When I met Kylie

Completely off topic but are you watching The Voice? Isn't it nice to see our Kylie back on home soil after almost an eternity living abroad? 

Our Kylie. 

I love seeing her back in the limelight and sitting on the judging panel alongside Ricky, Joel and Will.I.Am. Still gorgeous. Whatever you say about Kylie, anyone that has survived in show business that long and still has their head screwed on get's a massive thumbs up in my book. 

I freely admit to having a total girl crush on Kylie Minogue. It started back in the 80's when a Tomboy Charlene fell in love with Scott in Neighbours. I could then be found singing her catchy tunes in front of the bedroom mirror with my baby sister's Fisher Price toy microphone. At one point my obsession morphed into a total copycat phase where I dressed in similar clothes - think black and white striped top and matching pants with thick elastic belt - complete with the obligatory 80's spiral perm. All my Christmases came at once the year our dance class had "The Locomotion" as our dance song. Every year when May 28 rolls around I remember it's her Birthday (2 weeks after mine) - Happy 45th Birthday Kylie!

On the 31st of December 1997 I found myself actually sitting next to the Pop Princess on a plane from Dallas to Vancouver. Can you imagine?! I had just spent Christmas with my Grandmother in Texas and was heading up to Canada to spend a year at the University of British Columbia. And there she was, sitting right there minding her own business and casually dressed in brown corduroy pants, a maroon tank top and her hair in low messy pigtails. Utterly gorgeous. I was quietly hyperventilating into my packet of peanuts. 

There was no way I was going to sit there and not say anything but just how does one strike up a conversation with someone famous without sounding like a complete Tosser? 

I mulled over this predicament for a good half hour and the best I could come up with was "um, ....Kylie?" to which she flashed a smile and said "yeah". And then we started chatting. We chatted about normal stuff. Where are you living? Where are you off to? How have you been spending your time? Missing home much? That sort of thing. At the end of the day I like to think that if I was famous I'd still have my feet firmly on the ground and would appreciate some normal conversation and to be treated like a normal person. Gushing fans would surely become tedious after the first 10 years don't you think? :-) 

She told me she had just spent Christmas with friends in Florida and was now heading up to Vancouver and then not to Whistler for New Years Eve. She said she was living in London, that she was working on some 'projects' (cue her massive come-back with "Fever"), that she misses Australia, that she had just been back in Australia for Michael Hutchence's funeral, and so on. She was interested in what I was doing too and as we left the plane she waved me off and said "hope you have a great year away!" And that was that. A nicer, more down-to-earth person you couldn't meet. It was so normal. So normal I couldn't even bring myself to ask for a photo. It would have cheapened the entire experience. 

Back to The Voice, I love all the Judges and despite my soft spot for Kylie, I confess to being on Team Ricky. I just adore that guy. He brought me to tears the other night when he 'saved' 2 people and kept their dreams alive for another week. In his words, "the journey with Team Ricky doesn't finish with the Show". 

Nevertheless, I was telling the Kids about the time I met Kylie which prompted a lovely trip down memory lane watching some of her old video clips. This is one of my favourites - so sweet, so innocent, so cheesy, Jason couldn't look more awkward if he tried. Kylie writes a love letter with an actual pen and real paper - those were the days! Enjoy!

Are you a fan of The Voice? Which Team would you choose? Have you found yourself accidentally sitting next to a famous person?

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