For Kylie’s 50th birthday today (28 May), we’re hosting a very special awards ceremony.
We’ve come up with a list of categories and we’re pitting each of Kylie’s achievements against each other.
The Aussie pop princess has had an amazing career in the public eye spanning almost 40 years.
This has afforded her unbelievable success, with over 300 award nominations and 172 award wins to her name.
So without further ado, here are the winners:
Kylie’s best: Song
Can’t Get You Out Of My Head (2001)
This iconic song became one of the most successful singles of the 2000s, selling over ten million units.
At the time of its release, it reportedly hit number one in 40 countries around the world, reaching triple platinum in Australia and double platinum in the United Kingdom. The success of CGYOOMH is credited as being the moment she properly broke through to US audiences.
It also made it to number 72 in the best UK singles of all time. In fact, Yahoo Music actually voted it the catchiest song in history.
The futuristic feel and disco dance beat are undeniably a classic Kylie track.
The accompanying music video features one of her most iconic looks in her entire music career. The white one-piece with plunging neckline and hoodie is a signature look for Kylie.
‘It looked like nothing on the hanger, like someone’s left their sheet there,’ Kylie told Marie Claire. ‘That one did involve a bit of trickery to stay in all the right places.’
She donated it to the Performing Arts Museum in Melbourne.
The music video has almost 76 million views on YouTube and will forever remain a signature song for the Aussie pop princess.
Kylie’s best: Film cameo
Moulin Rouge! (2001)
Kylie Minogue briefly appeared in the hit-movie Moulin Rouge!, directed by fellow Aussie Baz Luhrmann.
In the movie, Christian (played by Ewan McGregor) drinks absinthe for the first time and starts having visions.
During the vision, a small green sprite jumps out and announces: ‘I’m the Green Fairy!’
She then flies about, sprinkling pixie dust and singing ‘The Hills Are Alive’ from the musical, The Sound of Music.
Kylie turns into a seductress, as she tries to lure Christian into temptation.
But what not many people know is when she screams at the end, it’s actually the voice of Ozzy Osbourne.
In response to her performance, she was nominated for an MTV Movie Award for Best Cameo in 2002.
Moulin Rouge! went on to win a host of awards, including three Golden Globes, two Academy Awards and three BAFTAs.
Kylie’s best: Reinvention
Golden (2018)
Kylie’s most recent studio album Golden represents one of the biggest reinventions of her illustrious career.
Going from a heavy dance album with Kiss Me Once in 2014 to a Christmas album in 2015, she changed the game completely with a country music-inspired album released earlier this year.
While it’s not her most successful album, it represents a huge comeback from some mixed reviews to Kiss Me Once.
Photo: Kylie / YouTube
Recording the album in Nashville, it comes off the back of a bad break up with ex-partner Joshua Sasse.
She said after the first single Dancing’s release: ‘When I started working on the album in 2017 it was, in many ways, a great escape.’
When asked what she learned while in Nashville, she said: ‘You need to work with a good group of people. Song writing can be a bit like therapy – you have to feel comfortable to talk about personal things.’
In recent performances, she’s covered Dolly Parton’s songs Islands in the Stream and 9 to 5.
Golden scored number one in the UK – the first number one album in eight years.
Kylie’s best: TV appearance
Neighbours
Did you know Kylie actually started out as an actress? She started acting at the age of 11 in a few minor roles in various Australian soap operas.
At the age of 17, she submitted a demo tape for the music variety show Young Talent Time, which already featured her sister Dannii as a regular performer.
A year later, Kylie began playing Charlene Robinson in the Australian soap opera Neighbours.
She plays a feisty, outspoken tomboy and trained as a mechanic. She often wore overalls and baggy sweatshirts.
This depiction on Neighbours is where she developed her ‘girl next door’ image, which she capitalizes on with her first two albums, including smash-hit single The Loco-Motion.
She dated Scott Robinson (played by Jason Donavan) and the pair became a hugely popular couple. When they eventually married in the show, the episode attracted over 20 million viewers and is one of the highest rating episodes of all time for the soap.
