TORONTO -- Spending 25 minutes in a candle-lit hotel room with actress-turned-singer Jennifer Lopez probably ranks right up there -- as far as male fantasies go.



But despite the fact that she's an undisputed knockout in person, it's not nearly as exciting as that description might suggest.

Lurking in the background during our chat in Toronto yesterday were two publicists, a videographer and a bodyguard.

Seems Lopez is worthy of an entourage, since she's about as hot as they come right now in both music and film due to her recent feat of having the No. 1 album, J.Lo, and the No. 1 movie, The Wedding Planner, the same week.

"It's hard to think about it, though," says Lopez, 30, dressed in a skin-tight Dolce & Gabbana camel-coloured turtleneck, matching camel stiletto-heeled boots, and custom-made Levis with sparkles, studs and a silk lining. "I always feel like I'm at the beginning of my career. I always feel like it's a struggle for me. I don't know if it's part of my work ethic. I feel more driven than ever to keep going."

Whether she's processed it or not, the Catholic-raised self-described "girl from the Bronx" who started taking singing and dancing lessons when she was five has clearly arrived.

Some are even calling her the next Madonna.

"Really?" she said, wide-eyed. "I take that as a huge compliment."

Madonna, it turns out, was one of Lopez's childhood music idols, along with Diana Ross, Barbra Streisand, Bette Midler and Cher. Lopez appears poised to join their diva ranks, if she hasn't already. It's been hard to avoid seeing her pretty face recently as she stared out from the covers of InStyle, Allure, Rolling Stone and Marie Claire. Not surprisingly, the most provocative cover was the male-oriented Rolling Stone featuring Lopez in tiny gold metal bikini striking a warrior pose a la Princess Leia.

"It was the worst," said Lopez of the bikini, which Rolling Stone editor Jann Wenner has since bought. "I was like, 'Oh, my God! Can we just hurry up? This thing is so uncomfortable'."

Still she hastens to add: "I don't do anything I don't want to do."

Speaking of which, it was Lopez's idea to recycle her famous barely-there 2000 Grammy dress for Saturday Night Live this past weekend when she hosted and performed.

"It's so crazy that dress," said Lopez. "There's something about it. Now that I've put it on for the second time and we look at it hanging there, there's something about that dress. I don't know what it is."

Lopez also encouraged the SNL gang to poke fun at her famous derriere, with both cast member Will Ferrell and executive producer Lorne Michaels obsessing over it.

"You gotta make fun of yourself," she said. "It's really ridiculous with everything else that's going on and all the things you work hard for, and people still resort to talking about that, like it's so interesting."

Next for Lopez, who appears on MuchMusic tonight (7-8 p.m.), is a promo trip to Hong Kong, Japan and Australia. She then returns to start shooting the thriller Enough with Billy Campbell and director Michael Apted in Los Angeles, now her adopted home.

"The Bronx wasn't tough for me at all," she insisted when asked which neighbourhood is tougher. "It was the only thing I knew, so for me it was normal. But I think growing up there made Hollywood a piece of cake in a way, because I had the street smarts and sensibility and I didn't grow up in that environment.

"I also have it in perspective, because I know what it is to live in the Bronx and get on the train and work for $200 a week. It gives you a certain sensibility that doesn't let your head get too in the clouds."

Lopez will go into rehearsals in June for her first-ever tour, a 40-date trip around North America to begin in August.

"I'm very excited about that," said Lopez, who wants her live show to be both a rock jam like Tina Turner's and theatrical like Madonna and Janet Jackson's. "That'll be a new challenge for me, that's something I've always dreamt of."

As for the status of her relationship with boyfriend Sean "Puffy" Combs, questions about him or his ongoing gun possesion-bribery trial were forbidden under threat of the interview ending.

Still, she did confirm the awesome Valentine's Day present that Combs sent over while she was in SNL rehearsals in N.Y.

Would you believe Luther Vandross serenading her in person?

"It's the most amazing thing that ever happened to me," said Lopez, suddenly getting quiet.

"Luther said, 'I have a present for you.' He put in his DAT recording, and sat down and took my mic and sang House Is Not A Home."