Finer Feelings’ leaves fans feeling like they’ve landed a backstage pass. 

Live in Dublin was produced by Michael Baumohl and directed by Ian Hamilton. 

Notes by Beth Taylor

This Nine News story from London covers the launch of a ground-breaking costume exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, featuring over 600 items from Kylie’s tours and music videos. 

The exhibition was curated by Arts Centre Melbourne and included items on loan from the Kylie Minoogue Collection held by the Australian Performing Arts Collection which showcases every phase of Kylie’s career, from dirty overalls worn by her Neighbours character Charlene, to the infamous gold hotpants from the ‘Spinning Around’ music video. 

Despite being questioned about her recent relationship break-up, an ongoing fascination with British and Australian media, Kylie is upbeat and excited about the exhibition and the idea of having the V&A Museum decked out with disco balls, glitter and loud pop music.  

According to the news report, the exhibition caused a stir among art critics in London who felt it was inappropriate for a venue that traditionally features more conservative exhibitions. 

The story was broadcast on 7 February 2007. 

Notes by Mel Bondfield

This excerpt from Molly Presents the Divas (2006) focuses on Kylie Minogue’s duet with Robbie Williams. ‘Kids’ appeared on Kylie’s Light Years (2000) and Williams' Sing When You're Winning (2000) albums.

Williams and Guy Chambers wrote the song with Minogue in mind and also co-wrote another single from Light Years, the fan-favourite 'Your Disco Needs You', with Kylie.

In this excerpt Kylie talks with her long-time friend Molly Meldrum about her love of duets with other artists, commenting that every collaboration changes her.

Kylie’s story is illustrated using two clips from the ‘Kids’ music video, directed by Simon Hilton. These clips contain nods to the flirtatious dancing of John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John in Grease (Randal Kleiser, USA, 1978), while the final shot taken of them from above borrows from the visual lexicon of Busby Berkley – giving the video an impressive, expansive vibe.

As she notes in the interview, her duets with Nick Cave and Robbie are totally different. Other Kylie duet partners include Jimmy Little, Ben Lee, The Wiggles and of course Jason Donovan.

‘Kids’ appears in the computer game Grand Theft Auto V (2013) on its fictional radio station Non Stop Pop. The song was a No. 2 hit in the UK and made the top ten in New Zealand, Mexico, Portugal, Hungary, Iceland and Argentina and the top 20 in Australia, where it was certified gold.

Notes by Beth Taylor

This historic photograph from the Royal Bicentennial Concert in 1988 features two of Australia’s most successful musical artists, Olivia Newton-John (1948–2022) and Kylie Minogue.

Today Kylie is the highest selling Australian-born artist of all time, but this image, taken over 30 years ago, depicts her early in her career. It was just one year after the release of ‘Locomotion’ (1987), which became the highest selling single of the 1980s in Australia.

In this posed and yet delightfully candid photograph, the uncredited photographer has beautifully captured a starstruck Kylie standing next to Olivia.

Kylie talks about growing up watching Grease (Randal Kleiser, USA, 1978) and idolising Olivia, and it’s obvious from the photo this is a huge moment for her.

The music video for ‘Kids’ (2000), Kylie’s duet with Robbie Williams, arguably references Grease, as does the promotional poster for her movie debut The Delinquents (1989).

When this image was taken Kylie’s career was still taking shape but today there are many parallels between the two women. Each began their careers with an innocent, girl-next-door image which they went on to counter, building a massive fan base despite not being taken seriously by critics for their pop and disco leanings.

Each has excelled in both their acting and singing careers, demonstrating business acumen. Both women also fought cancer and become gay icons.

Notes by Beth Taylor

In 2013, eight years after her breast cancer diagnosis, Kylie was in Los Angeles to accept an award for raising breast cancer awareness. 

Kylie was only 36 years old when she was diagnosed with the disease and underwent surgery and chemotherapy. 

Years later she was involved in awareness campaigns for the Women’s Cancer Research Fund. 

This short news story shows her on stage accepting the award and a snippet of an interview where she describes her cancer survival as one of her greatest achievements.  

Notes by Mel Bondfield

Kylie’s ability to not take herself too seriously is exemplified beautifully in these two clips from The Comedy Company in 1989. 

In the same year as her dramatic role in the feature film The Delinquents (1989), here she tries her hand at comedy.  She works well with Mary-Anne Fahey’s gum-chewing, wise-cracking schoolgirl Kylie Mole – a beloved character from the show.  

Another clip features Kylie and Jason Donovan in bed together having a lover’s argument. It’s not clear whether they are playing themselves, their popular characters Scott and Charlene from Neighbours, or another couple entirely. 

This deliberate confusion says a lot about the ubiquity of the couple in the late 1980s and how the characters they played blended with their real-life personas and romantic relationship. 

Jason and Kylie released a wildly successful duet ‘Especially For You’ in 1988 which reached number one in the UK, Ireland, Greece and Belgium and was top 5 in Australia, New Zealand, France, Finland and Switzerland. 

It is indicative of Australian television comedy budgets that both comedy skits are performed in a single shot consisting of a tightly-framed bedroom setting with minimal production design. This is an example of the kind of frugal ingenuity key for the success of skit-based shows with low budgets. 

Kylie Minogue continually surprises her fans by popping up in unexpected places. Her guest appearances include characters in Kath and Kim and Doctor Who and even an appearance with The Wiggles. 

This clip comes from the current affairs piece We Should Be So Lucky, broadcast on Network Ten in 1989. 

Notes by Beth Taylor

This news segment is proof that Kylie mastered the art of reinventing herself early in her career, capturing the moment when she went from TV soap's girl-next-door and pop princess to film star. 

This piece is also a good example of the media’s interest in Kylie’s private life, with the story shaped around vision of her with her ‘new man’ – INXS lead singer Michael Hutchence, whom she dated from 1989 to 1991.  

Two clips from her first feature film The Delinquents (1989) get a fraction of the screen time when compared to the focus on her relationship with Hutchence and her new short haircut. 

