L'impératrice Rouge

Nicole Kidman playing a singing prostitute? Ewan McGregor channeling the Police? If the soundtrack to director Baz Luhrmann's freakish musical Moulin Rouge has its way, we'll all be wearing corsets and swinging from the ceiling while the former Mrs. Tom Cruise becomes our favorite new pop sensation. As daring as Luhrmann himself, the compositions test Kidman–who could have easily used a league of backup singers and studio knob-twiddlers to hide her inexperience–and she actually passes. She's no Olivia Newton-John, but she capably mixes Madonna's "Material Girl" with "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" (which is as breathy as Marilyn would've wanted it to be) and goes full throttle on any medley thrown her way. Her cover of "One Day I'll Fly Away" is especially poignant given her much-publicized personal tragedies. Ewan, though, is a real star; his giggly schoolboy brogue morphs into a fun cradle for Paul McCartney's Wings as well as U2's Bono on "Elephant Love Medley." Beck's cover of David Bowie's "Diamond Dogs" is a hit waiting to happen, while Pattie LaBelle's '70s staple "Lady Marmalade" (remade by an all-star cast of divas, Lil' Kim and Christina Aguilera among them) already is. A delicious, racy soundtrack that is equal parts cabaret, glam rock, and trip-hop, Moulin Rouge doesn't disappoint. -Kristy Martin