In the rest of the world, Kylie Minogue is an unstoppable force of nature whose ability to blur the lines between music, sex and marketing is so awesome, she actually has her own line of underwear, Love Kylie. Here, we're just catching up, thanks to the pulsating 2002 hit "Can't Get You Out of My Head." Her ninth album, Body Language, adds electroclash and Eighties synth pop to the mix. It's led by a surprisingly PG video for "Slow," which is already a Number One hit in the U.K. The thirty-five-year-old Aussie says she's done trying to keep up with Dirrty Christina's and Toxic Britney's ever-shrinking outfits. "I haven't become a prude overnight," she says from her home in Paris. "But I'm not going to go to the lengths that some of those videos are going." Lest you worry, her next video, for "Red Blooded Woman," makes clear that Minogue is still a master of the art of self-administered sensual massage.

When did you fall in love with music?

I used to listen to my dad's records as soon as I learned how to operate the player. He had the Stones; Bad Girls, by Donna Summer; the Beatles; Bonnie Tyler; Stevie Wonder. Then Grease came along, and that was it. At nine years old I was Olivia Newton-John in my lounge room.

You and Madonna have pumped out British hits in the Eighties, Nineties and Zeros. What else do you have in common?

We both like to keep an eye on what's happening -- trends. She's definitely the front-runner in this business, but I share her enthusiasm for being experimental -- we'd be bored otherwise. And I've got a good commercial head on my shoulders.

What's your take on Britney's career? Do you think she's on the way out?

I wouldn't take her out of the game yet. I feel for her, because I've been through exactly what she's going through, where you've been so successful, suddenly you're not as successful, and you're doomed to failure. She's a force. Whatever she does, people will take notice.

What does the crowd at a Kylie show look like?

In the beginning, fifteen years ago, it was a sea of five-year-olds. I felt like I had to do cartwheels and keep jumping about the stage. Then it was five- to ten-year-olds with their parents. Now it's a dream if you want to test a product, because the demographics are all across the board. I remember one show in Australia, there was a couple in their early twenties smooching in the front row -- loved them -- there was a row of Muscle Marys, two or three drag queens further along and a girl my age with her mother.

What's the most disturbing trend in pop music today?

Pop Idol. I saw the first British Pop Idol [the forerunner to American Idol] -- it was a novelty, and I was hooked. But I've lost interest. It's been going on for long enough now that there will be kids who think that's just the way it is.

There was a weird story in 2003 about you retiring your butt. What's up with that?

I can't even think of how it started, but it was translated to the media that I was "hanging up my hot pants." Before we did the video for "Slow," I hadn't seen any music videos in a while, so I watched some and said, "I'm not doing that!"

Like Christina Aguilera in her "Dirrty" video?

[Laughs] Let's just say videos. I've always been on the right side of the line. In the video for "Can't Get You Out of My Head," I could see that line, but I got away with it because people know my character, which is more tongue-in-cheek.

What's your favorite band now?

The Darkness. I absolutely love them. I've had that sensibility for ages, so it was a great relief when they came out. I just had to do an inventory of my costumes, because I'm donating them to the Museum of Performing Arts in Australia, and some of the descriptions would be appreciated by the Darkness.

Can you give me one description?

"Red leather hot-pant minirumper with lace-up corset and hand-dyed sheer bat wings" [laughs]. My brother has a theory that anyone who wears capes is cool. Like the guy from the Darkness [Justin Hawkins], Superman, Elvis, Liberace and James Brown.