Kylie is continuing her conquering of the US with another whirlwind round of promotional appearances, including some of the country's top TV shows. Her live performances on the Jingle Ball tour has also been putting some of America's bigger names in the shade. Current single Come Into My World also continues to do well.

Kylie Minogue has conquered diva Mariah Carey and turned US talkshow king Jay Leno into a panting puppy during a promotional tour of the US. Minogue, dressed in a sexy gold evening gown, performed a Marilyn Monroe-esque rendition of the Christmas carol, Santa Baby, on Leno's high-rating TV show last night.

After the Australian's performance a flustered Leno turned to his live audience and the seven million TV viewers who watch the show and said: "Is that a sexy song or what?"

When Minogue joined Leno and his other guest, Hollywood actress Cameron Diaz, on a couch for a chat Leno was still shaking his head.

"It was so much fun to sing that song," Minogue said.

"It's fun to watch you sing that song," Leno beamed.

A day earlier, Minogue shared a stage with Carey, Destiny's Child, Justin Timberlake, Avril Lavigne, Kelly Osbourne and the Goo Goo Dolls at Los Angeles' biggest concert of the year, the Jingle Ball. And according to the Los Angeles Times, Minogue stole the show, with the newspaper voting her the number one act. The LA Times said Minogue's show-closing performance "recalled '80s-era Madonna".

"Troubled songbird Carey couldn't compete with that, and she didn't even try," LA Times reviewer Natalie Nichols wrote. "After whipping up the crowd by entering from the back of the arena, she (Carey) spent barely 10 minutes on stage."

LA's annual Jingle Ball is considered the most important date on the US west coast for pop acts. The concert is heavily promoted by top LA pop radio station KIIS-FM and this year the 19,000 tickets for the event sold out in less than 30 minutes.