Kylieeeeeeeeeeeee

I love happy, poppy music. Sometimes I forget this because American radio stations seem to play the same songs over and over again every 30 minutes and so I sometimes tune-out of the pop scene over here.

Ever since the late 80s, when I was but a green-teen, one of the pop-chicks guaranteed to get me out of my seat dancing, and put a smile on my face, is the Australian Princess of Pop, Kylie Minogue.

Before she even released a single, she was an actress on an Australian soap opera called Neighbours, that was HUGELY popular in the UK during the late 80s. (And no comments about the spelling, Yanks, that's really how it's spelled.) Kylie and hottie, Jason Donovan, were the teen sensations of their day and yours-truly was equally as smitten as the next person.

What I love about Kylie is that, more than 20 years later, she is still as fun and relevant and she was back then. (Even after fighting breast cancer several years ago.) She never sold out. She never got weird or affected by her fame. She is who she is and she does what she does well. She doesn't pretend to be anything more or less. You can always rely on Kylie for some dancerific pop beats and a happy tune to pump you up.

It's easy to forget about her here in the States where she had only brief success with "Can't Get You Out of My Head", but every now and again, something pops up to make me rediscover her.

Here she is... putting some energy back in my lacklustre Friday morning. Thanks, Kylie! 20 years on and you're still my favorite pick-me-up.