TORONTO - Kylie Minogue’s first-ever North American tour touched down at Toronto’s Air Canada Centre on Friday night for its only Canadian stop.

And the 41-year-old Australian singer didn’t disappoint when it came to her glamorous, sexy costumes (courtesy of Jean-Paul Gaultier); flashy, futuristic show design; and clear, high voice; even if her lightweight dance-pop songs aren’t exactly groundbreaking.

Minogue, who has sold 60 million albums worldwide over the last two decades, has never really broken through in North America save for a few hits like a cover of Loco-Motion and her own Can’t Get You Out Of My Head, thus the first road trip over here after all this time.

Still, the blonde bombshell clearly knows how to command a stage, despite the fact that only the floor and lower bowl of the ACC was sold, and has devoted fans who responded wildly to every shake of her shoulder, wiggle of her hips, or flick of her wrist around that gorgeous face.

“Is there something in the drinking water?” she asked towards the end of the evening as the crowd was going nuts. “What’s going on? What a magical night. I feel it.”

Minogue, who successfully battled back from a breast cancer diagnosis in 2005 and whose latest album was 2007’s X, opened the two-hour evening spectacularly, descending from above while perched on top of a glowing red skull while singing Light Years.

Her silver, corsetted outfit, which included a cone-shaped bra, was covered up by a long, flowing shredded shawl that looked like it was made out of the American flag, and suspended planets dangled on her head like a space-age crown.

It was quite a visual as robotic-looking dancers performed below Minogue alongside a six-piece band (which was later joined by a three-man horn section) as the early momentum continued with Speakerboxx, Come Into My World and In Your Eyes.

From there, it was pretty much non-stop action in terms of constant costume changes (I lost count after six); ever-changing, slick-looking video with the emphasis on Minogue’s fetching face and form; and an increasingly scantily-clad dance corps including a scene where her male dancers pretended to wash themselves in a shower and then remove their speedos while wrapped in red towels (turned out they had a second pair of speedos on underneath).

Minogue, who reportedly has been offered a deal as a Vegas performer based on the glowing reviews from North American critics if British tabloid reports are to be believed, is sort of a cross between Madonna and Sarah Brightman.

When she’s in her campy disco diva mode, as she was during such highlights as Like A Drug, Boombox/Can’t Get You Out Of My Head, Wow, I Believe In You, a cover of Madonna’s Vogue, and Kids, she was pretty fun to watch, particularly when she performed such feats as doing the splits while her male dancers carried her on their shoulders.

But when she took herself a little too seriously with some musical theatre-like numbers that saw her lounging on couch in a gown between two gold lions and singing ballads like White Diamond and Confide In Me, it veered a little too close for comfort into Brightman territory.