The reporter bills the film as a ‘steamy love story’ which is backed by clips that are heavy on kissing and light on dialogue. Their inclusion in the news story is about higlighting Kylie’s sex appeal rather than her acting.  

The Delinquents is set in a small town in Australia in the late 1950s. It’s a coming-of-age love story between two underage teenagers whose parents disapprove of their relationship. Although these clips are very short, they still provide a clear idea of the basic storyline.  

This story was on NBN 3 News, broadcast on 21 December 1989. 

Notes by Beth Taylor

This scene from Kylie Minogue’s feature film debut The Delinquents shows her considerable acting talent, which is what originally introduced her to Australian and international audiences in Neighbours.

Here Melissa Jaffer’s Aunt Westbury doesn’t stand a chance against Kylie’s firebrand Lola. Aching to return to her young lover Brownie (played by Charlie Schlatter) she – literally – doesn’t pull any punches.

Costuming plays a key part in this scene. Lola removing the pale floral dress given to her by her aunt is a dramatic gesture that exemplifies her rejection of everything her older relative stands for. Stripped and with nowhere to go but away, Lola escapes the emotionally stifling house ready for whatever comes next.

The scene has genuine intensity and is a good example of the unobtrusive direction of Chris Thomson, which affords his actors the space to build emotion. The scene actually has a high degree of complexity, with varying camera angles and tight editing.

Lola is sassy, much like Kylie’s iconic character Charlene in Neighbours. However, despite playing strong characters, Kylie herself was still seen as a good, girl-next-door type in the late 1980s and caused a stir when she came to the premiere of the film with a new image and rock star boyfriend, Michael Hutchence – lead singer of INXS.

A key difference between her role in the film and her stint on Neighbours is the presence of sex scenes. She talks about filming them in an interview from a DVD extra for the film.

The film received mixed reviews but performed well with audiences in Australia and the UK.

Notes by Beth Taylor

Kylie Minogue discusses shooting her first sex scenes for a film in this candid interview clip which features on the DVD extras for The Delinquents.

The clip reveals a somewhat shy and down-to-earth side of Kylie when she says she was embarrassed filming a sex scene with Charlie Schlatter, and hopes he was too!

Kylie talks as if she has not forgotten what it feels like to be a teenager in love and here we see her ability to stay in touch with her young audience's experiences of love and heartbreak.

This is a great example of why Kylie has always been a very relatable figure. She comes across as extremely genuine in her interview, while Charlie Schlatter's responses seem more rehearsed.

A sexy snippet of The Delinquents featuring Kylie and Charlie is included in the clip to pique viewers’ interest. The voice-over from the film’s trailer cuts in clunkily towards the end of the sex scene clip – no doubt a result of the low budget and short timeframes often allocated to produce material for DVD extras.

Notes by Beth Taylor

This poster for the Australian film The Delinquents features its two young stars, Kylie Minogue and Charlie Schlatter.

The film was released in 1989 and Kylie caused a stir by turning up at the premiere with then-boyfriend Michael Hutchence from INXS.

Set in small-town Australia in the late 1950s Kylie’s feature debut is a coming-of-age love story between two teenagers whose parents disapprove of their relationship.

The two images contain obvious visual references to Rebel Without a Cause (Nicholas Ray, USA, 1955) and Grease (Randal Kleiser, USA, 1978).

Kylie has said she grew up watching Grease and greatly admired Olivia Newton-John. She channels that sexy Sandy vibe effectively here through her hair, make-up and costuming – even down to the hoop earrings.

Schlatter’s hair and costuming evokes James Dean with a splash of Grease's John Travolta.

The film contained Kylie’s first ever on-screen sex scenes and the main image on the poster with that kiss and her sensual pose strongly hints that there is some saucy content in the film.

Notes by Beth Taylor

Kylie and Nick Cave look back on their 1995 duet ‘Where the Wild Roses Grow’ from Cave’s 1996 album Murder Ballads.

This excerpt from the documentary Great Australian Albums: Murder Ballads – The Story Behind the Album (Larry Meltzer, Australia, 2008) begins with a scene-setting clip from Britain’s Top of the Pops in 1995.

Kylie looks like a light, elfin figure, surrounded by the darkly-suited Nick Cave and his band the Bad Seeds. Whereas Kylie looks very much at home on the Top 40 television show, Nick and The Bad Seeds shift around awkwardly and look out of place.

This clip demonstrates how incongruous it seemed at the time for the two to be working together.

Interviews with Nick Cave, Kylie and Bad Seed Martyn Casey are skilfully edited together to paint a vivid behind-the-scenes picture of that night on Top of the Pops.

Nick pays tribute to Kylie’s professionalism during the music video shoot, which required her to be immersed in water for a day. Footage of the video directed by Rocky Schenck, showing a snake winding its way between Kylie’s legs, underlines her dedication to her art.

The visual influence of John Everett Millais’ painting Ophelia (1851–2) on the production design of the video is obvious even from the short clip.

While Nick’s unnamed character in the song overpowers and murders Elisa Day (Kylie), Kylie herself comes across as very much in control of her ever-changing image.

As the highest selling Australian-born artist of all time, it is only fitting that Nick Cave refers to Kylie here as a national treasure.

‘Where the Wild Roses Grow’ was the lead single from Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds’ ninth studio album, Murder Ballads (1996). The song was written by Nick Cave and produced by Tony Cohen and Victor Van Vugt.

It reached number 3 in Norway, top five in Australia and made the top 20 in the UK, Ireland, Germany and New Zealand. In 2014 NME placed it at number 378 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

This song is one of several successful duets that Kylie has performed throughout her career. Each has had a different feel depending on who she is working with.

Past duet partners include Robbie Williams, Jimmy Little, The Wiggles, Ben Lee and Jason Donovan.

Notes by Beth Taylor

This is a fine example of a beat-up media story about Kylie Minogue that originated in the UK tabloid press and was based on hearsay. 

Stories like this are a spurious excuse to feature sexy photos of Kylie, appealing to her huge audience of fans who are always keen to know what she’s up to. 

