English singer Kim Wilde has come through her first live concert with flying colours.
Kim (21) who has starred on TV and made several worldwide hit records, faced the toughest test of her career when she stepped out on stge in Denmark recently to do her first live show. Two years of hard work depended on that night. No one knew if she could make it.
“Don’t expect anything”, Joyce Wilde, her mother and business manager, was saying on the bus. “The people here just sit quietly and applaud at the end. Nothing else.”
But Kim, daughter of international singing star Marty Wilde need not have worried. She was dazzling. After the first number, the crowd was already on its feet. And the wave of hysteria spread until the audience surged up to the stage, throwing flowers, clapping, stamping and whistling. They demanded three encores and the thunder of applause rang out for a full 10 minutes and the band had left the stage. In the dressing room after the show, Kim tried to comprehend what had happened.
The smile faded all of a sudden, and tears started to stream down her cheeks. Tears of relief, joy and exhilaration which came, and just wouldn’t stop. It was the most exciting moment of her life. Kim was on the eve of a major British tour. And that’s why her father, well known singer Marty Wilde, arranged for her to get used to a live audience in Denmark so that she wouldn’t make an inexperienced debut at home.
Kim, dubbed the Bardot of pop because of her sultry looks and simmering sexuality, is one of the nicest, most level headed people you could meet. She bops around in a pair of old jeans, drinks coffee out of a battered old plastic beaker and is perfectly happy to be seen without wearing any make-up. She has a very rare charismatic quality – but is not aware of it. “I read about myself, but I can never really believe that it’s me”, she says, sipping a glass of white wine, one arm over brother Ricky’s shoulder.
“Like being on stage in Denmark. So often I’ve been one of the crowd, but when you see all those faces looking up, waving, shouting, and it’s you that’s making them happy, it’s magic.”
The storm she created in Denmark is expected to spread round the world. Is she frightened?
“No, not really. Apprehensive maybe, because I don’t know what to expect”, Kim said.
The celebrations bubbled on, with congratulations and toasts for the band. But it was Kim’s night. “I can’t explain how I feel”, she said “but I know my life has changed. Nothing will be quite the same ever again.”