Latest / The Front / Kylie’s mic drop: Netflix blockbuster reveals the Minogue we never knew

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Kylie’s mic drop: Netflix blockbuster reveals the Minogue we never knew · The Front

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: I'm glad I did to throw a job, but I
• 0:01
  Speaker 1: think that is the job of TV critics when it's
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: available to them. Please watch the whole thing is you
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: never know what's at the end. I'll say.
• 0:13
  Speaker 2: From The Australian, this is the weekend edition of The Front.
• 0:16
  Speaker 3: I'm Claire Harvey.
• 0:28
  Speaker 2: Kylie Minogue, the local soapy starlet turned global superstar, is
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  Speaker 2: getting the Netflix documentary treatment. After decades in the business,
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  Speaker 2: millions of album sales and multiple round the world tours,
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  Speaker 2: the world's most relatable pop goddess waited until the last
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  Speaker 2: moments of her new three part series to drop a bombshell.
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  Speaker 2: The Australians music writer Andrew McMillan caught it, and he's
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  Speaker 2: here in just a moment.
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  Speaker 1: In the final few minutes of this three hour runtime,
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  Speaker 1: under the title heading One More Thing, Kylie discloses that
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  Speaker 1: five years ago she was diagnosed with cancer for the
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  Speaker 1: second time.
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  Speaker 4: My second cancer diagnosis was in early twenty twenty one.
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  Speaker 4: I was able to keep that to myself and go
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  Speaker 4: through that year and not like the first time. Wow,
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  Speaker 4: we're trying to find that the right the right time
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  Speaker 4: to say it. I don't feel obliged to tell the world,
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  Speaker 4: And actually I just couldn't at the time because I
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  Speaker 4: was as just a shell of a person.
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  Speaker 1: This was a second primary breast cancer, following her first
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  Speaker 1: bout with breast cancer in two thousand and five, so
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  Speaker 1: sixteen years after her first diagnosis, she had it again,
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  Speaker 1: but she kept it secret from everyone but those very
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  Speaker 1: close to her for the past five years.
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  Speaker 2: What a mic drop. It's a very rock star move
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  Speaker 2: to make that the one last thing, isn't it?
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  Speaker 1: It is? And that revelation at the very end, it
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  Speaker 1: made me rethink the whole point of the project in
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  Speaker 1: a way, sometimes it's hard to tell what the point
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: of a documentary about a star is, like, what is
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  Speaker 1: it for? And that little revelation tucked at the end
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  Speaker 1: for those who watched all the way to the end
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: of the three hour runtime. For me, it drew the
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  Speaker 1: whole project into sharp focus because it was a way
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  Speaker 1: for her to finally tell her fans, her hardcore fans,
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  Speaker 1: millions of them around the world, what she had experienced.
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  Speaker 1: And for me, having watched her closely across the past
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  Speaker 1: eight years in this job, but particularly in the last
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  Speaker 1: three since her last big hit called Padan Pa Dam
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  Speaker 1: in twenty twenty three, that will happen for her after
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  Speaker 1: her second counter diagnosis, and she's toured the world last year,
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  Speaker 1: including Australia, played to half a million people around the world.
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  Speaker 4: Know that.
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  Speaker 1: They know you, sid.
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  Speaker 2: Oh feeling keeping it private too is such an interesting choice.
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  Speaker 2: When she'd had the first bout of cancer, she spoke
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  Speaker 2: about that quite courageously and Australians poured out their hearts
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  Speaker 2: to her, and you know, she got a lot of
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  Speaker 2: sort of public sympathy and of course public attention. If
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  Speaker 2: you were very cynical as a public figure, you would
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  Speaker 2: milk it for all it was worth. Do you think
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  Speaker 2: she felt like she might not survive it and she
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  Speaker 2: just needed to focus on the recovery or were there
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  Speaker 2: other reasons that she wanted to keep it private.
