Entertainment

Rae of light

Carly Rae Jepsen hopes to continue topping charts. (
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As any would-be pop star will concur, there are two ways in which you know you’ve made it: One is if a member of the “Sesame Street” cast spoofs one of your songs, and the other is if there’s an alleged sex tape of you making the rounds on the Internet. They may occupy opposite ends of the decency spectrum, but Carly Rae Jepsen’s rise to fame has been so rapid that she’s managed to tick off both of those boxes within weeks of each other this summer.

“Sometimes, it’s hard to believe any of this happened,” she tells The Post. “This last year has been a fairy tale for me.”

You can understand that sense of bemusement. A few years ago, when she was still a struggling singer-songwriter doing the coffee-shop circuit in her native Canada, it was unlikely that she’d have to deal with rumors linking her to a salacious video (a sex tape featuing a woman who looked like her) or weirder still, watch Cookie Monster hilariously turn “Call Me Maybe” into “Share It Maybe.”

But it’s all happened — and quite a lot more besides — and the constant rush of adrenaline is audible in Jepsen’s voice. She speaks so fast it’s almost disorientating, and it obviously mirrors her present lifestyle. “I remember thinking when I was younger that there probably is nothing worse than having to live out a routine that’s so predictable that you could sleepwalk through it,” continues the 26-year-old. “My life is definitely not that. I wake up every morning and the first thing I think is ‘Where am I’? Sometimes, I have to check the key card of the hotel to make sure. I love that.”

But after such an unnaturally rapid rise, the question now is whether Jepsen can maintain that level of exposure. There’s no doubt that the intention behind her new album “Kiss” (released last Tuesday) is to replicate the success of “Call Me Maybe.” So much so that many of the tracks even seem to carry a near identical dance-pop vibe to the worldwide smash, which is still riding high on the Billboard charts. It certainly seems a far cry from the acoustic guitar-strumming solo singer heard on her largely unknown 2008 debut, “Tug Of War.”

But Jepsen refutes the charge that her teen-sensation makeover is merely a sales-motivated move instigated by her new mentor Justin Bieber. “This album is like having a fresh start and it has really helped me focus in on what I really love to do — and that’s pop music,” she adds. “Although I worked with a lot of producers, I feel as though ‘Kiss’ is very much my baby. As much as I love singing, song writing is my main passion and it has been since I was 17 years old. Even now, I still keep my acoustic guitar with me in the back of the bus all the time when I’m on tour. I was working on coming up with something new just two nights ago.”

For now at least, Jepsen doesn’t need to worry too much about placating her early fans because she’s still making new ones by the million. As unnerving as that has been, she’s embracing this new life wholeheartedly — even when it leaves her combating the sleazier aspects of fame. “I’m trying to look at the whole process as enjoyable. Even when things get nerve-wracking, I try to decide that it’s fun and usually, I can convince myself that it is.”