The segment relies on file footage of Kylie in concert on her Rhythm of Love tour and ‘raunchy’ photographs published in London’s Daily Star newspaper under the sensational headline ‘Sex Queen Kylie’.  

It is certainly no accident that the story, broadcast on Seven News on 30 October 1992, came just nine days after Madonna’s lucrative and controversial Sex book was published. Comparisons between Kylie and Madonna are also present in the Daily Star headline ‘The New Madonna’, although Madonna’s name is not mentioned in the Seven News voice-over. 

The layout of the double-page spread is typical of tabloid newspapers where images dominate at the expense of text. It’s ironic though that the grainy images are not very sensational; they’re little more than what we would expect from a cosmetics or swimsuit advertisement. 

Notes by Mel Bondfield

This cover of ‘The Reflex’ by Kylie Minogue and Ben Lee comes from the Duran Duran tribute album UnDone. 

The compilation album was produced in 1999 by Peter McTighe and Rae Harvey and features Australian artists covering songs by the English band whose sound is synonymous with the 1980s. 

The original song was written by Simon Le Bon, John Taylor, Roger Taylor, Andy Taylor and Nick Rhodes and released in 1984 on the album Seven and the Ragged Tiger. 

This song is a good example of the many duets Kylie has recorded throughout her career, having worked with Nick Cave, Robbie Williams, Jimmy Little, The Wiggles and of course Jason Donovan – her original duet partner for 1988’s ‘Especially For You’.  

Where the original contains sharp-edged electric guitar parts and showy, modulated vocals, Ben and Kylie’s vocals have a sunny, singalong pop feel. 

The softer vocal approach is echoed by the layers of gently whirring guitars. It’s obvious that this is an attempt to give the song a less 1980s vibe and it works to a large extent. 

The pair’s Australian accents effectively reflect the homegrown aspect of the project. 

The album was released by EMI through Crucial Music Pty. 

Notes by Beth Taylor

The Wiggles sing ‘Monkey Man’ with their friend Kylie, the Pink Wiggle.

The song is from the TV special The Wiggles Go Bananas and is a cover of a 1970s song by Jamaican reggae band Toots and the Maytals. The song was chosen to fit with the TV special’s jungle theme.

This clip shows Kylie in her Pink Wiggle outfit getting into the spirit of performing for children and having fun with the rest of the band.

Kylie’s cameo for The Wiggles was not her first foray into children’s entertainment, having written children's book The Showgirl Princess, making her an ideal fit for the band.

The Wiggles was formed by Anthony Field and Jeff Fatt in the early 1990s, born out of an earlier successful rock band, The Cockroaches. Like The Wiggles, The Cockroaches was very much a lighthearted, good-time party band, albeit for an adult audience.

The Wiggles though were the first band marketed towards small children and have become a worldwide phenomenon. Much like Kylie, they are a global brand that has expanded into other business ventures with remarkable success.

The Wiggles line-up has changed over the years. Aside from Kylie the song features Anthony Field, Jeff Fatt, Murray Cook and Sam Moran.

This clip is a very good example of their style and presentation and it’s clear why they are popular with children. The hyper-saturated colours of their skivvies, the unpretentious clowning around by adults, and their trademark finger-wiggle that kids can copy are all visually engaging.

The song is upbeat and fun and the dance moves are simple and easy to copy at home. The production values are professional but minimal, allowing the performers to be the centre of attention.

Notes by Beth Taylor

At the 29th Annual TV Week Logie Awards ceremony, Kylie took home the Most Popular Actress award for her role as Charlene on Neighbours. 

This awards footage shows a 19-year-old Kylie at the beginning of her rise to superstardom. It was her role on Neighbours that cast her into the limelight in Australia and the UK, where the soap opera enjoyed phenomenal popularity.  

After receiving her award from actress Belinda Giblin and guest presenter Harry Hamlin, Kylie gives a speech that is both brief and humble, in a manner that has become characteristic of the star – even after decades in the spotlight. 

The 29th Annual TV Week Logie Awards ceremony was held on 3 April 1987 and broadcast live on Network Ten.

She went on to receive the Gold Logie for Australia's Most Popular Television Performer at the 30th Annual TV Week Logie Awards in 1989.

Notes by Beth Taylor

In this short excerpt from a candid interview with Ian ‘Molly’ Meldrum, Kylie talks about signing with Mushroom Records and her first hit song, ‘Locomotion’ in 1987.

She also hints at her struggle to be taken seriously as a pop music artist from the very beginning of her career.  

We see snippets of the music video for ‘Locomotion’, directed by Chris Langman, as Kylie reflects on that period with a sense of clarity, honesty and self-awareness. The production values of the music clip show a deep understanding of the pop-loving young audience she is targeting. It’s really an extension of her effervescent girl-next-door persona from the television soap, Neighbours.

It was a clever idea to show behind-the-scenes moments in the music video – Kylie in the recording studio and learning dance moves – because she was learning how to be a singer and performer herself at the time, so we are invited to enjoy and forgive her awkwardness.

Despite a lack of support from local radio stations, ‘Locomotion’ became a huge commercial success in Australia and (later, in a new version) overseas. It remains her highest-charting hit in the US.

To date Kylie has won numerous awards for her music including 14 ARIAs, 3 BRIT Awards and a Grammy. She was inducted onto the ARIA Hall of Fame in 2011 and is the highest selling Australian-born artist of all time.

The cover image is an iconic photograph of Kylie taken from the photoshoot for her debut album Kylie (1988). Photographer: Lawrence Lawry. © Darenote Ltd.

Notes by Beth Taylor

It makes for a powerful and historic image, seeing these three significant women – Diana, Princess of Wales (1961–1997), Olivia Newton-John and Kylie Minogue – photographed together at the Royal Bicentennial Concert in 1988.

Each of the women shaped fashion, music and culture in the 1980s in Australia and around the world. All of them were renowned for their beauty, and also had a girl-next-door, fairytale-come-true element in how their stories were marketed.

The angle and composition the photographer has chosen accentuates the striking height difference between Diana and Kylie. It’s a candid image – with Kylie looking at Diana with excitement and admiration. It is a shame that we can't see more of Diana's face but Kylie's awestruck expression speaks volumes.

