Lots of pop from Aussie princess but few bubbles

Kylie Minogue's show at Beijing Worker's Gymnasium this week showed that she is a real "Pea Princess". The consensus was that the Aussie was in good shape and moved well for a 40-year-old dame, while her voice is maturing with age.

Known here as the "Pea" on account of her modest stature rather than the Hans Christian Anderson tale, she performed for nearly two hours. There was dancing in the aisles despite security guards pleading with fans to sit down and Minogue then nearly caused an incident when she tossed a whistle into the VIP section, sparking a fight for possession that panicked security.

All good fun but I do have a beef. Yes, there was a golden confetti shower, the dance troupe and band were tight and the LED screen was huge, but many in the audience were expecting more bang for the reported 16 million bucks it cost to stage.

Despite regular sweeps of the VIP section with my binoculars I failed to recognize any stars, though Yuan Quan, Tong Dawei and Qin Hailu were rumored to have bought tickets, along with singers Jeff Chang and Tarcy Su. The only confirmed major player in attendance was Li Yuchun. I think I saw the Supergirl - but may have mistaken her for a young man. And I wouldn't be the first to do so.

In an ongoing poll titled "2008 China's 50 Most Beautiful People," Li was ranked third (as of Tuesday), lagging behind actors Vicki Zhao and Huang Xiaoming. Gong Li was the winner last year but recently became a Singaporean citizen and is now presumably persona non grata. Supergirl Li was second in 2007, so appears to be losing ground in the beauty stakes.

Compiled by Jules Quartly