Special mention: Kylie played the grown up child of Kim, from hit-Australian sitcom Kath & Kim. She plays the hilarious Epponnee-Raelene Kathleen Darlene Charlene Craig.
Kylie’s best: Stock, Aitken and Waterman track
Better the Devil You Know (1990)
Stock, Aitken and Waterman were a powerhouse English songwriting and record-producing trio in the mid-80s to early 90s.
Kylie Minogue became one of SAW’s biggest artists, with her first 13 singles reaching the top 10 in the UK charts.
They produced her first four albums – Kylie, Enjoy Yourself, Rhythm of Love and Lets Get To It.
Some of the big singles from the albums include I Should Be So Lucky, The Loco-Motion, Hand On Your Heart and Especially For You (featuring Jason Donovan).
But Better The Devil You Know is one of Kylie’s favorite songs and we have to agree.
It’s from her third studio album, Rhythm of Love. This is when she was dating outlandish INXS frontman Michael Hutchence.
During this album, she shed her ‘good girl’ image and started embracing her sexuality, reinventing herself with more sex appeal.
In the music video, she’s wearing one of her top three favorite looks – a clear rain jacket.
It’s also a song she always sings whenever she goes to Heaven nightclub in London.
Kylie’s best: Duet
Especially For You ft. Jason Donovan (1988)
In 1988, Kylie recorded Especially For You with her heartthrob Jason Donovan from Neighbours. Both Kylie and Jason appeared on the Aussie soap opera, but then also went on to start music careers afterwards.
It actually first appeared on Donovan’s debut album album Ten Good Reasons, making it his most successful song, but not Kylie’s.
The song reached number one in the UK and comes in at number two for her all-time top-selling singles.
The pair dated for three years, but then split up in 1989. Kylie then went on to date INXS frontman Michael Hutchence.
They actually had already broken up by the time it came to recording the music video for Especially For You.
On the break up, Donovan told the Mirror two years ago: ‘It was an extremely painful parting of the ways and, without doubt, I took a long time to recover from it.
‘Years, definitely,’ he added.
Fun fact: Kylie also performed the song as a duet with Kermit the Frog in 2001.
Special mention: 100 Degrees ft. Dannii Minogue.
Kylie’s best: Music video
Slow (2003)
Kylie’s best music video is Slow and we won’t hear any objections.
Set at the Piscina Municipal de Montjuïc outdoor swimming pool in Barcelona, the music video is relatively simple. But it’s the simplicity that makes it so perfect.
Taken from her ninth studio album, Body Language, Slow starts off with a (very handsome) man in a speedo diving into a clear blue pool.
The camera pans to the water, as wind chimes softly play in the background. The diver gets out of the water and walks over naked men and women until the camera pans to Kylie laying on a towel in a mesh dress.
She writhes on a bright blue towel, as the sexy bathers around her move in sync to the beat of the music.
Every camera angle is perfectly timed (including some amazing overhead shots), but especially when the song gets to the moment she sings: ‘Read my… body language’ and thrusts her arm up to cover her eyes.
Simply perfection.
In 2012, Kylie actually named Slow as her all-time favorite song from her music career. And judging by the music video, we can see why.
Kylie’s best: Iconic outfit
Gold hotpants
Type ‘gold hotpants’ into Google and the first recommended result is ‘Gold hotpants Kylie’. This is because the gold hotpants are undoubtedly the most iconic outfit she’s ever worn.
Featured in the music video for Spinning Around, Kylie struts onto camera wearing gold heels, a white singlet top and the iconic hotpants.
During the disco tune, she gets up onto the bar and starts gyrating in front of the crowd, with a hint of cheek hanging out.
Kylie said the hotpants were actually 50 pence from a charity shop in London.
Kylie told Graham Norton in 2015 she donated the gold hotpants to a museum in Australia.
‘You can’t touch them without white gloves,’ she revealed. ‘The gold hotpants got pretty worn away – they worked very hard in that video!’
