Absolutely Fabulous

It’s Saturday afternoon in London, and a scrum of 250 members of the international entertainment media has formed in the foyer of the Hammersmith Apollo theater. The occasion is a press conference to mark the global launch of Australian pop star Kylie Minogue’s latest album, the techno-lite Body Language. To the thunderous flash and whir of cameras, the beaming five-foot-and-one-half-inch pixie strolls onto a small platform wearing a floaty gray negligee. Parking herself behind a desk for a 30-minute grilling by slavering inquisitors, she looks like an anchorwoman for the Playboy channel.

 

Romania asks Minogue to sum herself up in one word. "Changeable," she replies, "and chameleon." Sweden inquires: "Do you have a message for your Swedish fans?" "Hello!" she says. "Wish you could all be here!" Denmark is curious to know how the 35-year-old star stays looking so wonderful. Minogue gushes that she's very happy right now-with her boyfriend, French actor Olivier Martinez (Unfaithful)-and when she feels good, she looks good. And everyone wants to know when Minogue will visit their country. "Our viewers are crazy about you," says the Middle East. "When will you be bringing some joy to the region?"

Not many pop stars have the perceived ability to calm warring nations, but that's what more than a decade of hitmaking, nine albums, and a No. 1 single in 21 countries get you. Sparkly disco pop knows no language barriers. Nor does a famously appealing bottom.

Minogue has been a star since 1987, when she emerged from the Australian daytime soap Neighbours with a teenybop version of "The Loco-Motion." Gradually, thanks to better songs, skimpier clothes, and a confidence-boosting relationship with hell-raising INXS singer Michael Hutchence, Minogue became cool (she recorded a duet with Aussie goth balladeer Nick Cave and got Welsh agit-rockers Manic Street Preachers to write songs for her). She was the mainstream star savvy enough to see the fun-and the inherent ridiculousness-of prancing around seminaked, singing catchy pop confections.

In 2001, Minogue went stratospheric, selling six million copies worldwide of her ass-shaking album Fever, which featured the once-heard, never-purged singles "Can't Get You Out of My Head" and "Love at First Sight." Minogue was finally a proper global superstar.

Two weeks after the press conference, over a pot of afternoon tea in her favorite private club in London's posh Chelsea neighborhood, Minogue ponders her success. She's friendly enough company, but all those years in the celebrity trenches have taught her the art of giving away nothing in interviews. She is happy, though, to offer advice to those who have followed in her footsteps. She sees "some of" herself in Britney Spears and feels for the troubled junior diva after her recent bout of tears during a televised interview with Diane Sawyer.

"People forget Britney's only 21," Minogue says. "She's human. She's probably just going through a really hard time, which doesn't mean it's going to go downhill-I can vouch for that! I felt quite maternal when I saw the pictures of her crying. What she needs is a good cup of tea."

And what of Spears' ex, Justin Timberlake, with whom Minogue sang a duet at last year's Brit Awards? Though the Minogue backside is (marginally) less conspicuous these days, the man dubbed "Trousersnake" in the U.K. took the opportunity to cop a feel. "That moment onstage probably lasted one second," she insists, "but the photo of it repeated and repeated. I don't regret doing it, but we did think, 'Hmm, okay.' I think it would be too drastic to just take away from people something they've invested a lot in-"

You're still talking about your bum, right?

"I know we're talking about that at the moment, but if I can at least broaden the subject! With the press I've been doing recently, of course people say, 'So, you've decided to cover up?' If I never verbalized it, the change would be subtle. You're still getting what you want-you're just getting it in a cleverer way!"