Little did Kylie know at this point early in her singing career that she would one day be called the most popular woman in Britain, win numerous awards and accolades and become the highest selling Australian-born music artist of all time.

Notes by Beth Taylor

Kylie’s popularity as a soap actress reached its peak in 1988, just as she was stepping away from her acting career to focus on music.  

At the TV Week Logie Awards for 1988, broadcast in March 1989, she took home two major television awards, the Silver Logie for Best Actress and the Gold Logie, plus an award for her ‘Locomotion’ music video.

Kylie became the first person to win four Logie Awards in one year. She was also the youngest recipient of the Gold Logie for Australia’s Most Popular Television Performer.

After receiving the award from Hollywood legend Mickey Rooney, Kylie gives an acceptance speech that is sweet, humble and heartfelt.

She acknowledges being in the presence of the cream of Australia’s entertainment industry and that she still has much to learn from them. 

At the same time, she seems genuinely surprised and overwhelmed by how she’s scooped the top prize at the awards ceremony.

The dress she is wearing here is now part of the Australian Performing Arts Collection at Arts Centre Melbourne.

Notes by Beth Taylor

Following the release of her ninth studio album Body Language in November 2003, Kylie performed live to a packed house at the London Apollo on 15 November.

The audience were treated to a mix of songs from her new album plus many of her greatest hits.

This clip is part of the opening number of the show, ‘Still Standing’. As the anticipation builds among the audience, Kylie makes a dramatic entrance, seated at the end of a high beam that slowly lowers her to the stage while she is singing.

She’s dressed in black and white and the stage and set, along with Kylie’s outfit, have been designed to replicate the album cover for Body Language.

While Kylie barely moves in this clip, the director effectively keeps the energy level high by vision switching between a multitude of cameras, including several trained on the audience.

The clip makes us feel we are there, which is a characteristic of successful concert footage. As the camera pans across the crowd, their excitement is palpable as we see the audience on their feet cheering and singing along.

Kylie is famous for her live shows, choreography, sets and costumes and this performance is no exception.

Notes by Mel Bondfield

Popular TV and radio personalities Jono and Dano (Jonathan Coleman and Ian Rogerson) interview Kylie and her Neighbours co-star Jason Donovan on their Saturday Morning Live Christmas special in December 1988. 

Kylie and Jason had just released a new single, ‘Especially for You’. It was written and produced by UK team Stock Aitken Waterman, who produced Kylie’s first studio album and helped guide her and Jason's early music career. 

The young performers were hugely popular with audiences in Australia and the United Kingdom at the time and this interview presents two confident young stars on the rise, who seem at ease with their fame.  

Neighbours was a well-loved soap opera in the UK with a devoted fan base and the single was released there not long after the episode featuring the wedding of Jason and Kylie’s characters on the show, Scott and Charlene. 

‘Especially for You’ was an instant hit for the on- and off-screen couple, topping the UK charts for three weeks during the holiday season. The duo were hoping to repeat that success in Australia with a little help from music video shows like Saturday Morning Live. 

The Saturday Morning Live segment comes across as chaotic, but fun, with plenty of guest artists joining Jono and Dano in their Sydney studio celebrating the Christmas special as they cross live to Kylie and Jason in Melbourne. 

The show regularly played the latest music videos, so after interviewing Kylie and Jason, they screen the video for ‘Especially for You’. The video has a somewhat cheesy story of the separated lovers just missing each other in sunny Sydney locations before they finally connect.

The director is clearly taking advantage of two attractive performers in a beautiful location and the Sydney backdrop is lovingly showcased, almost like a tourism advertisement. While the video plays, Kylie and Jason join in the fun and ham it up for the cameras, in the spirit of the show.

Notes by Mel Bondfield

This short segment features an on-stage reunion of Jason Donovan and Kylie Minogue and was broadcast on Seven News Adelaide on 10 September 2018.  

Although it’s brief, the few bars we hear of the Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan duet ‘Especially For You’ are instantly recognisable and designed to conjure up memories of their history as a couple off-screen, and on-screen as Scott and Charlene in Neighbours.

The song, written and produced by Stock Aitken Waterman, was first released in 1988 and featured on Jason’s debut album Ten Good Reasons (1989).  

The inclusion of the pair’s romantic dance moves makes for news-friendly footage. It’s a good example of the kind of human interest story often shown at the end of a news broadcast which aims to leave viewers feeling positive or nostalgic. 

Notes by Beth Taylor

It was a clever choice by director Baz Luhrmann to cast Kylie in a cameo as the playful and seductive ‘Green Fairy’ in his epic musical Moulin Rouge! (2001).

The scene illustrates the indelible mark a celebrity of Kylie’s stature can leave on a film in less than one minute of screen time.

Kylie’s character is a hallucination that appears as the young poet Christian (Ewan McGregor) and his bohemian friends begin to experience the effects of the alcoholic spirit absinthe, often called the ‘Green Fairy’ because of its colour and mind-altering qualities.

The men surrender themselves to the Green Fairy’s allure as she lights up the sky in green neon, singing and dancing. Her effect on them is both breathtaking and mind-blowing as she multiplies before their eyes, filling the screen with psychedelic Green Fairies.

It’s a scene of controlled chaos, highly characteristic of a Luhrmann production, with jarring zoom effects, extreme camera angles and close-ups that capture the madness of the moment.

Kylie’s rendition of the wholesome Rodgers and Hammerstein song ‘The Sound of Music’ collides with the 1972 T-Rex hit ‘Children of the Revolution’, a celebration of youth and rock music.

The music choices mirror her performance as the Green Fairy – a blurring of the line between the playful innocence attributed to a fairytale character and the sex appeal of a captivating siren.

Both are images that have been associated with Kylie at different stages of her career, making the casting of Kylie for this brief cameo a stroke of genius, and totally in line with her ability to transform her image.

Notes by Mel Bondfield

Kylie featured in an episode of the children’s television drama Zoo Family (Crawford Productions, 1985) in the role of Yvonne, a troubled foster child who causes chaos wherever she goes.  

