HOUSTON - Michael Bublé has everything needed to be a great pop star.

He's 29 years old, and genetics have blessed the Vancouver, British Columbia, native with the hairline and cheekbones of a model. He also possesses a rich, skilled voice. He could be a Backstreet Boy if it weren't for one problem: He ain't interested.

Bublé is more keen to be the next Tony Bennett than the next Justin Timberlake.

With this year's release of his fourth album, It's Time, the warm- voiced crooner isn't just reinventing pop standards made famous by artists such as Bennett, Frank Sinatra, Otis Redding and The Beatles. He's also trying to pick up a few youthful converts along the way.

"I started doing this when I was about 17 years old and playing anywhere I could possibly play," Bublé says. "I got offered the opportunity to make a pop record when I was about 21. I didn't do it, because I knew it wasn't who I was."

Ignoring contemporary pop for the more measured pop styles of old hasn't hurt the singer one bit. It's Time went No. 1 in Canada, Japan, Italy and Australia. It has also fared well in the United States, climbing to No. 7 on the Billboard 200 album chart.

Bublé's single Home recently edged past American Idol champion Kelly Clarkson at the top of the adult contemporary chart.

Yes, though staying true to his sound, Bublé is taking the pop charts from the pop tarts. But more exciting for Bublé has been the reception he's received from some of the icons of the standards circuit.
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