T hey say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery – so our very own pop queen Kylie Minogue must be feeling fabulous right now.
Taylor Swift unveiled the concept and cover art for her 12th studio album The Life of a Showgirl weeks before her engagement – and it looks a whole lot like the styling for Kylie’s 2005 Showgirl: The Greatest Hits tour era!
“From the feathers to the sequins, the colours and the poses – the similarities are uncanny,” a source tells New Idea.
“Of course, no-one owns the showgirl concept – but you cannot deny that Kylie did it before Taylor!”
While Taylor, 35, has a legion of Swifties as fans, Kylie’s own army of supporters were quick to call out the comparison.
“There’s only one showgirl – and that’s Kylie,” blasted one online commenter, while another griped, “No shade to Taylor, but Kylie is the ultimate!”
What has Kylie Minogue said about Taylor Swift’s album?
Shortly after Taylor unveiled details about her latest eagerly awaited album on August 14, Kylie, 57, addressed the furore on Instagram.
She thanked her friends and fans for sending her “Showgirl mems” [memories] and added, “Showgirl life is ‘a thing’, multi-dimensional and so much more than feathers and dazzle. Respect and admiration to all my fellow hardworking Showgirls!”
Our source explains that Kylie was originally inspired by Baz Luhrmann’s lavish costuming for his 2001 film Moulin Rouge! when she was working on the looks for her Showgirl era tour.
After playing a string of concerts around Europe in early 2005, Kylie brought the shows back to Australia.
But the tour was paused when Kylie was diagnosed with breast cancer. She returned to the stage 18 months later, rebranding the shows as Showgirl: Homecoming Tour.
Did Taylor Swift copy Kylie Minogue?
“Kylie’s flattered that the world’s biggest pop star would adopt the same concept she did,” our source says.
“But there is some puzzlement that Taylor and her team have launched looks that so closely resemble what Kylie did.”
To be fair to Taylor, our source adds, “Kylie’s Showgirl tour was 20 years ago – and she has never toured extensively in the US, so the most likely explanation is that Taylor was simply unaware that Kylie had already done her version of ‘Showgirl’.”
But, our insider adds, there’s almost “zero chance” that Taylor was completely unaware of Kylie’s existence.
“Taylor was 11 when Kylie’s smash hit Can’t Get You Out of My Head topped the charts in the UK. Every pre-teen in the country had the song playing on repeat at the time. As a huge music fan, Taylor would’ve been long aware of Kylie’s success.”
Some fans have suggested that a silver lining to the similarity cloud would be if Taylor and Kylie collaborated at some point!
“You never know, it could happen,” our source says. “There’s no bad blood between Kylie and Taylor at all,” our source adds.
“And, in fact, Kylie’s happy that her Showgirl era is getting some love again, too – thanks to Taylor.”
