Just a minute with pop star Kylie Minogue
Jill Serjeant

LOS ANGELES—Australian pop star Kylie Minogue has made a full-scale comeback after a serious bout of breast cancer in 2005. With a new studio album “X,” riding the charts in Europe and Australia, a European tour starting in Paris in May, two Brit award music nominations and a new waxwork likeness at London’s Madame Tussauds, Minogue, 39, says her career is far from over.
The soap actress turned pop star and sex symbol spoke about her hopes for the future, and how she will always be a showgirl at heart.
Q: You have come back with a vengeance after breast cancer. A lot of people who have been through what you have, may have thought it was time to change their life.
A: “Quite simply, you are forced to evaluate your life and what you do with it. You do tend to hear more about stories where people have said ‘That’s it. I’m going to go in a completely different direction.’ And I think I would have had a valid excuse. But no, not me. I’m not finished.”
Q: You already have fame, wealth and success. What more do you want to do?
A: “I get joy out of what I do. I am completely unqualified to do anything else and this is part of my life. It’s always hard for anyone in public life to have those who are not (in the public eye) comprehend it. Fame and celebrity can be challenging. So having found my methods to try and cope with that, I’m ready to go on.”
Q: What are your coping methods?
A: “Simple things. A good meal, a good bottle of wine. I’m really close with all my family. I now have a young nephew and that’s brought a whole new dimension to my life.”
Q: You will be turning 40 in May. Are you someone who loves big birthday celebrations?
A: “I am notoriously noncommittal about birthdays, much to my girlfriends’ chagrin. Then, of course, one or two days before I might decide I want to celebrate for three days. This time I will be on tour. I would like to pop some nice champagne and celebrate with one or two people.”
Q: Which artists do you most admire?
A: “I love being a show girl so I have to go with all the good and proper gay divas - Cher, Judy, Marilyn, Ann Margret, Dolly — all of them. I love Joni Mitchell, I love Bjork, I love all different kinds of performers. But those show girls are gutsy ladies. I am desperate to make it to see Bette Midler in concert. You’ve got to pay respect to those girls.”
Q: You have been very private about your breast cancer and you still seem hesitant to talk about it. Is that a decision you made, that it was something you wanted to keep to yourself?
A: “Yes. I don’t have a nice little phrase to summarize what that meant, or what it did, or how I’ve changed. I don’t want to talk about it too much. There are so many people going through it at the moment, it deserves some respect. I don’t think it’s my place to talk about it.
“I am always at pains to say, this is just my story. I have some understanding of what other people might go through but I don’t have the answers. I am sure the day will come when I will be more forward about it. If I was one-on-one with a patient, I would share everything. The general rule I was told is to give yourself a couple of years before you go out and become a spokesperson”.