Titled Yvonne the Terrible, this episode gave scope for a young Kylie to show off the range of her acting skills in one of her earliest roles.

In this short scene, opposite actor Gennie Nevinson, Kylie reveals a softer side to her rebellious teen character, as she talks about her love for animals. 

Zoo Family centred around veterinarian Dr David Mitchell (Peter Curtin) and his two kids (Kate Gorman and Steven Jacobson), and was set at Melbourne Zoo. It also featured Rebecca Gibney in the role of Julie Davis. 

This brief excerpt is from episode 23. 

Notes by Mel Bondfield

Kylie Minogue receives top billing on this promotional poster for the movie Sample People (Clinton Smith, Australia, 2000).

The poster features Paula Arundell (who plays Cleo), Nathan Page (Len), Kylie (Jess) and Nathalie Roy (DJ Lush Puppy). Oddly, three of the five actors billed on the poster don’t appear in the photograph.

The photographer deliberately includes Jess’s tattooed hands in her seductive pose signalling that Kylie plays a sexy bad girl role in the film.

Jess's rebellion against authority is similar to other acting roles Kylie played early in her career (such as Yvonne in Zoo Family, Charlene in Neighbours, and Lola in The Delinquents). 

The red wig, seductive pose and the clean white background of the photograph also recalls Kylie's video clip for ‘Did it Again’ (1997), from her Impossible Princess album, which playfully explores the different sides to her persona.

In addition to acting in the film Kylie performs a cover of Russell Morris’s ‘The Real Thing’ on the film’s soundtrack.

Notes by Beth Taylor

Kylie Minogue’s rare cover version of Russell Morris's ‘The Real Thing’ is from the soundtrack to Sample People (2000, Clinton Smith, Australia). 

Kylie also acted in the film as Jess, alongside Ben Mendelsohn, Simon Lyndon and David Field. 

Morris’s original song, written by Johnny Young of Young Talent Time fame, was released in 1969 and is an Australian rock classic.  

Kylie’s version has a rich electronic feel that wouldn’t have been available to Morris in the late 60s, but it sounds in keeping with the psychedelic feel of the original recording. 

Kylie’s vocal track is powerful and, despite the different instrumentation (synthesisers and drum machine instead of bass and guitar), the cover feels respectful of the original and is still totally recognisable. 

The soundtrack was central to the film’s marketing. It was originally released through Festival Mushroom Records, now owned by Warner Music Australia.

Notes by Beth Taylor

This profile piece on current affairs program Today Tonight delves into Kylie’s career resurgence in the early 2000s.

It explores how she became one of the world’s most marketable people following the release of her seventh and eighth studio albums in quick succession, Light Years (2000) and Fever (2001). Both received critical and commercial acclaim and consolidated her status as a pop and dance music icon.

The package combines highlights from some of Kylie’s acting in television and film, including Neighbours and Moulin Rouge!, and her numerous music videos. These are effectively interspersed to illustrate Kylie’s longevity, putting to rest any doubts about her talent and popularity. Seen together they demonstrate her ability to reinvent herself.

The report is proof that her rise to superstar status and fight to break free of derogatory tags such as ‘the singing budgie’ have been hard earned. The piece is overall a testament to her strength of character, with a surprising appearance by U2 lead singer Bono adding gravitas to the story.

The story also hits on Kylie as a global brand and marketing machine. Her star power has secured lucrative deals with Ford, Pepsi and Evian, along with her own lingerie line.

Dominic Mohan, Show Business Editor at British tabloid newspaper The Sun, talks about Kylie’s legendary gold hotpants from ‘Spinning Around’, and infers that Britons have a fascination with Kylie’s bottom.

In a piece of shamelss self-promotion, he attributes The Sun's prominent featuring of Kylie's hotpants as helping resurrect her career. But it's not surprising to learn that a front-page news story featuring Kylie always sells in big numbers.  

Notes by Mel Bondfield

The newsreader for this short piece about Kylie’s new wax figure at Madame Tussauds refers to her by one of her many nicknames – Pop Princess. 

Kylie has had four wax figures at Madame Tussauds in London. The inspiration for the scene of Kylie descending onto the stage on a crescent moon comes from her Showgirl tour from 2005. 

The fact that only the Queen has had more figures devoted to them is a testament to Kylie’s phenomenal success, popularity and longevity. 

The figure, made by wax artist Jim Kempton, was re-dressed in a Christmas-themed outfit in 2015. The first Kylie figure was unveiled in 1989 and replaced in 1998 and 2002. 

The vision of Kylie spruiking her new fragrance Darling demonstrates Kylie's success on a global scale across a range of endeavours. 

She has had a number of other products bearing her name including wine, Love Kylie lingerie and a homewares range. 

This story was broadcast on 11 January 2007. 

Notes by Beth Taylor

This Network Ten report by Angela Bishop from the 2002 ARIA Awards ceremony shows stars walking the red carpet in front of the Sydney Opera House as excitement builds ahead of the ceremony. 

Kylie scooped up five awards on the night, including highest selling album for the 2001 release Fever and highest selling single, 'Can’t Get You Out of My Head’. 

Kylie made the trip from London to Sydney for the ceremony and we see a snippet of her emotional speech as she accepts her Outstanding Achievement award from Molly Meldrum and gives a shout-out to her dad. 

This story was broadcast on Southern Cross Nightly News, Launceston on 16 October 2002. In 2011, Kylie was also inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame.

Notes by Mel Bondfield

Hot on the heels of her huge success with the album Fever (2001), Kylie took home two Brit Awards at the 2002 ceremony – Best International Female Singer and Best Album. 

In this Nine News story, Kylie is interviewed on the red carpet before the awards, appearing slightly nervous about her four nominations but optimistic, given her recent achievements.  

Kylie’s live acts are famous for their perfectly choreographed dance sequences and iconic costumes, and footage from the ceremony featured in this news story shows Kylie giving a characteristically polished performance of ‘Can’t Get You Out of My Head’.

