NYC Gets Kylie Minogue; Aussies Thrill to Cher’s Appearance at Gay Mardi Gras

First came marriage equality down under. Now, just when we could all use more cultural exchange, New York will be getting Kylie Minogue for Pride and Sydney gets Cher.

Both have been around for decades (although the former Mrs. Bono had a bit of a head start), and Kylie has been a staple of U.S. radio and dance clubs ever since her synth-heavy cover of “The Locomotion” hit the airwaves back in the late ’80s.

But nothing has caused quite the stir as Cher’s appearance at Sydney’s annual Mardi Gras appearance over the last weekend. For those uninitiated, Mardi Gras in Sydney is something akin to Southern Decadence (it is the height of summer in Australia right now) and Gay Pride celebrations in major cities like Toronto and Los Angeles. That Cher was going to make an appearance was already the talk of the town as tens of thousands of revelers poured into the city. That she would stroll through the crowd and partake in the festivites was icing on the cake.

At this point in her life, Cher knows her own star power — and she used it to full effect, The Guardian reported. According to the paper, she brought “Sydney’s Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras to a standstill, dazzling thousands of spectators by walking out into Taylor Square in the middle of the festivities.”

Styling and profiling in an iridescent orange wig and jacket embroidered with silver, Cher sent the throng estimated at 300,000 into paroxysms of delight as she took the stage in Taylor Square to the strains of “If I Could Turn Back Time.” Speaking of which, she reflected on the recent passage of marriage equality in Australia, saying simply: “It’s about time.”

Even Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull tried to get a little of the Cher glitter to rub off on him as he posted a selfie taken with the pop high priestess with his wife Lucy and the New South Wales premier, Gladys Berejiklian to his Twitter account.

Cher’s only regret? She wished that she’d dropped in on Sydney’s Mardi Gras before now. Reporters quoted her as saying, “I love that everybody is having such a good time and there’s no feeling of any kind of anger, there’s no negativity and that’s what I like most. All the people with everything hanging out, and fabulous girls with their slap on and big hair and no clothes – I love it.”

Doubtless Americans will not lose their minds when Kylie Minogue shows up to tear through her three decades of dance and pop hits. But having a cultural exchange like this one — that’s obviously LGBT celebratory — is something the wold cannot have too much of these days.

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