Especially for you
(Kelly Lewis)


Local promoter AEG Live Middle East proudly whisked Ms Minogue off to her next Dubai engagement (after her performance at the Atlantis opening party) the following night, where she made her first public Middle East debut. Kelly Lewis reports.

Continuing the Middle East leg of her KylieX2008 tour, Minogue made her way to Dubai's Festival City venue to perform in front of 16,000 eagerly awaiting fans.

AEG Live Middle East's managing director, Thomas Ovesen said that due to logistical reasons, Minogue's Dubai concert was not quite as large as her full-scale touring show, but none the less, the performance the popstress gave on the night far surpassed the expectations of all present.

In the build-up to Minogue's performance, lads and ladies from around Dubai rushed to secure their tickets to see the diva live in action, and she certainly did not disappoint holding them captive for two hours, while she performed a compilation of both current and old favourites.

Ovesen says the strong ticket sales produced from Minogue's show was encouraging to see in a market currently hit by a recession and while other local events are flagging in comparison.

"While many local events are selling poorly we were extremely happy with the turnout for Minogue, but we have to be realistic when assessing that approximately 50% of the sales took place before mid October... Having decided to charge in the region of only US$53 for the entry level ticket this event offered remarkable value for money," Ovesen claims.

To enhance sales and raise awareness of the event, AEG Live sprung-into-action with an effectual marketing campaign.

"For Minogue we rolled out a regional campaign of a magnitude that I have not seen before to ensure everybody knew about the event well in advance...I think we achieved a great turn-out and everyone will agree that this was an amazing event."

Ovensen says AEG Live was honoured to present Minogue's first public concert in Dubai, adding it was a fantastic show that fans will not be able to 'get out of their heads' in a hurry.

Heading-up the new 'gourmet style' concert food was JW Marriott, which served 8000 meals and 22,000 beverages on the night.

For the event JW Marriot set-up a total of 34 counters and had 212 dedicated food and beverage staff. As a result queues were relatively short and fast-moving additionally, it set-up beverage only bars to facilitate the flow even further.

As fans stood waiting for Minogue to take to the stage they vociferously reinforced their excitement.

As the pulsating stage came to life in tune to her opening song, Speakerphone, the giant speakers (props) vibrated around on stage, then parting to reveal Minogue standing centre stage in an electrifying capacity.

The multi-million dollar, KylieX2008 tour is Minogue's largest production yet and showcases an interesting juxtaposition of physical and simulated visual elements.

The tour plays on the electro-pop genre (mid 1980s to early 1990s) employing digital video art and electric vocal elements supported by the theatrical 'new wave' theme.

Adding to this is the tour's theatrics, which have been inspired by the French fashion designer Jean Paul Gautier, who has custom-designed a range of Minogue's threads, which intermix with the show's animated feel.

Minogue's production manager for the tour is Kevin Hopgood, who says "the creative process never stops on this tour".

"Along the way we have tweaked areas to either suit different venues or different legs of the tour, which has worked really well and it also prevents the show from becoming repetitive for Minogue and the crew," he adds.

From a production manager's point of view, Hopgood says it is all about having the right people on the tour to bring it all together, which in this case involves around 55 people.

"In terms of having equipment supplied locally we have been very fortunate in Dubai, everything we specified could be provided, we've had to adapt less here than almost anywhere else, which has helped the process," states Hopgood.

"The main thing we need for this tour is space because we have so many performers on the stage and that requires a large surface area. The requested stage dimensions aren't always available, which means that for each show we have to adapt the stage design to suit and then rework some of the choreography and visual elements to tie-in with the new set-up."

For a little lady Ms Minogue does not travel lightly, with some 23 tonnes of equipment in-toe for this leg of the tour. To make the transition from destination to destination easier Matt Wright from the UK's Rock-it Cargo, is along for the ride meticulously coordinating all the logistics of the freight and cargo.

The hefty rig features 'state-of-the-art' multimedia technology and XL Video supplied video equipment and six crew for Minogue's tour, under the direction of crew chief Stuart Heaney, who also heads-up the video projection for the tour.

KylieX2008 has a strong instrumental look and feel to the show, bringing, texture, depth, movement and big colour visuals alive on the stage.

Six Element Labs Stealth LED screens each consisting of seven panels wide by 22 panels high (18m x 9m), with a hanging weight of 1.5 tonnes, form as one huge backdrop that runs playback material one rack per screen.

The Stealths hang vertically on the upstage, with the playback content feeding from two Apple Mac G4 computers utilising the playback VVTR software system.

All the footage was specifically created for this tour by Marcus Viner of Blink TV in the UK, who worked closely with creative director William Baker to shoot the content.