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  Speaker 1: I have a feeling it was her, And again this
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  Speaker 1: is pure speculation. I don't know Nora. Is it addressed
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: in the film. But maya suspicion is that her experience
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  Speaker 1: of that first about with cancer two thousand and five
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  Speaker 1: was so traumatic as a strong word, but as the
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  Speaker 1: third episode of the documentary shows, she was imprisoned inside
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: the family house in Melbourne for a long time. There
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: was media camped outside the family home while she was
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  Speaker 1: dealing with this life changing or life shaping diagnosis.
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  Speaker 5: The worst point was Dad needed to go for walk
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  Speaker 5: around the block with the dog. The dog needed to
• 4:21
  Speaker 5: go for walk around the block and he couldn't get
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  Speaker 5: out of the gate.
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  Speaker 1: And she ultimately decided to leave Australia, her home country,
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  Speaker 1: her homeland, to go to Paris for treatment. And I
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  Speaker 1: think a big part of that, as explored in the film,
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  Speaker 1: is that she was just being hounded by people who
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: were at some level well wishing, but also there was
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  Speaker 1: a huge level of intrusion into her life when that
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: first happened. So to me, it's completely understandable that she
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  Speaker 1: wanted to avoid any of that fanfare for her second
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  Speaker 1: bout with cancer. So the fact that she's kept the
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  Speaker 1: secret for five years is remarkable and to me completely understandable.
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  Speaker 2: She's approaching her sixties, which is absolutely mind blowing. I
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  Speaker 2: cannot believe that Kylie Minogi's in her late fifties now.
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  Speaker 2: But one of the other very personal things she talks
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  Speaker 2: about in the documentary is her struggle or her desire
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  Speaker 2: to have a child. What do we learn in the
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  Speaker 2: documentary about that she.
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  Speaker 1: Revealed even amid that cancer diagnosis in two thousand and five,
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  Speaker 1: she considered and may have actually paused chemotherapy treatment to
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  Speaker 1: try to conceive around that time, which is a big deal. Obviously,
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  Speaker 1: she was thirty six at the time when that occurred,
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  Speaker 1: and she did proceed with IVF a few times with
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: her partner at the time, and none of that took
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  Speaker 1: And that actually forms a big emotional core of that
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  Speaker 1: third episode of the three part series. So prior to
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  Speaker 1: those last few minutes that I mentioned the title card,
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  Speaker 1: one more thing that was really for me. The emotional
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  Speaker 1: core of the whole mini series is that she badly
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  Speaker 1: wanted children, she couldn't have children, and perhaps her cancer
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  Speaker 1: diagnosis and the chemotherapy treatment might have affected that ability
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  Speaker 1: for her to have kids. So her sister Danny speaks
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  Speaker 1: beautifully about how Kylie is very good with kids and
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  Speaker 1: always has been, and she always wanted to be a mum,
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  Speaker 1: much more than Danny did, but it didn't turn out
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  Speaker 1: that way for Kylie. Unfortunately for her.
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  Speaker 5: She's always been good with kids, just naturally one incredible,
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  Speaker 5: She's amazing with her nephews. I never saw myself being
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  Speaker 5: a parent, and she always did that is.
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  Speaker 1: That's heartbreaking.
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  Speaker 2: It's lucky you're such a thorough journal Andrew. It could
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  Speaker 2: have been easy to switch off halfway through episode three
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  Speaker 2: and go, oh, yeah, I've done that. You know I'll
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  Speaker 2: find my story now, but you kept watching. Thank goodness.
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  Speaker 1: Well, it's funny you mentioned that, Claire. I don't review
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  Speaker 1: a lot of TV, but in this case, Netflix gave
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  Speaker 1: media only a few days beforehand, the first two episodes only,
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  Speaker 1: and I watched those, and the biggest revelation I suppose
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: was her ongoing love for Michael Hutchins and how much
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: the end of that relationship still affects her today in
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  Speaker 1: her fifties. She calls it her first big love and
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: her first heartbreak. So got to the end of episode
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  Speaker 1: two and I thought, well, I really don't feel right
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  Speaker 1: about reviewing the show based on two thirds of it.
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  Speaker 1: Can I see the last episode? Please? And Netflix kindly
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  Speaker 1: then gave me the link, and yes, imagine my surprise
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  Speaker 1: when at the very end there is this borm show revelation.
