Kylie Minogue to headline Grand Final entertainment?

Moving to a night time GF could open the door for a BIG name to headline the entertainment, according to leading promoter.

Published by
Jake Benoiton

There has been talk for years about the AFL wanting to move the Grand Final time slot from day time to either twilight or night.

With the COVID-19 pandemic throwing original plans for the 2020 season in the air, many see this season as good as any to make the move to a night Grand Final.

Logistics surrounding the 2020 Grand Final will be ten fold harder to organise due to restrictions implemented due to the pandemic.

Drawing in a big international act may be near impossible due to strict travel restrictions, so the AFL's eyes may have to turn to local acts.

One of the names brought up as a possibility for pre-game entertainment has been pop icon Kylie Minogue.

Music promoter Michael Gudinski says pushing back the start time of the AFL Grand Final, as looms for 2020, would be the key to getting someone like Kylie Minogue to perform at the game.

The AFL hasn't settled on a date yet for the Grand Final, but October 24th is shaping for when the decider will be played.

If that is indeed the date the AFL go with, they will likely need to move the Grand Final to later in the day to avoid a clash with the Cox Plate.

Gudinski, who says he has been speaking with AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan and GM of Commercial Kylie Rogers, told SEN he has a line-up in mind for the 2020 Grand Final.

“Have I got a line-up in mind? Of course I have,” he said on Dwayne’s World.

“Am I 100 per cent right yet? No. And am I going to tell you, Dwayne? No, but I’m talking to you.”

However, Gudinski did say that he has strongly considered bringing in Kylie for the big event if it is moved.

“Kylie lives in London, but she absolutely regards herself totally as an Australian, as she should,” he said.

“I can tell you one thing - if you don’t think I’ve thought of Kylie Minogue, our queen, who after seeing her at Glastonbury she never did many open-air shows. It was always more of a theatre-y, big arena production.

“Kylie Minogue is an artist where it was a night-time Grand Final or a twilight Grand Final, depending on her situation ... it’s all about timing, getting the right acts.

“You’d have a chance with Kylie if it was in the dark. It makes so much difference.”

Gudinski said that there is a preference from Australians to hear Australian acts at the moment, and there is no better time to do it than now.

“In surveys that have been done, people want Australian line-ups regardless,” he said.

“Let’s face it, there’ll be no international acts in this country in my opinion ... until March next year. It’ll give Australian artists a real time to shine.”

Published by
Jake Benoiton