Before she was overshadowed by her older sister Kylie’s burgeoning musical career, Dannii Minogue was a big star of ‘80s Australian TV. Each weekend families would gather around the television to watch Dannii belt out the hits of the era, backed by other enthusiastic stage kids dressed in ‘80s gear. She ostensibly left the show in 1988 to become an actress, but instead found further fame with top 20 hits with "This Is It", "Love And Kisses", "All I Wanna Do", "Put The Needle On It" and "I Begin To Wonder". To celebrate her return to the stage for Central Station’s 40th anniversary show at Sydney’s nightclub Home – The Venue on August 11, we have a look back at some of Dannii’s early performances before she notched up her ARIA hits.
Who Wants To Be A Millionaire
After singing On The Good Ship Lollipop during a fresh talent section of Young Talent Time on her eighth birthday in 1979, Dannii made her official debut as a YTT cast member aged 10 in 1982. Her performance of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire gave her little to work with rather than the odd shrug, but her career was off and running…
To Sir With Love
If you didn’t think there were already creepy undertones to Young Talent Time’s talent parade (who can forget this Fast Forward take-off?), a 12-year-old singing a love song to their teacher is bound to set off alarm bells. To Sir With Love might have worked when sung by an 18 year old Lulu in 1967, but Dannii offering her heart to her teacher is a bit questionable to say the least. Interestingly, the song was also covered by fellow YTT acolyte Tina Arena in 2007.
Material Girl
Dannii had the market cornered on Madonna covers throughout her tenure on Young Talent Time. Given the number of hits Madonna racked up in the ‘80s, this kept Dannii busy tackling Ms Ciccone’s tunes on a regular basis. As well as taking on Lucky Star, True Blue, Open Your Heart and Holiday, Dannii took to the Aussie snowfields for this rendition of Material Girl. Dressed in a classic ‘80s neon ski bunny outfit and playing the dual roles of nerdy shut-in and slopes party girl, Dannii even dances with a ski instructor who looks a dead ringer for Ian Turpie at the 1.05 mark.
Chain Reaction
One of a few versions of Dannii singing the Diana Ross hit Chain Reaction on Young Talent Time, this version is notable for the wacky ‘80s costumes. Dannii gets off lightly in her thoroughly ‘80s satin outfit, with her poor co-stars dressed as Halloween weirdos, camp spacemen and crystal ball gazers. Maybe Dannii can give this Barry Gibb-penned track a 2017 update at her Home show?
Sisters Are Doin’ It For Themselves
It seems strange looking back now, but there was a time when Kylie Minogue was the lesser-known Minogue sister. She’d appeared on the show before to spruik her burgeoning career on TV shows such as The Henderson Kids, but this 1986 performance was her first musical slot. To celebrate her new show Neighbours, Kylie joined little sis Dannii for a cover of Sisters Are Doin’ It For Themselves. Dolled up like an Aussie mirrorball before becoming either The Singing Budgie or a gold hotpants-wearing cultural icon, this 1986 performance was Kylie’s musical broadcast debut.
Buy tickets for Dannii’s one-off performance at Sydney’s Home – The Venue here.
Relive Dannii’s greatest hits on Spotify here.
