“Let’s do it here,” Kylie Minogue says, as she jumps excitedly on to a bed at the Meydan Hotel in Dubai on Thursday.
The living area next door was being prepped by the official Dubai World Cup video crew for a promotional shoot with the pop icon, and we were led into the bedroom for our exclusive interview.
“I love it here,” she says, looking genuinely excited. “I had the best day yesterday. We flew in earlier and got to do a safari tour. And as the sun was setting and the stars were coming out, it was so exotic and it got me thinking: Some people dream about doing things like this their whole lives, and I thought ‘How did a girl from Melbourne, Australia, get to have days like this in her life?’ It was amazing.”
The 46-year-old is no stranger to the UAE. She last performed in 2012 at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix after-race concert, and also in 2008 at the opening of Atlantis, The Palm, in Dubai, as well a separate public concert. Today, she closes the Dubai World Cup, the world’s richest horse race.
“I’m always drawn to something I haven’t experienced before, and Dubai has given that,” she says.
I am curious about her enthusiasm, I tell her, considering she’s been at it for the last three decades. Yes, she’s sold more than 70 million records via 12 studio albums, won numerous awards, is still one of the most successful recording artists in the world and still actively tours. But there must be days when she just wants to get away from it all.
“Yeah, there are days,” she says. “I’d find it had to imagine a performer who hasn’t had a day like that when they feel they can’t do it anymore.
“It takes a lot from you. But I learnt to balance it. It’s my choice to do this job. Yes, there’s a lot this job requires that’s not the fun part. But it’s how you look at it. For me, the fun part is on Saturday night, when I get on stage and share with people and celebrate years and years of work. I’m just so fortunate that I am able to share these things with people.
“Also, I wouldn’t last a day in an office,” she adds with a wink.
Talk invariably leads to the hot topic: Zayn Malik leaving One Direction, the world’s biggest band, in the middle of a their sold out tour.
I ask her what she’d say to Malik if she were to sit down with him.
“You know, it’s completely understandable that he’s stressed out and wants to leave,” she says. “Fame isn’t for everyone. There is a lot of wonderful things that come with that, but there are other things.
“It’s like work,” she adds. “Everyone wants a day off from work sometimes. And if you’re a member of One Direction, there’s no day off. If I was a 15-year-old, I wouldn’t want any member of One Direction to leave. But good for him if he wants to pursue other things.”
Malik’s sudden departure from the band, before they make their UAE debut on April 4 in Dubai, has sent shockwaves through One Direction’s loyal fanbase in the region, as well as around the world.
“Look at Take That. There’s an ebb and flow to everything. A band is a living, breathing thing ... people with real lives and desires that might not always fit into the schedule of a band,” she says, adding that she remained hopeful for Zayn’s return. “Who knows if he will be gone forever.”
Minogue just recently wrapped up the Australian leg of her “Kiss Me Once” tour, to support her 12th album of the same name released last year. Following the Dubai performance, the tour will then take her on a second European leg.
At this point in her career, she says she feels like she’s just hitting her stride.
In 2005, the then-36-year-old was diagnosed with breast cancer, abruptly putting a stop on her musical career. Her subsequent surgery and full-time return to performing has been well-documented.
“You hear stories about someone going through life-changing moments when they have to reassess and reevaluate what they are going through. I didn’t have that,” she says of her fight with the disease.
“I didn’t have that moment. I just felt even more determined. I just thought: ‘I’m not finished’,” she says thumping her thighs.
“I wasn’t finished. I wanted to keep being creative. It was a little more different… your body is not the same, your mind is not the same. But I had to make the decision to get on with it, and to make the most of what life has given me. So here I am.”
Suddenly, it all made sense.
