¡viva la graham!

i know i was happy to hear about britney wising up, but this news actually brought a tear to my eye… kylie minogue returned to the stage in sydney today for the first time being diagnosed with breast cancer last year.

this is the first of 20 concerts in australia, and you can tell she’s glad to be back on stage (look how happy she is in this photo!!). she’ll head to britain after that, and if god fulfill’s my wish, she will then come to the u.s. to perform in my backyard (or at least perhaps somewhere in new york city?).

also, since she’s got her strength back, perhaps we can expect some new material in the next year… pretty please?

apparently someone has metaphorically pissed on jake shears, as the scissor sisters’ singer recently claimed he could never work with madonna for fear of upsetting kylie minogue. smart move, i say, but many of you already know where my loyalties lie.

surely he’s upset the legions of manic madonnaphiles. “she’d never work with you anyway,” they’ll shriek. while they are probably right, i don’t think it really matters. jake’s style is much more suited to kylie’s tastes, anyway. here’s hoping her next album is packed with tunes in the vein of their previous hit collaboration, “i believe in you.”

it’s funny how a cheesy pop song can be re-imagined as a heart-wrenching acoustic ballad. travis did it several years ago when they recorded a brilliant, tongue-in-cheek unplugged version of britney’s “baby, one more time.” this time, it’s kylie minogue’s classic “hand on your heart” getting the treatment by a swedish singer-songwriter called jose gonzales.

the track is currently in rotation on the u.k.’s radio 1, and gonzales has even done a video for it. i can’t decide exactly what i think about this, especially since it seems like this guy is sort of capitalizing on the intense level of public interest in kylie at the moment… but still, knowing that the song is getting some airplay brings a smile to my face.

for old time’s sake, check out the kylie video. you know you want to.

in honor of kylie’s recent homecoming, i’ve chosen this clip as the video of the week. if you haven’t seen her duet with kermit the frog, you must watch their rendition of “especially for you.” it is truly touching! and it does make you wonder… where is jason donovan these days??

also… bonus points if you spot claire from steps in the audience (though not too many, she gets a close-up!).

i was going to post about this earlier, but i never got around to it… check out this new photo of gwen, gavin and little kingston from the u.k.’s hello! magazine. this baby is so much more important in my world than shiloh what’s-her-face. is it just me, or is calling that little girl the messiah just ridiculous?

anyway, congrats once more to the proud parents! it’s going to be so interesting to watch this little boy grow up.

in other super-exciting news, kylie minogue made an appearance alongside sister dannii at london’s g-a-y over the weekend. damn, i would have given anything to have been there! well, that’s not totally true. i would much rather be there when she returns to finish the last leg of her postponed showgirl tour in sydney, australia… or when she headlines at glastonbury next year!!

but i digress. kylie looked absolutely stunning! it’s so exciting to see her back in top form. i couldn’t be happier for you, kylie!

 it has been reported that kylie minogue is set to wed her beau of three years, actor olivier martinez. this encouraging news comes just weeks after kylie’s sister dannii announced that she had officially overcome breast cancer.

kylie has had it rough for the past year, so it’s so nice to see that she is finally able to put her life back together. best of luck to her and olivier. i’m confident that they are in it for the long haul. they survived cancer and angelina jolie - what else could possibly tear them apart??

more good news for kylie, and even better news for her aussie fans. her promoter just announced that she intends to return to the live stage at the end of next year to perform the australian leg of her postponed showgirl tour. the performances were originally scheduled for may of this year.

i wish i could be there to witness kylie’s triumphant return. watching the concert on dvd later just isn’t the same! my only hope - and i know this will not happen - is that kylie decides to bring the show to the u.s.

some good news for my favorite pint-sized pop princess. kylie minogue, who was diagnosed with breast cancer earlier this year, has been deemed strong enough to travel home to her native australia for the holidays (she has been receiving treatment in france). her sister, dannii, confirmed the rumors, saying kylie is “getting stronger ever day. we’re all looking forward to christmas.”

i’m very pleased to hear this, as we haven’t heard much about kylie as of late. it’s nice to see that the horrible gossip about her being very ill is far from the truth.

what a lovely bit of christmas cheer! with this and the recent holiday lights ceremonies around the globe (including london), i’m suddenly very excited about the imminence of my favorite time of year.

kylie minogue might have madonna to thank (at least in part) for her global success in 2001. after madonna wore a kylie t-shirt on the european mtv vma’s, minogue saw her latest single, “can’t get you out of my head,” become her biggest hit in the states - surpassing even “the locomotion.”

madonna’s brand new video, “hung up,” is obviously in demand. in every other country on the planet, it’s the same for kylie…. and as madonna knows, hardly anyone in america has ever seen kylie’s immensely popular video for “spinning around,” (because that song, released in 2000, came before kylie’s u.s. comeback). as a result, madonna is free to rape and pillage as she sees fit. at the climax of the “hung up” video, madge convinces the crowd to participate in a synchronized disco-inspired romp. the results are so very…. kylie.

download the video for “spinning around” here (via Limbo). watch a stream of maddy’s “hung up” video here (via vh1). you’ll see what i mean.