Comeback kid Kylie; Insider GOSSIP.

Byline: DAN MORRISSEY

REINVENTING yourself, and then getting people to take you seriously is something that's actually very hard to do.

Many have tried (just watch New Kids on The Block giving it a go this summer. Hilarious!), many have failed (can anyone say "East 17"?)... which goes to show that it very often doesn't work.

Kylie Minogue has reinvented herself no less than six times.

Possibly more - there's some blurry bits in the 90's where I'm not sure what she was doing.

Her recent return was made all the more impressive because of her battle with breast cancer over the previous three years. There's no denying though, she's definitely back and in fine fettle.

X is a great album, and the next single from it is being described as 'the best thing she's ever done'.

It's certainly a great pop/dance tune, and fans of her early work, her 'Can't Get You Out Of My Head' phase and her general campery will absolutely love it.

'In My Arms' is out this week, and is a glitzy and fun celebration of everything that is, and ever has been, disco and pop and dance music. It highlights Kylie at her best, and is a guaranteed hit.

It's just one of those songs that comes on the radio and puts a smile on your face.

For some reason, Kylie recently failed to crack the American market - something she's never quite managed to do.

It's a massive country, and trying to get across it to visit radio and TV stations is an exhausting task.

Even appearing on Oprah didn't help, and her album charted at 139.

When you compare that to Leona's success you see how hit and miss it can be over there. She's got the songs, she's got the personality and looks (which are the most important things out there), they just don't get it.

It'll have been a welcome return to Europe for her then, where she's kicked off her KylieX2008 gigs this week. She started in Paris where she was also given their equivalent of a Knighthood ('Chevalier Dans L'Orde Des Arts Et Des Lettres').

I'm sure her French on-off boyfriend managed to put in a good word with the Press, but she's now pretty much the Queen of All Music in France, and come July, she'll have got an OBE from our real Queen too. Adding her sell-out, three-month European tour on to the success of her comeback album and singles really does make this The Year of Kylie.