It was Love at First Sight as Australian pop princess Kylie Minogue delivered a grand final pre-game show fit for a queen.
The first solo Aussie act to headline the show since Paul Kelly in 2019, Minogue’s 20-minute set started with a Melbourne schoolgirl wandering onto the turf of the MCG, a nod to the superstar’s roots growing up Down Under.
Fittingly, Minogue kicked off her set with hit single Love at First Sight, from the 2001 album Fever, followed by In Your Eyes and Get Outta My Way to get fans involved.
Despite wet weather threatening to spoil the party, she donned a black singlet with an iconic image of the herself and her name, along with a skirt belt with red, white and black fringe as she belted out On a Night Like This and All The Lovers.
Following a short dance break, Minogue emerged in a short grey dress and fishnets, complete with incredible gold boots to On A Night Like This.
Her mega-hit Spinning Around got the crowd pumping before she welcomed acclaimed First Nations didgeridoo player and composer William Barton to the stage to perform Confide in Me, adding a matching gold coat to her costume change.
Singer-songwriter G-Flip joined Minogue on stage to perform one of her more recent smash hits, 2023’s Grammy award-winning Padam Padam.
The performance was filled with blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameos from Australian acts, including DJ Dom Dolla in a safety vest and comedy duo The Inspired Unemployed to lead Loco-motion.
Even more dancers joined her for that hit track, including performers in pink dresses and checkerboard boots, as well as a colourful crowd of dancers with matching extra-large pompoms in a train formation.
The crowd of 100,000 erupted as Minogue sang “La La La La La…” into the microphone as she was lifted into the air on a flying rig above a giant inflatable Sherrin.
Finishing her set with the iconic Can’t Get You Out of My Head, Minogue wore a spectacular silver gown as she touched back down on the ground to fireworks and fanfare alike.
Earlier, G-Flip kicked off the pre-game entertainment on the drums with Worst Person Alive before belting out their smash hit Bed on Fire, which charted globally after appearing on popular Amazon Prime series Off Campus.
Following the lap of honour for retiring AFL stars and individual award winners across the women’s and men’s competitions, Mike Brady was on hand to deliver his annual rendition of his timeless ballad Up There, Cazaly.
The 78-year-old grinned from ear-to-ear as 100,000 fans sang his classic lyrics back to him.