The song was the lead single from Fever and has become her all-time biggest worldwide hit, having reached number one on the charts in a staggering 40 countries.  

At the time of this news story the song had also reached No. 15 on the US Billboard charts, a market in which Kylie had not much success since the late 1980s (the song ultimately peaked at No. 7).  

The music video from the song also features in this report as a reminder of the iconic costumes and choreography that contributed to the song’s phenomenal success.  

It can be challenging to reconcile the shy and nervous Kylie being interviewed with the iconic and raunchy performer that we see in the two short music segments here. The first segment, of Kylie performing her hit at the awards, is notable for its slick professionalism with the production crew effectively capturing her remarkable charisma.

The second segment, from the 'Can't Get You Out of My Head' music video, demonstrates how Kylie’s magnetism easily transfers to a different format. 

Notes by Mel Bondfield

Having enjoyed phenomenal success in the UK since the late 1980s, Kylie was back home in Australia in 1994 to host the People’s Choice Awards.   

In this short excerpt from the ceremony, Kylie shares some on-stage banter with one of her co-presenters, M Yunupingu from Yothu Yindi. 

Although highly scripted, the exchange between the pair is funny and sweet and gets a great reaction from the audience, which includes Ian ‘Molly’ Meldrum and John Farnham. 

In contrast with earlier awards ceremonies where Kylie has been a recipient, this clip reveals a more mature performer. She now looks more comfortable fronting an audience of her peers. 

Notes by Mel Bondfield

This short news clip features Kylie performing on one of the floats in the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in November 2010 in New York City.

She appears on top of a giant duck singing her current single ‘Get Outta My Way’, from the album Aphrodite. The song hit No. 1 on the US Billboard dance chart.  

Although only brief, the footage of Kylie on the duck float gives viewers unfamiliar with the event a good indication of the massive scale of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

The parade is watched by millions of people for its themed floats and A-list talent as it winds its way through the streets of Manhattan to the Macy’s flagship store on West 34th Street. 

It is arguably the biggest and most popular parade in the world and has been held annually since 1924. To be invited to perform is testament to Kylie’s global reach and worldwide popularity.

That year, the eclectic line-up of featured guests included Kanye West, Carrie Underwood, Gladys Knight and The Muppets. 

The biggest audience for this event is on television so it’s not surprising that the production is aimed more at the broadcast audience. As a result, nearly all performers in the parade lip sync instead of singing live. Having singers perform live would be a logistical nightmare as the floats are constantly moving and the autumn weather is often not conducive to live performance.

While it’s obvious that Kylie is not singing live here, her performance is professionally captured by multiple cameras with slick live editing. 

This story was broadcast on Nine News on 26 November 2010. 

Notes by Mel Bondfield

This little-known duet with Yorta Yorta musician and actor Jimmy Little (1937 – 2012) is a cover of The Triffids' classic from their 1987 album Calenture. The song was written by David McComb. 

It comes from the compilation album Corroboration: A Journey Through The Musical Landscape of 21st Century Australia (2001). Put together by Kurt Luthy, the album brings together Indigenous and non-Indigenous musical artists across various genres. 

Reinventing the song into a duet enhances the story-like feel of the lyrics. Kylie has said that she loves doing duets and Jimmy’s low, smooth vocal is beautifully distinct from Kylie’s soft register. 

Where the original song has an epic feel enhanced by the strings in the arrangement, this cover is more ethereal. The delicate synthesiser line and pared-back arrangement is reminiscent of another Australian classic, ‘Under the Milky Way’ by The Church. 

The compilation was originally released on the Festival Mushroom Records imprint Sputnik Records but is now owned by Warner Music Australia. 

This song is a worthy addition to the many duets Kylie has recorded throughout her career. Each has had a different feel depending on who she is working with.

Past duet partners include Nick Cave, Robbie Williams, Ben Lee, The Wiggles and of course Jason Donovan. 

The cover image for this song is a picture of Jimmy and Kylie taken in 2001. The unknown photographer captures the warmth evident in their duet in this simple, posed shot. The choice to include the pair’s intertwined hands in the framing speaks to the message of Reconciliation which is central to the album. 

Notes by Beth Taylor

This short news story from October 1999 covers the launch of Kylie, the self-titled book, at Selfridges – a high-end department store in London.  

The book was a large-format, collectible photographic publication capturing Kylie's career from young soap actress through to international pop icon. 

It features works from well-known photographers and artists, alongside more candid and personal contributions from friends and family.  

This news story gives us a glimpse of some the photos and artwork included in the book. Together, they convey a sense of Kylie’s many personae. 

These range from a surprising sepia-toned photo of Kylie naked in bed and the beautifully intimate photo with the late Michael Hutchence, to some highly dubious portrayals such as Kylie riding side-saddle as a nun on a rocking horse and depicted as ‘Indigenous’ on a fake $10 Australian note. 

Fans in London queued for hours to see Kylie and get an autographed copy of the book. In a brief interview, Kylie tells Nine’s reporter, Lane Calcutt, that she’s learned to embrace her past and is not afraid to revisit her early career. 

Notes by Mel Bondfield

Kylie’s fans in the gay community have been key to her success as an artist.

In this brief news clip, we see Kylie right in the thick of the action at the 2019 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, where she popped up as a surprise guest.

Seven’s footage from the parade captures Kylie walking along Oxford Street, surrounded by drag queens and parade-goers dressed in various Kylie costumes to honour her as an icon of the gay community.  

In an interview snippet, Kylie says she’s excited to be back at Mardi Gras and to see how attitudes towards the event have changed.  

Notes by Mel Bondfield

This clip from a made-for-TV special about Kylie and Jason gives a brief glimpse into the Stock Aitken Waterman juggernaut that dominated pop music in the late 1980s.  

The team wrote and produced Kylie’s early studio albums and are sometimes credited with making her a star. However, Pete Waterman makes it clear in this interview that they recognised her natural talent immediately, noting that during her first meeting she learned the song ‘I Should Be So Lucky’ in a matter of minutes and had it recorded within an hour, highlighting her professionalism. 

