Rob's Kylie Minogue Site (Biography 2)

When Kylie was 11, she was given the chance to appear on national television. She had just finished primary school, and she was offered the chance to audition for a part in the long-running soap, The Sullivans. Dannii was also invited along. Kylie got the part of Carla and had to speak in a Dutch accent, which Kylie herself admits she wasn't very good at!

At the same time as appearing in The Sullivans, Kylie also appeared in an episode of Skyways, which was a series that didn't last very long. In Kylie's own words, "It was dreadful". However, playing her brother in Skyways was a young man who was to play a central part in Kylie's life. His name was Jason Donovan.

Kylie went back to school, where she finished her HSC. During this time, though, she still found time to appear in the mini-series', "Fame And Fortune" and "The Zoo Family". In 1986, Kylie auditioned for the part of Charlotte Kernow (who was known as Char) in the series "The Henderson Kids". The character was remarkably similar to Charlene, the character she played in "Neighbours".

Even though she had made a big impression on television, Kylie still wasn't sure whether she actually wanted to stay in acting once she left school. "I would have made a great secretary," says Kylie, "because I love organising things!". She believed that she would leave school, get married and have an "proper job." Carol never pressured Kylie into going to auditions, it was just something that came up. However, just a few months after her exams, she was called to audition for the role of Charlene in "Neighbours".

In 1987, the cast of "Neighbours" were invited by a Melbourne football club, to sing together at a charity concert. Kylie had such a great time that she decided to do an impromptu performance of "The Locomotion". Gary Ashley, of Mushroom Records, saw Kylie's performance and persuaded her to record it. It was released in July 1987 and went on to spend 8 weeks at number one in Australia. It became the biggest selling single of the decade.

Terry Blamey, a commerce graduate, became Kylie's manager. He took her to London to meet Stock, Aitken and Waterman. She recorded the song "I Should Be So Lucky" and under Mushrooms request, sent it around to major record labels. It was turned down, much as Decca with the Beatles, by all the major labels, so PWL (the label of Stock, Aitken and Waterman) struck a deal with Mushroom to handle Kylie's recording rights throughout the world. When "Lucky" was eventually released through PWL, it went on to top the charts in 18 countries! She hit the top of the charts in places like Hong Kong where no-one had even heard of "Neighbours" which showed that it wasn't just the Neighbours profile that made her a star.