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  Speaker 1: So I'm glad I did a thorough job, but I
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: think that is the job of TV critics when it's
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: available to them. Please watch the whole thing. If you
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: never know what's at the end.
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  Speaker 2: I'll say also the Netflix publicity department, it's an interesting
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  Speaker 2: choice not to help you find the big story there.
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  Speaker 2: Maybe it was a.
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  Speaker 1: Test, maybe a test, but also maybe them being protective
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: or maybe being protective of the client, which at some
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: level in this case is Kylie. Because Netflix paid for
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: this series. I believe there was some kind of bidding
• 7:59
  Speaker 1: war between themselves Disney at one point to get the
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: rights for this documentary series, and ultimately Netflix prevailed. And
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  Speaker 1: of course they want many millions of people to watch
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: this series and to pay to subscribe, so they get
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: some of their money back. But I can see why
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: they held that information back from media because it's a
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: big deal. Like obviously for those who care deeply that Kylie,
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  Speaker 1: myself included as a music journalist, I think she's one
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  Speaker 1: of Australia's great artists and I'll always watch and listen
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  Speaker 1: with interest to what she's doing. But millions of people
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  Speaker 1: beyond that, who are casually aware of Kylie and have
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  Speaker 1: known about her and her life in since the nineteen
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  Speaker 1: eighties when she came into our screens and then onto
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  Speaker 1: our record players and CD players at the time She's
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  Speaker 1: a major star, so there's a huge amount of public
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  Speaker 1: interest in her always she is a.
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  Speaker 2: Major star, and she's a major star globally too. I
• 8:45
  Speaker 2: was kind of stunned, I think, when I was watching
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  Speaker 2: the Netflix series The Residents, which is kind of a quirky,
• 8:50
  Speaker 2: you know, crime mystery drama set inside the White House,
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  Speaker 2: where she is a central character.
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  Speaker 1: What where, What the hell are you doing in the
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  Speaker 1: Lincoln bedroom?
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  Speaker 4: She let me in to sleep him me now what
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  Speaker 4: you walks me up here?
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  Speaker 2: Tucked me in and said can I.
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  Speaker 1: No, I don't remember that tucked you in.
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  Speaker 2: I can't imagine another artist, another Australian artist, being famous
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  Speaker 2: enough to have a central role in a Netflix show.
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  Speaker 2: And for this documentary, Netflix needs this to be a
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  Speaker 2: global success. It's not enough for them to just have
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  Speaker 2: Australians watch it, is it?
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  Speaker 1: That's right? And the production team behind the film they're
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  Speaker 1: British and Irish, so the producer is British and the
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  Speaker 1: director is Irish, and interestingly kind of aliens a lot
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  Speaker 1: of her Australian's story, Like there's no mention of Mushroom Records,
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  Speaker 1: which was the first label to sign her. The way
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  Speaker 1: that the story is told on screen just kind of
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  Speaker 1: makes it appear that she appeared one day in London
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  Speaker 1: and started knocking on record label doors, which is not
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  Speaker 1: how they working in the music industry. And it's kind
• 10:02
  Speaker 1: of a sleight of hand done with creative license, of course,
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: to keep the story moving. You know, if they went
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: into every minute detail of her career and getting signed
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  Speaker 1: to Mushroom and then go into the UK, it would
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: be a ten hour series rather than a three hour
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  Speaker 1: mini series. So yes, she is very much presented as
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  Speaker 1: a global artist, particularly one who spent a lot of
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  Speaker 1: time in Britain and Paris.
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  Speaker 2: I love Kylie too, and I think she seems like
• 10:26
  Speaker 2: a lovely person as well as a wonderful artist. But
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  Speaker 2: I've always wondered, you know why Kylie.
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  Speaker 1: You know, she.
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  Speaker 2: Doesn't have the voice of say Delta Goudrum. She's not
• 10:37
  Speaker 2: the greatest singer in the world. She is a fantastic dancer,
• 10:40
  Speaker 2: but maybe she's not Beyonce. What is it about the
• 10:43
  Speaker 2: kind of alchemy of all the qualities and characteristics that
• 10:46
  Speaker 2: Kylie has that have made her this incredible success When
• 10:51
  Speaker 2: you can see that other people have different qualities that
• 10:54
  Speaker 2: would help explain their sexists but they haven't been as
• 10:56
  Speaker 2: big to.
