Kylie Minogue brought three decades of hits, a striking collaboration with William Barton and an airborne finale to the AFL Grand Final at the MCG.
by Paul Cashmere
Kylie Minogue turned the rain-soaked MCG into a celebration of her Melbourne roots on Saturday, delivering a 20-minute AFL Grand Final performance that moved from 1990s pop to 2000s dance anthems before sending her above the stadium for “Can’t Get You Out Of My Head”. The most unexpected musical moment came when Kalkadunga songman and multi-instrumentalist William Barton joined her for “Confide In Me”, bringing a darker, orchestral dimension to the otherwise high-energy set.
The performance began with a film tracing Minogue’s connection to Melbourne, including images of her as a child alongside footage of Australian football. A young performer dressed as an early-era Kylie then appeared on the field before the real Minogue emerged surrounded by dancers in metallic blue costumes.
“A homecoming like this? I should be so lucky,” Minogue said.
She quickly established the musical brief with “Love At First Sight”, followed by “In Your Eyes” and “Get Outta My Way”. “On A Night Like This” then moved into “All The Lovers”, before “Spinning Around” brought one of the clearest links between Minogue’s catalogue and the stadium setting.
The pivotal change came with “Confide In Me”. Barton joined Minogue on stage with strings accompanying the 1994 song, while both performers appeared in black and gold. The arrangement allowed the song’s brooding character to stand apart from the surrounding dance material, making it one of the set’s most distinctive musical passages.
Barton is a particularly significant collaborator for the performance because of his own musical language and connection to Australian culture. Rather than simply adding another guest appearance to a pop spectacle, his presence gave “Confide In Me” a different texture and weight.
The show then returned to the dancefloor with “Slow” before G Flip joined Minogue for “Padam Padam”. The 2023 hit was given a more rock-oriented treatment, with both performers dressed in red and G Flip contributing guitar.
G Flip had already played an important role in the Grand Final entertainment, opening proceedings with “Worst Person Alive” and “Bed On Fire” before moving to saxophone. Mike Brady later performed “Up There Cazaly” during the retiree motorcade, while Michael Paynter performed the national anthem.
For Minogue, however, the centre of the performance remained her own catalogue. Ten songs were compressed into the short pre-game window, spanning “The Loco-Motion” from 1987 through to “Padam Padam”, with “Confide In Me” providing the major change of pace.
The production continually connected Minogue’s pop history with the football setting. Her costumes included a vintage image of herself on a top, a black dress carrying a 2026 Grand Final reference and Melbourne detailing, a gold coat for the Barton section, and finally a silver-white gown and sunglasses.
The visual climax came with “The Loco-Motion”. Minogue teased the audience with the possibility that the show had ended before the song began, prompting more than 100,000 people at the MCG to join in. The Inspired Unemployed also appeared during the performance.
Then came the stunt that turned the finale into a stadium-wide spectacle. Minogue rose above the MCG in a suspended platform associated with a giant football carrying her name, singing “Can’t Get You Out Of My Head” in a version featuring Dom Dolla’s remix.
The complete Kylie Minogue AFL Grand Final setlist was:
Love At First Sight (2002)
In Your Eyes (2002)
Get Outta My Way (2010)
On A Night Like This (2000)
All The Lovers (2010)
Spinning Around (2000)
Confide In Me (1994) with William Barton
Slow (2003)
Padam Padam (2023) with G Flip
The Loco-Motion (1987)
Can’t Get You Out Of My Head (2001), Dom Dolla remix
For a performer whose career began in Melbourne and subsequently stretched across the world, the significance of the setting was impossible to miss. The show deliberately folded childhood memories, Australian football and three generations of Kylie songs into the same 20-minute window.
And while the airborne finale provided the defining image, the William Barton collaboration gave the performance its most unexpected musical turn. At the MCG, Minogue did more than run through the hits. She used “Confide In Me” to briefly change the atmosphere before returning the stadium to the dancefloor.
The AFL Grand Final stage ultimately became what Minogue had promised: a Melbourne homecoming, built around the songs that made her career and framed by a distinctly Australian cast of collaborators.
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