Having a natural affinity with performing, Dannii Minogue has crossed television, stage, theatre and film since the age of 7, performing professionally now for 30 years. There is no disputing this Australian beauty really does have an eye for spotting new talent across the world, having just returned home to Melbourne clutching a trio of awards; ‘TV Personality of the Year’, ‘Celeb of the Year’ and ‘Favourite Judge’. The gongs follow her second series, and the shows most successful, as judge and mentor on The X Factor. Dannii now returns to the judging panel of Australia’s Got Talent, for it’s third series, rated Australia’s Number One Entertainment show.
Very few experience the success and longevity in the entertainment industry that Dannii Minogue has. Thirty years ago Dannii began her career in the Australian television drama series Skyways and The Sullivan's, but became a house-hold-name for her six-year role in the prime-time variety show Young Talent Time. Her time here pathed the way to a successful solo recording career. ---Dannii continued to star in Australian network dramas before joining the internationally successful soap opera Home and Away, where she played the rebellious Emma Jackson throughout 1989. This was followed by the feature film Secrets (1992) and most recently the UK short film, The Porter (2005), with Brian Ferry.
Dannii’s theatre and musical credits include performing her all time favourite movie character ‘Rizzo’ in Australia’s production of Grease - The Arena Spectacular, playing to more than 450,000. Next came the role of Lady Macbeth in a special outdoors adaptation of Macbeth for the Edinburgh Festival. Another triumph saw Dannii play leading role ‘Esmeralda’ for five sell-out months in Notre Dame De Paris at London’s prestigious Dominion Theatre. It was here that Dannii picked up the award for ‘Best Stage Performance’, playing to a 2,000 strong audience, seven times a week.
As one of Australia’s biggest female exports, Dannii is no stranger to the charts with 21 hit singles and five solo studio albums under her belt. In 1990 the pop starlet released her Top 10 debut single Love And Kisses and Top 10 debut album, simply titled Dannii. A string of Top 10 chart hits followed internationally including Jump To The Beat, This Is It, Put The Needle On It, I Begin To Wonder and You Won’t Forget About Me. Dannii proudly holds the music title 'Queen of the Clubs' after scoring a record-breaking 11 Number One club hits in the UK; more than any other female artist in the world. This achievement began in 1997 with the chart-topper All I Wanna Do. The dance music hits continued when the legendary Pete Tong approached Ms Minogue to record the international hit Who Do You Love Now? in 2001. Madonna then sealed Dannii's place at the top in 2003 with Don’t Wanna Lose This Groove; a bootleg of Into The Groove and Don’t Wanna Lose This Feeling. This was the first time Madonna had ever given permission to any artist to use her material.
Dannii’s CV is nearly as long as she is tall (5ft 2in to be exact!) but it was in 2007 that Dannii decided to flip the coin and step off the stage, launching Australia’s Got Talent. It wasn’t long before Simon Cowell snapped up the Aussie princess to judge and mentor on UK’s The X Factor. In her first year two of Dannii’s three contestants reached the final. Leon Jackson (winner) and Rhydian Roberts (runner-up) each walked away with million pound recording contracts. Even Simon Cowell had to admit, “Dannii Minogue really kicked our ass!”. Last year’s fourth series of The X Factor (Dannii’s second) went on to become the most successful year ever. With an incredible final audience of 14.6 million viewers, The X Factor maintained its ‘Most Popular Entertainment’ show title. During a grilling 6 month filming schedule, Dannii still found time to host the UK’s Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards to rave reviews, where audience figures increased by over 60%.
Outside the world of showbiz, Dannii took part in Olivia Newton-John’s ‘Great Walk to Beijing’ last year, where she swapped her disco heels for hiking boots and trekked across the Gobi Desert in China. This life-changing experience led Dannii to accept Olivia’s personal invitation to become an Ambassador for the Olivia Newton-John Cancer and Wellness Centre Appeal. The charity is raising money to replace the old cancer wards of the Austin Hospital in Melbourne with a brand new building to be named the Olivia Newton-John Cancer and Wellness Centre. Dannii will continue her work to raise awareness and much-needed funds in the coming months.
Excited to be back home Dannii says “There is no way I could have believed that Australia’s Got Talent could get any crazier. The acts are world class and the diversity is unlike any other show on Australian television. Make no mistake, the competition will be fierce! ”
Miss Minogue, alongside Red Symons and Tom Burlinson, return for Series 3 of Australia’s Got Talent, coming soon on Network 7.
In 2008 Dannii Minogue was voted:
• ‘TV Personality of the Year’ – by readers of Glamour magazine (UK)
• ‘Celeb of the Year’ – by readers of Metro newspaper (UK)
• ‘Favourite Judge’ – by readers of OK! Magazine (UK)