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  Speaker 1: Me, Clare, it's about the songs. We're not talking about
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  Speaker 1: her without the songs, and early on in her career
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: they were written by other people. A key figure who's
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: interviewed in the series is Pete Waterman from England, who
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: is the songwriter and early producer of her career for
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: the first few albums, and then he speaks quite frankly
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: about how after being in that system of having songs
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  Speaker 1: written for her by other people, she felt the need
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: to break out and spread her wings and start creating herself.
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: So I think it's definitely the songs. And interestingly it's
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: one of her former lovers and one of her firm friends,
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: both Australian, which appear to have made the songwriting piece
• 11:35
  Speaker 1: of her career come together. As she describes in the film,
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  Speaker 1: the first was Michael Hutchins, her lover from nineteen eighty
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: nine to nineteen ninety one. I believe she watched him
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  Speaker 1: writing with that band, particularly with Andrew Farriss, who co
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: wrote many of the big Xcess hits with Michael, and
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  Speaker 1: seeing them work together gave her a hunger to tell
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  Speaker 1: her own stories and make her own music and then
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  Speaker 1: was meeting Nick Cave in the mid nineteen nineties, an
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: artist too. Kylie, as she admits, had no idea who
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  Speaker 1: he was. She wasn't a typical Nick Caven, the Bad
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: Seeds fan, and he just kind of brought her into
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: this world of dark, twisted, drug abusing men who make
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: kind of sad, angry music. And she brought this real
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  Speaker 1: lightness to the one recording that she did with them,
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: which was the song where the Wild Roses Grow in
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  Speaker 1: nineteen ninety five, which is by far the biggest Bad
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: Seeds chart hit. So she gave them a bit of
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: some of her pop shine as well. But Nick asked
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: her at one point, where are your lyrics, and she
• 12:46
  Speaker 1: had to admit, I don't have any. I'm not a
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: writer at this point in time. And there's great footage
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: of her in the documentary listening to Nick as he
• 12:54
  Speaker 1: advises her, you've got to write your own stuff. That's
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: how you achieved true artistry is by I'm a writer
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: and authoring your own career. And she took that to
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: heart in the mid nineteen nineties, and from that point
• 13:05
  Speaker 1: on she has had a big say over her career
• 13:08
  Speaker 1: in every aspect, from the writing to the creativity and
• 13:11
  Speaker 1: the design and production, which is a massive credit to her,
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: and I think that's why she has stood the test
• 13:16
  Speaker 1: of time coming up.
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  Speaker 2: Has Kylie hated being famous as much as other celebs
• 13:22
  Speaker 2: seem to Comparable documentaries over the past few years, I
• 13:37
  Speaker 2: suppose are the Robbie Williams series, where we saw him
• 13:40
  Speaker 2: sitting in his undies on his bed, watching old videos
• 13:43
  Speaker 2: of himself and reflecting on his remarkable career.
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  Speaker 1: It's astounding what's happened in my life. There's a lot
• 13:50
  Speaker 1: too unpack.
• 13:52
  Speaker 2: I think the documentaries about the two Beckhams, David and Victoria.
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  Speaker 4: We're very working class, honest, I am being honest, I
• 14:03
  Speaker 4: am being honored.
• 14:04
  Speaker 2: Did your dad drive you to school? In so my
• 14:08
  Speaker 2: But those three pieces of television all really dwelt on
• 14:14
  Speaker 2: how hard it is to be famous, and the I
• 14:17
  Speaker 2: suppose trauma and pain that these people have been through
• 14:20
  Speaker 2: in their lives, a real struggle to get to where
• 14:23
  Speaker 2: they are today. Kylie doesn't seem like someone, although she's
• 14:27
  Speaker 2: obviously dealt with some intrusion in her life, who feels
• 14:31
  Speaker 2: like the whole thing has been a nightmare.
