Madison news - feature: kylie minogue

From soap star to superstar, Ms Minogue has come a long way, but as Brooke Le Poer Trench discovers, she still has her feet firmly on the ground.

Meeting Kylie for the first time is like staring at the sun. I mean, it’s Kylie freakin’ Minogue. I had her picture plastered in my high-school diary (she was Charlene from Neighbours then). I actually cut the top off a sunhat so my stick-straight hair would spill out of the top to look like hers. More recently, I have boogied to her disco tracks on dance floors, and even the odd table.
A drunk, rude star makes for an interesting story, but don’t hold your breath for that kind of account here. When Kylie enters the members-only club in London to a room punctuated with pretty flowers, scented candles and biscuits, this very, very famous woman is friendly and delightful. First impressions? She is, of course, petite. Tiny in fact, but not in a way that makes you think “circus”. She is delicate. And her look is very relaxed. She may have even done her own hair, I speculate. She looks like she’s dressed to meet friends for dinner near the beach – her cream eyelet shirt dress is casually belted and she’s wearing heels (at least four inches worth).
Next, there’s her face, which I’ve been extremely curious to view in person. Honestly, Kylie’s 42-year-old skin is perfectly plump and smooth, begging the beauty critic within me to look for signs of surgery or some telltale frozen spots. But everything moves when she smiles and frowns, and the skin by the side of her eyes actually crinkles when she laughs. So either her dermatologist is a genius or she is telling the truth and she’s got good genes. Of course, she has admitted to using Botox in the past to iron out wrinkles, but has since said, “I’ve been honest − I used Botox but I don’t anymore. I have lines like the next girl. I definitely wouldn’t want to go under the knife for some procedure – you’re not yourself if you do that.”
In fact, as a sign of her good humour, Minogue recently offered one tabloid journalist the chance to look for stitches behind her ears. Which he did, and found none. Her best beauty tip, she says, is to always wear sunscreen. ”I embrace the fake tan. I am that really annoying person at the beach, whenever I’m home, making everyone wear sunblock and screaming at my British friends to get inside during the hottest part of the day,” she says, laughing. 
Finally, there is her voice. She still sounds like an Aussie, which makes me swell with pride. She doesn’t have that “international” accent like so many of our exports or worse, that faux English accent that some backpackers adopt when they trudge home.
What I’d really love to do is curl up on the sofa and ask her all about life with that gorgeous Spanish model boyfriend of almost two years, Andres Velencoso Segura, whom she met while filming an advert for her men’s fragrance, Inverse. And I get the feeling that she really is that kind of girl − just not with strangers (especially ones holding a recording device). For our meeting, she is thoughtful before she speaks. She thinks about her answers, which is no surprise since she’s likely seen her words warped in print thousands of times. I get the feeling she wants to say just the right thing. To be concise. But she’s still relaxed, smiley and very warm.
Today we’re here to talk specifically about Pink Sparkle, her latest fragrance. “When they first hear the name, most people are going to roll their eyes and expect some dodgy Kath & Kim moment where I’m waving around a pink feather boa,” she says, laughing. “But the fragrance surprises in that way, because it is so soft and elegant.” Minogue clearly knows that some of her most memorable moments in the last decade have involved a flashing dance floor and that amazing backside. In fact, I doubt I am alone in using the mental image of that clip as motivation on the treadmill.
So why the name Pink Sparkle? “I’ve done many different fragrances over the years − this is number six − and this time I wanted to celebrate joy,” she says. “And what better way to do that than with a scent inspired by pink champagne?” Of course, meeting this brief was no easy feat. Accomplished perfumer Vincent Schaller spent a year creating the very first champagne accord so that Kylie’s latest concoction could be as close to the bubbly as possible. And when you smell it, there is actually a hint of champagne. And not in a way that would imply you’ve been out all night and need a good scrub. It’s a lovely, fizzy blend, combined with jasmine, gardenia and vanilla.
With all the focus on celebration and embracing life, I wonder whether Kylie’s current good health (she was diagnosed with breast cancer during her Showgirl tour in May 2005 and is now in remission) is part of the inspiration. “This is how I like to feel. Obviously we don’t spend our lives popping champagne corks and celebrating, but my thinking these days is that you should celebrate for big and small reasons − and I really do,” she says. “I should be employed as the fireworks marshal because I will scream and run around the room over the smallest thing... and the biggest.” And while her illness, and recovery, must certainly play a role in this outlook, it seems as if Kylie has landed in the middle of a perfect storm of joy, having recently said, “I’m healthy, I’m with a man I love and I’m happy – so that’s reflecting on my new album.”
While Kylie’s core business and the source of her fame and fortune has long been entertainment, she says she hasn’t been this excited about music for years. The reason? Her latest album, Aphrodite. “I think I’ve hit my stride, finally, after 20 years,” she mused in a recent interview. “Some things have just clicked. It’s ridiculous that it’s taken that long.” Of course, while Kylie may truly feel this way, her long-running career proves she got there long ago. After all, you don’t release 11 albums and earn a reported $7 million a year without knowing exactly what you’re doing. UK research company Millward Brown recently named her the most powerful celebrity in Britain, beating David Beckham, George Clooney and Helen Mirren.
In her first single for the album, “All the Lovers”, a catchy, uplifting anthem, Kylie is in top form. In the video, she belts the song while clad in black hot pants. A group of sexy dancers writhe with her. It’s a relief to hear that she did wonder whether she could still get away with wearing scant clothing while flanked by so many rock-hard bodies. “It was nerve-racking,” she said at the time. “When I knew that I was going to be in tiny hot pants again, I was like, ‘Cover my legs and bum with body make-up.’ It’s definitely the way forward − and my secret to having a great bottom.”
I’m suddenly acutely aware of how little any of us really seem to know about the real Kylie and I yearn to know more of her secrets. Namely, that body. When quizzed about the role exercise plays in her physique, she has stated that her schedule really doesn’t allow for regular workouts − and even if it did, the gym isn’t her thing. “I’m not a gym bunny,” she has said. “It’s ironic that I was a gym bunny when I didn’t need to be. In my early 20s, I’d go from dance class to aerobics to spinning.” These days, she tries to get to Pilates when she can, but says that touring is what really keeps her in shape.
For all the hype that surrounds her, she is honest about the challenges faced by a pop star who is, well, a little older than the standard MTV staple. At an event in London recently, celebrating the Spanish jewellery house Tous (she is the face of the brand), Kylie turned up in a draped coral gown looking super-glamorous. But when a journalist complimented her, she scoffed, “I’m good in a drape but believe me, there’s a hell of a lot of support going on under here.” And that’s why we love her. It’s not just those catchy tunes and delicious scents and adorable size and style.
Despite her phenomenal success and wealth, Kylie keeps it real.