Posted January 2, 200718 yr Rehearsing on stage inside London's Wembley Arena, Pink showed off the kind of moves that would ease her straight into Cirque du Soleil. Performing acrobatics in mid-air, using only a piece of material suspended from the roof (with no safety net below), she did some impromptu sit-ups - hanging by her legs. "She's the skinniest she's ever been," said Pink's manager Roger Davies, leaning in to whisper conspiratorially, as I stood goggle-eyed, amazed at the singer's extraordinary fitness. Although she has long been recognised for her taut, sporty physique, it turns out Pink had embarked on an intensive six-week program to slim down before the filming of a DVD during her London concert last month. For some reason - although so many women are focused on their bodies - this was startling. After all, wasn't this the same Pink who had gloriously sung Stupid Girls, lambasting Hollywood's airheads for their vanity, overt sexuality and worrying obsession with body image? (And didn't we love it.) Pink is by no means obsessed - she is funny, feisty and intelligent - but it was curiously disappointing to realise how focused she had been on dropping kilograms before her London show. Even after our official chat inside her backstage dressing room, it was inside the singer's makeshift cafeteria - where her staff are fed and watered ahead of her concerts - that her strict dieting was made obvious. Sitting in front of a specially prepared dish of tofu, with steamed broccoli on the side, Pink joked about succumbing to the range of desserts on display. "Let's get this show on the road - so I can eat the cheesecake afterwards," she said, with a slightly hollow laugh. "You know what it's like when you have no sugar - I'm like, 'Oh my god, it's a banana,'" she added, wild-eyed, mimicking a sugar rush. It's probably silly to think Pink is immune to the pressures of stardom (and the opinions of record company executives), despite her considerable level of fame. But there seems to be a noticeable shift in her image, from the brash, outspoken tomboy to the way she now appears on stage. The singer herself said her renewed focus on fitness had positively affected her live performances. "I'm in a good place right now; I'm probably the healthiest I've been ever," she said. "I quit smoking eight weeks ago, I do an hour of yoga, an hour of running each day, then an hour-and-a-half show ... with the silks and the nets and the acrobatics. It's just awesome. "I've gotten so much stronger, just from the show; it's like boot camp - it's fun." Aside from slimming down, she has also become a little more girly on stage, with a production heavy on costume changes. In one segment of her concert, she writhes inside a mesh net dressed in a bikini. After donning one of her simpler outfits, a white slip dress (worn with bare feet), Pink told the London audience: "I don't normally wear dresses; I'm learning." There are still occasional touches of tough girl lesbian chic - Pink on a motorbike surrounded by cavorting female dancers - but there was a sense of Pink deliberately expanding her image to show off a softer side. She said she had never pretended to be something she was not; instead her connection with fans came from being honest. "The beauty of being me is that I love being imperfect. If I f--- up, I laugh, so it doesn't really matter," she said. She puts her career longevity down to her skills as a singer and songwriter, not to mention her unwavering self-belief. "I haven't lost that teenage 'f--- you' to the people who said I couldn't do something. I hope I never do actually," Pink said. "But [these days] it's in a much more mature way. I'm a walking contradiction. "I'm glad that I'm able to sustain my career and be a better songwriter and push more buttons in different ways and more thoughtful ways." When she arrives in Australia next year Pink will embark on an extensive tour that has now stretched to six weeks throughout April and May because of the intense demand for tickets from pop fans. "It's a fantastic thing. It's rad, I can't wait to go, I'm so excited," she said. "Australia has always been consistently supportive of me, always, no matter what else was going on in the rest of the world." Perhaps one of the most compelling segments of Pink's concert tour is a "campfire" section, in which she rallies the audience with strikingly powerful tunes such as Bob Marley's Redemption Song and her stirring lament against US President George Bush, Dear Mr President. Her outspokenness has won her many fans in the past, but she might encounter some strife in Australia this time around after criticising the practice of mulesing by Australian sheep farmers, on behalf of PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals). Her call for European fans to boycott merino wool incensed some Australians as an attack on local farmers from the opposite side of the world. Everyone has a right to an opinion, but many people wondered whether Pink had become a sheep herself by jumping on the "celebrity causes" bandwagon, without thoroughly educating herself about the entire issue. (Actor Toni Collette famously condemned the same practice, before apologising to farmers after researching the topic more thoroughly.) Some leading Australian musicians were outraged by the comments - on Melbourne radio Divinyls star Chrissy Amphlett called on Pink to cancel her tour if she was so offended by what was happening in Australia. Not least because of the money involved in the tour, Pink is unlikely to do so. Somewhat ironically, she told S about the genuine affection she has for Australia and the bond she and her husband, Carey Hart, share with their Australian friends. (It was shortly after our London interview that she made her controversial comments against mulesing during a press conference in Paris.) "I'm perfectly imperfect," she said backstage in London, shrugging her shoulders. "I've [made] more mistakes than most of the people I know, in a shorter time. "And I flaunt them. I think it's absolutely great. "I've put on weight, I've lost weight, I've smoked, I've drank, I've not, I read books, I party, I rescue dogs and work with PETA and you'll see me putting my middle finger up. "And you know, I'm all of those things. I don't think you should hide any of that.".
