Oct. 20: Australian singer, songwriter & actress, Dannii Minogue is 40 years-old today.

Danielle Jane "Dannii" Minogue is an Australian dance-pop singer and her musical career consists of five studio albums, six compilation albums, twenty-eight singles, and five video albums. Minogue rose to prominence in the early 1980s for her roles in the Australian television talent show Young Talent Time and in the soap opera Home and Away, before beginning a career as a pop singer in the early 1990s.

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Minogue was brought up in Melbourne, Australia. her older sister, Kylie Minogue is also a pop singer. Throughout her career, Dannii Minogue has often been compared with her  more commercially successful sister, Kylie.

As to the comparison, Minogue said "[I]t is hard to be compared all the time to Kylie.... "I'm so proud of my sister and it annoys the hell out of me when comparisons between us are made."

Dannii rose to prominence in the early 1980s for her roles in the Australian television talent show Young Talent Time and the soap opera Home and Away, before commencing her career as a pop singer in the early 1990s.

Minogue released her debut Australian album Dannii in October 1990. It peaked at number twenty-four on the ARIA Albums Chart and was a moderate success. In June 1991, the album was released with additional tracks in the United Kingdom as Love and Kisses. In the UK, it reached number eight and produced five singles.

Her debut single was the title track "Love and Kisses" which peaked at number eight in the UK, and at number four in Australia where it was certified gold. To date, it is her only top ten single in Australia. The second single "Success" made the top twenty in the UK and the top thirty in Australia.

"I Don't Wanna Take This Pain" was released as the third single in Australia in late 1990 where it failed to make the top fifty, becoming her lowest charting single on that chart. "Jump to the Beat" and "Baby Love" were released in 1991 and proved to be successful singles in the UK both peaking in the top 20.

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Her second album, Get Into You, was released in October 1993. The album did not perform as well as her debut, peaking outside of the top fifty in Australia and the UK. After a brief hiatus from recording music, Minogue released her third album Girl in September 1997. The album, composed of dance and electronic music, produced three number one club songs in the UK.

In March 2003, she released her fourth album Neon Nights. Inspired by dance music from the 1980s, the album was certified in gold in the UK. It produced four singles, all of which became number one on the UK Dance Charts.

In 2007, she released a compilation of tracks that she had recorded while signed to AATW, which were heavily inspired by 80s dance music, titled Club Disco. The album collected together the six singles she had released since her Neon Nights period: "You Won't Forget About Me," "Perfection," "So Under Pressure," "I Can't Sleep at Night," "He's the Greatest Dancer" and "Touch Me Like That." The album had moderate success in the UK and a minor success in Australia.

As a recording artist Minogue has sold over 7 Million Records worldwide.

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Minogue returned to British television in August 2008 as a judge on The X Factor, alongside Simon Cowell, Louis Walsh and Cheryl Cole, who replaced Sharon Osbourne. Following the initial auditions and Boot Camp stages of the competition, Minogue was assigned the Over 25s category to mentor. Throughout the series, several people in the entertainment industry questioned Minogue's judging credentials and mentoring ability.

On November 23, during a live broadcast of the programme, Minogue broke down in tears and was unable to introduce one of her acts, Rachel Hylton, following an on-air row with Louis Walsh over a choice of song.

On October 10, 2009, while providing comments on The X Factor regarding artist Danyl Johnson's performance, Minogue sparked controversy by remarking that Danyl had not needed to switch the words of his chosen song "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" from "man" to "girl," after he had spoken in a newspaper interview about being bisexual. The comment prompted immediate outrage from viewers demanding Minogue's dismissal from the show.

On the following night, Minogue apologized on air and said that her comments were not meant in the way that they were taken. Despite the controversies, she proved popular in public votes and polls.

She returned to The X Factor in September 2010. In May 2011 it was announced that she would not be appearing in the next series of The X Factor.

In early 2010, she topped Who magazine’s annual 25 Most Beautiful People list. At almost six months’ pregnant, Minogue graced the cover of the magazine in a form-fitting blue strapless gown, showing off her baby belly. 





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