You sound like you're from the Midwest. "I am--born and raised in Minnesota."

How did you become a pop star in Spain and South America? "I went to visit a girlfriend--a dancer who'd married a Spaniard. She found me a job singing backup with a famous artist who was making a comeback--"

You don't want to use his name? "Well, you wouldn't know it anyway, and it's hard to spell--he's a wonderful artist, he really is. He helped me produce an album which went gold. It was a fluke."

How long did it take you to learn Spanish? "About six months to become conversational. It took me a week just to know how to eat, where I was going, where the bathroom was, where I lived--the necessities of life. Nobody spoke English in rehearsals, so it came pretty fast."

So you're not like the singers in ABBA, who have no idea what they're saying. "No, no."

What happened in Barcelona? "Oh, golly. A fan attacked me. Sometimes they love you so much they want a piece of you--he wanted more than I wanted to give. It sent me home to spend some time with my folks, where I did my children's show."

You had a children's show? "I like kids. I gravitate to kids and they gravitate to me for some reason. Wonder Window was based out of Camp Snoopy at the Mall of America in Minneapolis. The Wonder Window would take you to the zoo or a museum or the ballet. It was a learning-is-fun situation."

Because learning isn't normally fun. "Well, we just tried to make it colorful and bright and cheery."

Why are you portraying these blond icons? Isn't it enough to be you? "Yes, but I just love these women. I've watched them all my life--or some of them. Britney Spears of course is the last two years--but they've really shaped the face of show business and rocked the world. They've done it all."

What's the worst evil facing the world today? "Poverty. Hunger, children with no food--which leads to crime--it all seems to stem from poverty."