Kylie, on the other hand, is very humble in this interview, admitting that she was not convinced she’d done the song justice, while also recognising that she’s a tough critic when it comes to her own work.  

This clip also contains footage from the music video for ‘I Should Be So Lucky’, a breezy pop tune that became an unexpected smash hit, reaching number one on the charts in Australia, the UK and parts of Europe. The song elevated Kylie’s status as a serious contender on the pop music landscape and her girl-next-door image is amplified in the music video as we see her dancing, blowing bubbles in the bath and playing up to the camera. 

The clips from the music video amply demonstrate that, early in her career, the gulf between person and performer was not very wide. The camera captures a fairly shy, self-effacing and lighthearted Kylie Minogue. 

'I Should be So Lucky' was added to the NFSA's Sounds of Australia in 2011.

Notes by Beth Taylor

This clip features Kylie performing ‘Rockin’ Robin’ for Australian troops and local East Timorese people in the East Timor capital Dili. 

Kylie was one of the headline acts for the concert and sang a range of songs including ‘Santa Baby’, ‘Jingle Bell Rock’ and a duet of ‘Shout’ with John Farnham. 

The clip sees Kylie having a lot of fun on stage, but also shows her professionalism. She lives up to her reputation as a slick stage artist, executing a perfectly choreographed routine under the difficult circumstances of performing in a war zone. 

Her full performance at this concert is also a testament to her versatility and range as a live entertainer. 

The December 1999 Concert for the Interfet Troops at Dili Stadium featured many of Australia’s top artists who volunteered their time to entertain peacekeeping forces in East Timor. 

Included in the line-up was John Farnham, Doc Neeson, The Living End, Gina Jeffreys, Jack Jones and James Blundell, plus hosts Roy and HG (John Doyle and Greig Pickhaver). 

‘Rockin’ Robin’ was written by Leon René and first released by Bobby Day in 1958.

Notes by Mel Bondfield

Kylie teamed up with John Farnham for a lively version of the Johnny O’Keefe classic ‘Shout’ at the Concert for the Interfet Troops at Dili Stadium, East Timor in December 1999.  

The two legendary Aussie singers have a lot of fun on stage playing up to the audience, and their stage presence and chemistry really shine through. 

Both are natural entertainers and seem to have a healthy level of respect for each other's talents, which shows in their performance. 

The song choice is a great one for the cheerful crowd. With its well-known chorus, it encourages audience participation and has everyone on their feet singing along. 

Notes by Mel Bondfield

This clip is a feel-good news story covering Kylie’s London book launch for The Showgirl Princess, a children’s book she wrote while recovering from breast cancer treatment in 2005.

Kylie looks happy and radiant at the launch and seems excited to meet the many fans and supporters who waited in line at a Waterstones bookstore in London to get their signed copy.

The book shows Kylie once again extending her talents beyond music and acting and broadening her audience to secure an even younger generation of Kylie fans.

Her comeback so quickly after dealing with cancer is proof that she is one of the most determined and hard-working people in the entertainment industry.

Notes by Mel Bondfield

Kylie Minogue in her first lead role as Charlotte 'Char' Kernow. This series also starred Ben Mendelsohn and Nadine Garner, and premiered on Network Ten on 11 May 1985. 

In their local café hangout, the gang drink Coke, chat and play pinball. Ted Morgan (Ben Mendelsohn), son of a striking mill worker, looks forward to the ‘fireworks’ which will result from a walk-out at the mill owned by Wheeler. Cowboy (Mark Hennessy) advises Ted not to get involved before Pat (Antoinette Byron) kicks the teenagers out of the café. Summary by Tammy Burnstock.

Instantly recognisable, Kylie Minogue appears far right in this cast photograph of The Henderson Kids. The show premiered on Network Ten on 11 May 1985 and she featured in 24 episodes.

Charlotte 'Char' Kernow was her first lead role on television after appearances on The Sullivans (1976), Skyways (1980) and Zoo Family (1985).

Also pictured (clockwise): Ben Mendelsohn (as Ted Morgan), Paul Smith (Steve Henderson), Mark Hennessy (Colin ‘Cowboy’ Clarke), Nadine Garner (Tammy Henderson) and Bradley Kilpatrick (Bradley ‘Brains’ Buchanan).

Notes by Beth Taylor

This Seven News story covers the launch of an exhibition at the Arts Centre Melbourne showcasing Kylie’s tour fashions from 1989 to 2016.  

Kylie travelled home to Melbourne from the UK to launch the exhibition in September 2016, which featured a selection of costumes and memorabilia chosen from more than 800 items from Kylie’s collection.  

Some of the fashion industry’s most famous designers are represented in the exhibition, including Dolce & Gabbana and Galliano, plus local designer Peter Morrissey. They have all dressed Kylie for concert tours. 

Costumes from all her iconic concert tours including Showgirl and Aphrodite were on show, but Kylie singles out the ‘Blue Showgirl’ costume as one of her most loved. 

In her speech launching the exhibition, Kylie jokes about being a hoarder, admitting to being just like anyone else who stores stuff in their parents' attic!

It’s not the first time her tour fashions have been on display to the public. In 2007, the V&A Museum in London held a similar exhibition. 

Notes by Mel Bondfield

The role of Kaye Hall in Stephan Elliott’s 2017 Australian film Swinging Safari is a big departure from Kylie’s other acting roles.

The camp 1970s aesthetic of the film is reflected in every aspect of this production still from Kylie’s pose, make-up and costuming to the dog’s feathery showgirl outfit.

Kylie has often played feisty characters who are wary of authority (Charlene in Neighbours, Lola in The Delinquents) so it is refreshing to see her broaden her scope as Kaye – an alcoholic, porn-obsessed, agoraphobic mother.

Taken out of context, this promotional image for the film represents an intermingling between Kylie herself and Kaye. The hair, make-up and garish costume are pure Kaye but there’s a camp sense of fun that Kylie brings to the photograph.

The dog is played by Krumm the miniature dachshund who gets around on wheels due to Intervertebral disc disease.

