Date: 15 December 2012
Originally published in: The Guardian (UK)
Written by: Alexandra Topping
Kim Wilde may have progressed from punky rock chick to gardening pundit but she provied she still knows how to party, after entertaining fellow passengers on a London commuter train with a delightfully inebriated rendition of Kids in America.
With a pair of glittery reindeer ears nestled in her blond hair, the singer launched into the 1981 track, with her brother Ricky Wilde on guitar and backing vocals. On the way home from a – presumably lively – Magic FM Christmas party, the singer was filmed by one the passengers. After appearing to finish the song, Wilde belted out a final chorus before promising more. “Everyone – it’s Christmas time, and I’m going to sing you a Christmas song”, she said, before starting, somewhat shakily, on Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree.
But the combination of Christmas cheer and star value proved resistible to some communters, several of whom stuck to unspoken regulations and kept their eyes fixed on the middle distance. After a brief tussle with her antlers, she approached the area where a passenger was filming her, saying: “I know we’re all sitting on a crowded train her, ignoring each other like we normally do. We’re just looking down into our phone and stuff, but hey – it’s a Christmas thing!”
The next day Wilde, 52, appeared to be dealing with the fallout of the party in a sensible manner, tweeting: “Just coming round after @Magic/Kiss party, assistde by a bacon and egg sarnie ;).”
It was perhaps not the most accomplished performance of her career – but it may prove to be one of her most loved. By yesterday afternoon her name was trending on Twitter. Of the renewed interest in her singing, she tweeted: “Truly, I am overwhelmed and confused at such a huge reaction to my night out on the tiles. Making me giggle a LOT :)”.
