Kelly Rowland shows up Goerge Michael and Adam Lambert at the first Mardi Gras party

From:The Daily Telegraph March 08, 2010 12:00AM

IN the end it was straight-girl Kelly Rowland who lifted the roof at the first ever Mardi Gras party to be held a week after the actual parade – showing up George Michael’s pretendy performance two hours earlier.

Rowland opened her lungs with her hit When Love Takes Over, making it an ode to gay and lesbian marriage at 3am in the Royal Hall Of Industries at the old showgrounds yesterday.

The former Destiny’s Child member belted out her classic two hours after Michael played peek-a-boo with the crowd and his microphone in a performance which still managed to win admirers.

He took to the stage at 1am to perform Outside but only after a double came out and tricked audiences into thinking he was the real deal before Michael appeared, surrounded by an entourage of dirty cop dancers. But he only sang just more than half the track, holding out the mic to the audience to fill in his gaps.

“I fully appreciated hearing his voice live,” our party operative said. “But honestly, I’d prefer not to hear a bunch of screaming queens mincing the lyrics.”

Ouch. Yet a Sydney Mardi Gras is nothing without bitches and Michael’s mere presence was enough to sate the giant crowd’s appetite for hedonism. It was also fed by American Idol runner-up Adam Lambert and the transexual astonishment that is Amanda Lepore.

It was a great party – even if a week late – so what began as a booking error in not securing the Horden Pavilion last Saturday turned into an unexpectedly brilliant night.

It meant an extra week was attached to the festival and the partygoers were able to fine tune and pump up their energy.

Photos soon!