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Throughout her professional life, Minogue has been the subject of intense media interest in both the United Kingdom and Australia, which remained constant even while her success as a recording artist had temporarily fluctuated. Her efforts to be taken seriously as a musician have sometimes been hindered by her high profile as noted by The Australian, who wrote in 1997, "When you have to lug around an image the size of Kylie's, it's difficult for any music you produce to match the hype—especially in a country that gives scant credibility to pop". Her relationships, including her recently ended relationship with French actor Olivier Martinez, have been extensively reported as well.Minogue is regarded as a gay icon, which she encourages with comments such as "I am not a traditional gay icon. There's been no tragedy in my life, only tragic outfits." While part of her appeal lies in her flamboyant costumes and her confident sexual posturing, she acknowledges the gay community throughout the world by performing at gay venues and events, and by openly supporting AIDS and gay rights causes. She has said that she believes gay fans responded to her apparent distress when the news media began heavily criticising her in 1989, and that those fans have remained loyal, explaining, "My gay audience has been with me from the beginning... they kind of adopted me".
Indie Kylie, Dance Kylie, Sex Kylie and Cute Kylie in the video for "Did It Again". (1997)
Indie Kylie, Dance Kylie, Sex Kylie and Cute Kylie in the video for "Did It Again". (1997)After playing the "girl next door" in her early videos, Minogue began to touch on adult themes: a mature relationship in "Better the Devil You Know", lesbian posturing and drag queens in "What Do I Have to Do", telephone sex in "Confide in Me", and prostitution in "On a Night like This". She performed a slow strip tease in the Barbarella-inspired "Put Yourself in My Place" and wore revealing costumes in many of her videos, most notably "Spinning Around" and "Can't Get You Out of My Head". She satirised her image in the video for "Did It Again", in which the four major incarnations of her career, "Indie Kylie", "Dance Kylie", "Sex Kylie", and "Cute Kylie" battled for supremacy. Her evolving image and often overt sexuality led to some critical comparisons to Madonna. Minogue has admitted her admiration for Madonna and has cited her as a significant influence. Minogue's status has led to her being referenced in several pop songs including The KLF's "Kylie Said to Jason" (1989), BMX Bandits' "Kylie's Got a Crush on Us" (1993), KMFDM's "Sucks" (1993), The Pretenders' "Popstar" (1999), and The Androids' "Do It with Madonna" (2003).In 1993 Baz Luhrmann introduced Minogue to the photographer Bert Stern, notable for his work with Marilyn Monroe. Stern photographed her in Los Angeles and, comparing her to Monroe, commented that she had a "similar vulnerability and awareness of the camera". She has gained credibility by her association with people such as fashion designer Jean Paul Gaultier, photographer Stephane Sednaoui, and designer John Galliano, who described her as a "blend of Lolita and Barbarella".During her career she has chosen photographers who attempt to create a new "look" for her, and the resulting photographs have appeared in a variety of magazines, from the cutting edge The Face to the more traditionally sophisticated Vogue and Vanity Fair, making the Minogue face and name known to a broad group of people. Stylist William Baker has suggested that this is part of the reason she has entered in the mainstream pop culture of Europe more successfully than many other pop singers who concentrate simply on selling records. She has appeared in guest roles in television series such as The Vicar of Dibley and Men Behaving Badly in the UK, and Kath & Kim in Australia, which capitalised on her celebrity status and image for comedic effect. In the latter she played a Melbourne teenager on her wedding day, referencing her role as Charlene in Neighbours.The News of the World reported that she has been cast as a 'sexy Cyberwoman' in the 2007 Doctor Who Christmas special. This has been denied by the show's executive producer, Russell T Davies, in the magazine Ariel. However, Minogue later confirmed that she will be appearing in the special, but not playing a villain as previously reported.Despite her commercial success, and her acceptance by a large audience as a contemporary sex symbol, her critics describe her willingness to display her body as an attempt to disguise a lack of talent. Her detractors, such as those discussed in the book La La La, have described her as a "one dimensional performer" and "pretty, but mindless and talentless". Miki Berenyi of the group Lush said "I have a massive problem with her because she epitomises the acceptable role ... it's a shame she gets so much credibility when there are so many women worth a hundred times that. It's war—you shouldn't stick up for Kylie, she should be fought at every turn". Minogue continues to attract discussion, and in Paul Morley's study of the evolution of pop music, Words and Music: A History of Pop in the Shape of a City, Minogue is the vehicle by which pop is explored.Minogue has often spoken of the stability of the team she works with. Her parents, Ron and Carol Minogue, are actively involved in her career; her father, an accountant, is her financial advisor and her mother has joined her on each of her tours. She has been managed by Terry Blamey since 1987 and the close network, along with her Stock, Aitken and Waterman origins, have led to comments that she is "manufactured", an assessment which Minogue has admitted is partly accurate, saying, "if you're part of a record company, I think to a degree it's fair to say that you're a manufactured product. You're a product and you're selling a product. It doesn't mean that you're not talented and that you don't make creative and business decisions about what you will and won't do and where you want to go... Ultimately, yes, it's my name and I have to deliver the goods. But it doesn't happen without a team. So I try and work with the best people I can and take from them what I can. Hopefully I enhance what they do as well" William Baker has described her status as a sex symbol as a "double edged sword" observing that "we always attempted to use her sex appeal as an enhancement of her music and to sell a record. But now it has become in danger of eclipsing what she actually is: a pop singer".Minogue has suggested that although her career will inevitably change direction, she expects to continue as a singer, and move away from the "sex-pot" persona she has created. In 2003 she received positive reviews for some low key performances in Paris nightclubs where she performed jazz standards, and she indicated she may take her career in this direction. Rather than identify herself as a particular type of singer, she has assessed herself with the comment, "now more than ever, I consider myself a performer... on stage is where I have given and received so much energy and enthusiasm".In the world of fashion, Minogue has inspired a limited edition beachwear range for fashion retailer H&M, where she contributed ideas towards the range but didn't design any items. The beachwear range went on sale in May 2007, which includes bikinis, scarves and swimsuits, and has recently appeared in advertisements promoting the range. Also in May 2007, Minogue performed Can't Get You Out of My Head as a duet with Sharon Stone at the Cannes Film Festival for AIDS research.
