Research methods

Research into Kylie’s ever changing character involved an online questionnaire as to how popular she was amongst my generation (17 – 18 yr olds). I asked them questions about when they first knew of kylies success and why they think she is a good role model, answers were varied depending on the audiences perceptions of kylie. I got a range of answers from “- she seems like a nice enough person and has a good attitude to the industry she's in, hasn't got a bad voice either. to much more negative answers like “NO why would you want to model your self on someone so annoying”

I also did a lot of research on the internet; I found plenty of ‘official’ Kylie sites for example http://www.kylie.com/home and lots of sites with information on Kylie although I was not always sure that information was true. I used the internet to find articles and reviews on Kylie’s music and appearances as well as background information, this lead me to several articles which different opinions on female artists for example http://www.thefword.org.uk/reviews/2003/10/kylie_minogue an article from ‘the f word’ – contemporary uk feminism. “What makes a female singer turn into a pop princess? When thinking about Kylie Minogue, the first idea in mind is probably a “la la la” tune heard billions of times. Then, a big smile and a “girl next door” face. The music scene is, and always has, been crowded by “normal girls”; in some cases not even very talented. Beautiful (or made so), they have became “pop princesses” by showing off their bodies, singing an easy-to-listen pop song and selling a chartable number of albums or singles. Then they simply disappeared, just like a lost dream.” This article asks why and how has kylie become so popular over the years and explores how she has changed from an innocent actress to a sex symbol of the pop charts.
Many writers have covered Kylie, as popular and loved as she is, this article draws attention to a few of these authors;
Ai Ga Tomaranai-Turn It Into Love (Japanese Female Duo)B*dazzled - Step Back In TimeBen Lee - Confide In MeBeverley Knight - Can’t get you out of my head liveCissy - I Should Be So LuckyFlaming Lips - Can’t get you out of my head (from the “flight test” ep)Johnny & Denise - Especially For YouKia - What Do I Have To Do/Better The Devil You KnowPanikbrothers - Can’t Get You Out Of My Head V Blue MondaySophie Lawrence - SecretsSteps - Better The Devil You Know
To help me keep track of her changing image I found her album covers very useful as they show how her confidence has grown with her success as she started off very modestly in the 80’s comparing to the album covers on the late 00’s. This confidence and popularity also shines through in her music and especially her videos, including an advert which was banned for being to sexy http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qp_Ll-Bf5uA.
Through Wikipedia and several other sites, I gathered information on her album releases and record labels; I then collected all of this knowledge and presented it onto a timeline using dipity. http://www.dipity.com/orangetiger_3
I found my research useful although I could have looked into it with more depth with books. I found a lot of information but as my topic is quite vague it was hard to look for something specific.
Using the internet was tough at times, as I had to filter through a lot of rubbish to find information that was useful.
I realise now I could have also gained a lot more information if I had watched Kylie’s documentary ‘white diamond’ that talks about her like and battle with breast cancer, I think this could have been a very reliable source.
I also think that I could of done more research into audience reviews and asked more from my questionnaire.

This may have been useful to gain a larger insight into my audience, especially as my questionnaire was based at a young audience and Kylie has been around for many older generations. However, through this I think I have learnt that Kylie is popular with older audiences throughout her pop career, as although she is still highly popular and has a much larger target audience, this larger target audience are also exposed to younger artists like Lady GaGa and Britney Spears.