Kim: now wild and sexy

Congratulations and champagne for Kim Wilde (24). The hit success of "The second time" has not only given the English woman a great comeback, it also made her win a bet with the Popcorn-editors - and we are really happy to have lost the bet. To look back: briefly before the release of 'The second time' Popcorn-reporter Jürgen Schütt did an interview with Kim Wilde (see Popcorn 11/84), at the end of which she declared: "I bet you on a bottle of champagne that on my first attempt I will get back into the Top 10."
Our man agreed on the bet - and only four weeks later Kim Wilde stormed the chart with her comeback-single.
"When I am totally honest I wasn't so sure that the song would break through so fast", admitted Kim Wilde when the bottle of champagne was given to her shortly before her performance in 'WWF Convoy' and she beamed: "When someone is away from the limelight for as long as I was, it's a bit like roulette in showbusiness. Right now I am just as happy as when I had my first big hit with 'Kids in America'. I'm born again."
Kim Wilde's joy and ease have changed her whole performance. While she worked without desire and locked eight months ago with her flopped single 'Dancing in the dark', she now looks full fired up and solved like never before. The bright pink on her lips and the super tight miniskirt are signs of her change. The time of jeans, men's coats and black second hand clothes is over. Minis, slit leather skirts and bodytight costumes in the style of comic strip figures like Batman and Superman belong to her new image. Kim Wilde - the Barbarella of the popscene? Kim isn't against it: "I always liked comic characters. Last year I sent out Christmas cards with images of Barbarella, with my head glued on top of it."
It seems that the idea of her new image as an aggressive and erotic Kim Wilde isn't totally her own idea, though. Kim's new record company MCA has sent their new horse in the stable repeatedly to London's advertising agency "XL Designs & Big Features", the same firm that designed the sensationally successful image for Frankie Goes To Hollywood. "We see Kim as a strog, courageous, but also very feminine person". She radiates
threatening innocence, which makes every male nervous", is designer chef Tom Watkins' explanation for his considerations. "Because of Kim's personal preference for Barbarella we expanded automatically to female comic heroes of the sixties." Kim's new performance clothes, the video to "The second time" and the single sleeve all stem from the same concept.
During Kim's performance in 'WWF Convoy' she proved convincingly that she can 'sell' her new type: she swept extatically over the stage like Tina Turner (Kim: "My favourite singer at the moment"), powered the audience and propelled her musicians. Kim looks far removed from the cool, static performances of old. "Until recently I was more a schoolgirl than a popstar, psychologically speaking", Kim explains the change, "I was happy about the succes but I was too shy to handle the admiration of the audience. When I go on stage now, I want to hit the audiences with full power, like a karate hit."

Does Kim Wilde keep her promise to go on tour after her hit success?
"Sure, I just won't make it in this year, like I said in the earlier interview", says Kim. "But in February I am going on tour for real.I will play in clubs with a capacity of 1500. I want to be close to the audiences, I want to learn and test if I can capture them without technical showwork. I recently saw a show by Elvis Costello and I was totally in awe. He stood there alone on a dark stage and he was able to capture the whole audience with his personality and his capacity. The Beatles and Elvis Presley were the best entertainers in the history of rock and they did it by their personality, not by flying saucers on stage. I think Rock 'n' Roll is going back to this tradition".

Before Kim Wilde starts her European tour, she flies to the sun for three weeks. "I will celebrate the holidays and the year's end at home with my family and then fly either to Mauritius or Hawaii", says Kim Wilde. "At the end of January the rehearsals for my show start and then it's six weeks through Europe. I am totally up for it!"