SANTA MARIA, Calif. – “No … never … absolutely not.”

Those words were music to Michael Jackson’s ears yesterday as two young men, including Britney Spears’ former dance coach, denied testimony by ex-Neverland maids that the pop star molested them as kids.

Jackson’s defense kicked off with a powerful one-two punch by Wade Robson, 22, and Brett Barnes, 23, who said Jackson never molested them even though they slept with him dozens of times when they were boys.

Jackson has been dogged by nasty rumors about his relationships with Robson, Barnes, actor Macaulay Culkin and other boys for a dozen years. Culkin is expected to testify today or Monday.

“Absolutely not,” Robson, a dancer-turned-movie director, replied when defense lawyer Tom Mesereau asked if Jackson ever molested him.

Robson, who taught Spears many of her distinctive dance moves, said “Never” and “No” when Mesereau asked if Jackson ever touched him in a sexual way or ever inappropriately touched any part of his body.

An ex-maid had testified she once saw Jackson and Robson showering together in a steamed-up stall while their underpants lay on the bathroom floor in the early 1990s.

Robson said, however, “I’ve never been in the shower with Michael Jackson.”

On cross-examination, prosecutor Ron Zonen suggested Jackson molested him while he slept. But Robson scoffed: “… something like that would wake me up.”

Barnes, 23, also flatly denied he was molested. “Never, and if he had, I wouldn’t be here right now. I wouldn’t stand for it,” he said.

Barnes, who lives in Australia, said the claims made him “very mad … because it’s not true. They’re putting my name through the dirt.”