Special mention: Charlene’s dungarees in Neighbours.
Kylie’s best: Gay icon moment
All the Lovers (2010)
Kylie has always had a close affinity with the LGBTI community, but particularly her gay male fans.
As a result, she wanted to show her appreciation for them with a nod to same-sex love in the music video for All The Lovers.
In the racy video, thousands of people undress in the street and then begin making out with each other. They also touch each other’s bodies and create what can only be described as a giant dancing orgy in the middle of the street.
The video features several same-sex scenes, from kisses to caresses and was an instant hit.
But not everyone liked the explicit nod to the gay community.
One country reportedly wanted to censor the same-sex scenes from the music video but Kylie put her foot down and said no.
Director of the music video Joseph Kahn wrote in a tweet last year: ‘A country asked us to cut the gay kissing from ATL. Kylie Minogue said no. No press release. She is amazing.’
At the time of the song’s release in 2011, she defended her decision to keep the same-sex scenes in the music video. She said: ‘I think, yes, it’s sexy but I also think it’s very touching and sensual and the message is love.’
Special mention in this category: During the same-sex marriage debate in Australia last year, Kylie became a vocal activist for the ‘Yes’ vote. She was dating British actor Joshua Sasse at the time and actually refused to marry until same-sex marriage was legal.
Kylie’s best: Album
Fever (2001)
It was a close call for this category, but it’s undeniable Kylie’s eighth studio album, Fever, is her best.
It features hit-song Can’t Get You Out Of My Head, but also other banging singles In Your Eyes, Love At First Sight and Come Into My World. All four singles charted within the top 10 in Australia and the United Kingdom.
It hit seven-times platinum in Australia and five-times platinum in the UK. It also became the thirteenth best-selling album of the decade in Australia.
Other great songs on the album include Fragile, Fever and More More More.
Fever is a classic dance-pop album by the Aussie hit-maker.
The album reportedly sold over six million copies worldwide, becoming her best-selling of all time. It also became her first and only platinum-selling album in the United States.
Kylie won a host of awards for the album, including an ARIA for Highest Selling Album, a Brit Award for Best International Album and a Grammy Award nomination for Love At First Sight.
At the time of its release, NME called CGYOOMH the ‘trash pop single of the year’.
On the album as a whole, they said: ‘Kylie continues to show them how it’s done: with taste, style and while wearing as few clothes as possible.’
Kylie’s best: Inspiring moment
Overcoming breast cancer (2005)
At the age of just 37, Kylie shocked the world when she announced a breast cancer diagnosis.
As a result, she canceled the remainder of her Showgirl tour.
She said in a statement at the time: ‘I was so looking forward to bringing the Showgirl tour to Australian audiences, and am sorry to have to disappoint my fans. Nevertheless hopefully all will work out fine and I’ll be back with you all again soon.’
Taking to Twitter on Saturday (26 May), Kylie wrote on the diagnosis: ‘With the help of family, friends, medical teams and of course all of you, we made it through.’
This decade also bought the challenge of breast cancer. With the help of family, friends, medical teams and of course all of you, we made it through. There are some great organisations who are there to help, such as @BCCare. IF you need a
idea,
https://t.co/OmDtewFCzg pic.twitter.com/CabY1CB9Wq
— kylie minogue (@kylieminogue) May 26, 2018
While holding back tears, she told entertainment reporter Molly Meldrum in an interview in 2011 she became a recluse.
She said: ‘I stayed indoors and it was my family who supported me through really rotten, dark moments.’
She then revealed on Australia’s 60 Minutes program in 2014: ‘I know I have strength. But when you’re fighting something where there is a lot of unknown, it’s a mixture… of emotions and memories.
‘It is years until you really get the all clear. By the time my hair started growing back it was very exciting – it was like a miracle,’ she said.
After she got the all-clear, she continued her Showgirl tour.
When she hit the stage on that very first performance back, the crowd went absolutely wild and it became one of the most incredible moments of pop history.
Editors at Gay Star News collectively chose the winners for each category.