Director Stephan Elliott almost worked with Kylie before, when making The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994). The film was originally intended to be full of Kylie tracks but was changed when PolyGram Entertainment insisted Elliott only include songs from its own music library. Kylie songs were later used in the stage adaptation of the film in 2006.

Notes by Beth Taylor

Comedians Tony Martin and Mick Molloy interview Kylie Minogue in an excerpt from their Martin/Molloy radio program from 1997.

This clip is notable for its irreverent Australian humour and Kylie is in on the joke, coming across as very self-aware and down to earth.

The Poetry Olympics at the Royal Albert Hall they refer to was called A Hip Mass: The Superjam – First International Poetry Day and it was held on 7 July 1996.

Following the release of her dark duet with Nick Cave, ‘Where the Wild Roses Grow’, just nine months earlier, Kylie achieved a new level of cool cred when she performed a tongue-in-cheek spoken word version of Stock Aitken Waterman's upbeat pop song ‘I Should Be So Lucky’.

Cover image - Photographer: Andrew Lehmann. © Darenote Ltd

Notes by Beth Taylor

In 2012, Kylie made a return to the silver screen in the French fantasy drama Holy Motors (2012), directed by Leos Carax.  

In this Nine News report, Kylie is seen walking the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival in a dazzling and figure-hugging, sequinned gold dress, along with Carax and other cast members. 

The film premiered at Cannes on 23 May 2012, where it met with critical acclaim and competed for the prestigious Palme d’Or. 

We also see part of the movie trailer in the news story, which reporter Richard Wilkins uses as a vehicle to help describe the unusual and surrealist nature of the film. 

The clip doesn’t really give a sense of the film and Wilkins talking over the top doesn’t help. Wilkins' description of a character as a ‘bearded goblin’ that eats Eva Mendes’ character’s hair perhaps best hints at the film's strangeness.

Notes by Mel Bondfield

Kylie Minogue performs Eartha Kitt's 1953 Christmas hit 'Santa Baby' at the Concert for the Interfet Troops at Dili Stadium, East Timor in December 1999.

Kylie's flowing sexy satin dress has clearly been chosen to accentuate the suggestive lyrics and the song's luxurious feel.

The multicamera shoot covers the action of the concert adequately. Hearing and seeing the crowd of troops react to the coyly provocative dancers contextualises the concert's charged atmosphere.

Notes by Mel Bondfield

Kylie Minogue performed at Seven Creeks Run in Euroa, Victoria on Sunday 17 February 1991. The show was part of her Rhythm of Love tour. 

The premise of this story – that some Euroa locals are upset Kylie is touring the area so soon after bushfires – isn’t backed by any vox pops in reporter Mark Gilles’ segment, which makes the premise seem somewhat spurious.

Ultimately the story seems to be an excuse to feature footage from Kylie Minogue’s Australian tour with a local spin for ATV-10 before the Euroa event. 

Notes by Beth Taylor

This photograph captures one of Australian television history’s biggest moments – the wedding of Scott Robinson and Charlene Mitchell (played by Jason Donovan and Kylie Minogue).

Two million Aussies and almost 20 million viewers in Britain tuned in to watch them say 'I do'.

This production still evokes a powerful sense of 1980s style that transports us back in time. In keeping with Charlene’s girl-next-door image her wedding dress, now housed at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, was purchased from a suburban Melbourne bridal salon.

Kylie’s singing career was launched less than a month after this episode aired on Australian television, with her No. 1 debut single ‘Locomotion’.

Jason and Kylie recorded a duet ‘Especially For You’ in 1989. Kylie has gone on to become the highest selling Australian-born artist of all time.

Notes by Beth Taylor

George Heygate (Richard Roxburgh) calls the police to report what happened when a mysterious woman (Kylie Minogue) appeared in front of his car and asked for help. 

Summary by Kate Matthews

Having worked with Guy Pearce on Neighbours in the 1980s, Kylie leapt at the chance to appear alongside him in Stephan Elliott’s 2017 Australian film Swinging Safari. Here they play husband and wife Kaye and Keith Hall.

Kylie and the rest of the ensemble cast (Radha Mitchell, Julian McMahon, Jeremy Sims and Asher Keddie) say they had a lot of fun making the film, and in this production still it appears as though Kylie is falling out of character and trying not to laugh as Pearce hams it up for the camera.

The aesthetic of the film is literally front and centre in this promotional image with the hair, make-up, original vintage costumes, colour palette and production design all screaming 1970s camp.

Director Stephan Elliott almost worked with Kylie before, when making The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994). The film was originally intended to be full of Kylie tracks but was changed when PolyGram Entertainment insisted Elliott only include songs from its own music library. Kylie songs were later used in the stage adaptation of Priscilla in 2006.

Notes by Beth Taylor

Kylie Minogue appears as Cammy in the action movie Street Fighter (Steven E de Souza, USA and Japan) in 1994.

Based on the video game of the same name, the action role was a departure for Kylie and included fight scenes.

Kylie looks very much the part here in a fighting pose with her finger on the trigger of a gun. Although it was a relatively small role, Kylie’s star power justifies her appearing on her own in this promotional poster.

Kylie’s action pose and steely gaze is reminiscent of other female action heroes of the time, including Linda Hamilton’s Sarah Connor in Terminator 2: Judgement Day (James Cameron, USA, 1991).

Although Cammy is a tough fighter her long hair is positioned in a way that accentuates her femininity, not unlike Lara Croft (who first appeared in the game Tomb Raider in 1996).

The poster is signed by Kylie.

Notes by Beth Taylor

With over 80 million records sold worldwide, Kylie’s success is truly global.

Short and to the point, this segment from Nine News Brisbane in 2008 highlights the pride that Australians feel seeing her international success. Even though Kylie has lived overseas for many years she is still thought of as ‘our Kylie’. 

This human interest story uses the $4 million dollar price tag of Kylie’s performance as a headline to hook audiences. 

Impressive shots of a large fireworks display at the Atlantis Hotel in Dubai are included to add colour and show the scale of the opening event. 

Notes by Beth Taylor