Let's be Honest, Why Was Dannii Never as Successful as Kylie?

[BigBadBoy]

I think Dannii is super talented, but lacks that certain something Kylie has in abundance - star quality.
Some of D's songs have been amazing, but by and large her output has not stood the test of time and add to that, her releases were so sporadic.
Her failure to capitalise on the success of NN with another album the following year did a lot of harm, and while it may have been to record company wranglings, when she did come back with music, a lot of it was her vocals on a dance tune of the moment. It didn't cement her as a star in her own right.
But saying all the above, the fact Dannii has, or had a terrible reputation as being difficult or unlikeable followed her around a great deal. There are still many TV presenters that will not entertain her on their shows following her poor behaviour when being interviewed.
I met her once and she couldn't have been more rude or obnoxious. She had no time for her fans and asked security to tell us if we went away from the stage door, she would send signed cards out. When she did come out, she was surrounded by guards, didn't smile, look at us or make any effort... I recall somebody's comments... "Why do Z listers act like they are A listers?" (At the time, 'Girl' had just bombed.)
The only other person I met as rude as her was Lisa from Steps and she had no career to speak of either before Steps reformed.

[IanBliss]

I think Dannii is super talented, but lacks that certain something Kylie has in abundance - star quality.
Some of D's songs have been amazing, but by and large her output has not stood the test of time and add to that, her releases were so sporadic.
Her failure to capitalise on the success of NN with another album the following year did a lot of harm, and while it may have been to record company wranglings, when she did come back with music, a lot of it was her vocals on a dance tune of the moment. It didn't cement her as a star in her own right.
But saying all the above, the fact Dannii has, or had a terrible reputation as being difficult or unlikeable followed her around a great deal. There are still many TV presenters that will not entertain her on their shows following her poor behaviour when being interviewed.
I met her once and she couldn't have been more rude or obnoxious. She had no time for her fans and asked security to tell us if we went away from the stage door, she would send signed cards out. When she did come out, she was surrounded by guards, didn't smile, look at us or make any effort... I recall somebody's comments... "Why do Z listers act like they are A listers?" (At the time, 'Girl' had just bombed.)
The only other person I met as rude as her was Lisa from Steps and she had no career to speak of either before Steps reformed.

Yes I'd read somewhere about Dannii and Richard and Judy in the late 90s having some kind of spat.

[IanBliss]

I didn't know that about Lisa from Steps though.

[airyn]

But saying all the above, the fact Dannii has, or had a terrible reputation as being difficult or unlikeable followed her around a great deal. There are still many TV presenters that will not entertain her on their shows following her poor behaviour when being interviewed.

That was during the GIRL Era, not after that.

[in-my-eyes]

You all said it, she doesn't have star quality, good music could have done, but she doesn't have a really good back catalogue.


I knew her with Neon Nights and it's still an entertaining album, then i searched her "new music" when she released Touch Me Like That... yikes!!!!!!!!! so cheap and gratuitous...then i heard Perfection, yikes!!!!! Again, kinda cheap.

So Under Pressure didn't sound bad but it wasn't really interesting either.

[ibizaboi24]

Why isn’t club disco available on US steaming anymore?

[skywaves]

I think it's more to do with Dannii's in put with the music industry. Love and Kisses album was a success, 5 singles released from it with a great momentum. Get Into You album 5 singles from that were released over a 2 year period - the album was bound to flop. The Girl album (IMO) Is a fantastic album but shouldn't have been released after just 1 single and Everything I Wanted wasn't a strong enough single. Neon Nights would have benefited from another single from it. Then of course 1 single every 12 months 2004 - 2007...

I think Dannii is a great singer but she's more of an (multi) entertainer than a pop star/dance act where as Kylie is the singer and occasional actress.

1991 really was a great year seeing both passing each other in the charts.

This.

I think Dannii is talented in her own right and she did have some success in music. But she never really stuck at it which kept her in Kylie’s shadow. The gaps between albums were huge. Even after the success of Neon Nights she didn’t really capitalize on it. It’s quite possible because she FELT inferior to Kylie and was always compared to her that she may have let that kill her enthusiasm for making music. Of course she also does not have the same star quality but I think she could have had more success with music if things had of happened differently. Remember she was broke in the mid 90’s and that was why she did the Playboy shoot, to pay off her debts.

[cf80]

I think it's more to do with Dannii's in put with the music industry. Love and Kisses album was a success, 5 singles released from it with a great momentum. Get Into You album 5 singles from that were released over a 2 year period - the album was bound to flop.

Was there momentum at the end though? “Baby Love” stalled at No. 14 (following on from a moderately successful Top Ten single) and then ‘I Don’t Wanna Take This Pain’ barely managed to crack the Top 40.

At this point they needed to have some strong, new material ready to go to buck the trend. However, all we got was a No. 30 smash (‘Show You The Way To Go’), followed by a No. 44 smash (‘Love’s On Every Corner’), both of which sold abysmally. The latter of these should never have been released as a single...ok-ish chorus but piss-poor verses. ‘This Is It’ created some upward momentum but, as you mention, the delay in releasing singles was crazy and all momentum was lost. Why on earth release ‘Get Into You’ as a single nearly 7 months after ‘This Is The Way’?

I feel Dannii struggled to find her target audience/music style early on in her career and suffered as a result. She was never going to appeal to anyone other than a young crowd, yet she seemed to be pitching her music to an older crowd.

[skywaves]

I like Dannii. I think she’s cool and she’s had some great singles. Comparing her to Kylie is unfair, Kylie’s success is really unparalleled for a female pop star from Australia. Dannii is more successful than Tina Arena, Delta Goodrem, Kate Ceberano and various others who tried to crack the UK.

You could assume she has only ridden on Kylie’s coattails but then the siblings of Madonna, Britney Spears or whoever else never had the success that Dannii had so I think she deserves credit for achieving what she did. Only Janet for example from the Jackson family had real success in music. Being in the shadow of a successful sibling cannot be easy to overcome and yes, I know she had a chip on her shoulder about it but I think she’s found her own path and happiness by now so good for her.

[Becky Ray05]

In fairness to Dannii her music has managed to sell in the millions,maybe not as big of numbers as Kylie but still. Honestly I think it's work ethic. Kylie doesn't mind traveling to promote the material, she also will take whatever is dished out to her but like a great politician will squeeze her way out of something with a smile. Dannii I think wears her heart on her sleeve and can't do that. It also could be her team. I have always said the reason Janet has done so well for so long was because she put together great team and that all started when she got Terry and Jimmy to produce her third album. She had produced 2 flop albums before Control. Dannii had the right idea to create a RnB album to sound different from Kylie's pop sound but it was the wrong countries to market on. If Kylie's wasn't willing to travel America teaching people in radio stations how to spell her name Dannii should have been. It made no sense to create an American sounding album and not be in America. If the UK was going to be Kylie's biggest focus Dannii should have made America hers, she didn't have Kylie there to use, she could return to the UK and OZ every time knowing she made it there on her own without even a mention of Kylie. She also never tours, apart from Unleashed 98 I don't think she has ever toured that's a big one too. Like Kylie Dannii is just doing what Dannii feels comfortable doing which means she is where is because that is the amount of work shes willing to do. I don't think Dannii is as ambitious as Kylie.