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  Speaker 1: It's interesting you mentioned that because there is a big
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: piece of I think it's episode one towards the end,
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: where it is that turn from her being kind of
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: an overnight success in England in particular to the realization
• 14:47
  Speaker 1: or the kind of press turning on her, she had
• 14:49
  Speaker 1: a real a viciousness that came towards her her music,
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: in particular, both in the UK and Australia. Despite her
• 14:57
  Speaker 1: obvious chart success, she was kind of written off an
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: artist who didn't have much substance. So both she and
• 15:03
  Speaker 1: her sister Danny Minogue speak quite extensively about how they
• 15:07
  Speaker 1: were painted poorly by the press, and the way in
• 15:11
  Speaker 1: which she has managed to succeed is almost in spite
• 15:14
  Speaker 1: of that derision that she was met by media outlets
• 15:18
  Speaker 1: and some TV hosts. So I think there's no sour
• 15:21
  Speaker 1: grapes in that regard. She kind of takes in a tribe,
• 15:24
  Speaker 1: but there's clearly a few points during the interviews from
• 15:26
  Speaker 1: the film where she kind of bristles that recalling how
• 15:29
  Speaker 1: she was painted by elements of the press at the time,
• 15:32
  Speaker 1: and maybe that's part of the course, but it's also
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: it's probably testament to her resilience and stilliness that she
• 15:38
  Speaker 1: was able to overcome those early barbs and keep ascending
• 15:42
  Speaker 1: and evolving to the point where today, in twenty twenty six,
• 15:45
  Speaker 1: she's possibly bigger than she's ever been, which is there's
• 15:48
  Speaker 1: not many artists who have been around for forty plus
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: years who you can say that about.
• 15:53
  Speaker 2: And she looks unbelievable. She's stunningly fit, obviously a very
• 15:58
  Speaker 2: healthy person, very lively, and very warm and lovely. What
• 16:02
  Speaker 2: do you think is ahead for her in the next
• 16:04
  Speaker 2: couple of decades.
• 16:06
  Speaker 1: She is someone who seems to really enjoy performing, and
• 16:08
  Speaker 1: not all artists do so I think she'll continue writing,
• 16:12
  Speaker 1: recording and touring at least for the next little while
• 16:15
  Speaker 1: while she's enjoying it, and as the documentary makes very clear,
• 16:19
  Speaker 1: getting on stage is something that gave her her meaning,
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: her purpose, particularly during those bouts of cancer.
• 16:27
  Speaker 4: It's been good, great, terrible, but I just keep trying
• 16:33
  Speaker 4: to get back on stage.
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: Life makes sense to me on stage. People don't know why,
• 16:42
  Speaker 1: but yeah, she continues to play big shows. She's coming
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: back to Australia in September to play the AFL Grand
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: Final and perhaps some other dates around that. It's always
• 16:52
  Speaker 1: a bit unusual when major artists Australian or otherwise come
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: back for one show only. So perhaps we'll see and
• 16:58
  Speaker 1: hear more about that in the months to but looking
• 17:01
  Speaker 1: at that September date, that will be a major homecoming
• 17:04
  Speaker 1: for her. It's not often that Australian artists get booked
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: to play those big events. Often it is overseas talent
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: brought in, like Robbie Williams in recent years. I just
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: think she's going to keep ascending as long as she
• 17:16
  Speaker 1: wants to.
• 17:18
  Speaker 2: Andrew, thank you so much, and I'm going to take
• 17:19
  Speaker 2: a big journalistic lesson out of this, which is keep
• 17:22
  Speaker 2: watching all the way to the end.
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  Speaker 1: Thank you, Thank you, Claire.
• 17:31
  Speaker 2: Andrew McMillan is the Australian's national music writer. You can
• 17:34
  Speaker 2: read all his criticism and analysis right now at the
• 17:37
  Speaker 2: Australian dot com dot au. This episode of the Front
• 17:41
  Speaker 2: was hosted by me Claire Harvey, produced by Kristin Amiott
• 17:44
  Speaker 2: and edited by Leah Tamagloom. Thanks for joining us on
• 17:47
  Speaker 2: the Front this week. Our team also includes Tiffany Dimak,
• 17:50
  Speaker 2: Joshua Burton and Jasper League, who composed our theme music.