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Charlotte is interviewed in the 26 October 2001 Edition of Entertainment Today in which she discusses Enchantment among other topics. Below is the full text of the interview:

Enchanted, I’m Sure 
Teen soprano Charlotte Church takes the reins with her fourth collection of tunes 
by Sean Daly 

Charlotte Church is relaxing on a lounge chair in a private garden behind the Sunset Marquis Hotel. Wearing a knee-length denim skirt and a white T-shirt that hangs completely off her right shoulder, Church could easily be any American teenager. But she’s not. For one thing, 15-year-old Church is a proud Brit. But she she also spends most of time these days traveling the world, promoting her millions-selling albums and performing to sellout audiences. 

This month, the world’s most celebrated teen soprano releases her fourth CD, Enchantment, a 16 track collection of Broadway show tunes (“Somewhere” and “Tonight” from West Side Story) and opera standards (“Habanera” from Bizet’s Carmen). “I’m much prouder of this album than any of the others,” she says, gazing into the jacuzzi just inches from her feet. “I’m still proud of the other ones, but this one is more ‘me’ than any of my other albums. My other albums were made when I was 12 and 13 and people said, ‘Sing this’ and I did. But now I don’t like that. I want to do it this way.” And so she is. Excerpts of her conversation with Entertainment Today follow. 


Entertainment Today: Do you always stay in this hotel? 

Charlotte Church: Always. There are a lot of hotels that are really pretentious. Like the Mondrian. We stayed there once… and at the poolside everybody was in their little crochet bikini’s. I was like, “This is not for me.” But here it’s very relaxed and chill. You don’t have to be a beautiful model to stay here, which it felt like at The Mondrian. 

ET: You love, L.A. I can tell. 

CC: No I do, really. My mum does as well. It’s so different from home. The sunshine… I quite like Las Vegas as well, in that sort of tacky, commercial sort of way. 

ET: What kind of changes have you made on the new CD? 

CC: I just think it’s more original, more individual. Whatever I am, it’s a little bit more of that. All my other albums used to be quite unoriginal. Stuff people would expect – like “Amazing Grace.” On this album, we’ve mixed load of different world sound. Different cultures and music to create this amazing energy. 

ET: Any collaborations? 

CC: I did a song with Wycleaf Jean. That was on “Summertime” [from Porgy & Bess]. He played Spanish guitar and I sang and there was a hip-hop beat, and kind of half classical and half R&B-ish kind of thing. It was really different. That was recorded at Carnegie Hall for his big charity concert. That was supposed to go on my album, but politics, politics… 

ET: Will this CD extend your appeal to a younger audience? 

CC: I’m never going to have a teenage audience, an audience my age. It’s just not the type of music they listen to. They just don’t like it. I don’t really listen to classical music either. But I have always haD the 5- to 12-year-olds. I have loads of kids at my concerts. So I’ve got really young and then over 30 or 40. But everything I’ve done on this album hasn’t been about “I want to broaden my audience. I want to appeal to people 5 to 90.” 

ET: Would you ever try to make a pop record? 

CC: I think I could, because I’ve got two different voices. I’ve got this classical voice and I’ve got this kind of huge [other] voice, that nobody has ever heard. My family and people in Cardiff [her hometown in Wales] have heard it, but I never used it publicly. So I could do R&B or pop or whatever. 

ET: Why have you never used this “other voice?” 

CC: I think it would be too much of a shock. If I ever decide to change or cross over, I couldn’t just do it like that. People would be like, “Stop it. What are you doing?” You’ve got to kind of ease people into it. Do it gradually? 

ET: Who are you listening to these days? 

CC: India Arie, Jill Scott, Erykah Badu, Usher, Joe, Destiny’s Child, Lifehouse. I like rock, R&B, hip-hop, everything. I also love Outkast. 

ET: No Backstreet Boys or ’N Sync? 

CC: I really like “More Than That,” but that’s the only song I really ever liked by The Backstreet Boys. And I really like “Gone” by ’N Sync. But I’m not really into “pop” pop music. I went through a “I love Britney and boy bands” phase. But now I’ve moved on a bit. 

ET: Do you have to do anything to keep your voice sharp? To keep it tuned? 

CC: If I don’t sing for like three weeks or something, my voice gets a bit rusty. But I’ve pretty much got vocal chords like rope. 

ET: Are you critical of yourself? 

CC: Really critical. I can’t watch myself on TV. I just find myself grinning at myself. 

ET: What about when you hear yourself on the radio? 

CC: I can’t. I’m really critical of my voice and I’m quite a perfectionist. Plus my voice is developing so quickly that the week after I record an album my voice sounds different. 

ET: Where do you look for your fashion trends? 

CC: You mean where do I shop? Anywhere. It can be a cheap shop or a designer shop. I got this shirt in Hawaii for $10. This is Joe’s jean skirt. I just pick up different things. If I like it and it’s not ridiculously expensive… 

ET: Are you almost old enough to drive? 

CC: No, you have to be 17 or 18 to drive in the UK. I can’t wait to drive. I won’t have to depend on anyone. 

ET: Is the limo thing old hat now? 

CC: It just seems like a long car to me. As long as we get from point A to point B, it doesn’t matter what we get there in. 

ET: Best perk? 

CC: Getting loads of clothes. Getting hair and makeup done, lots of massages. If I was home, you never have massage and facials. It’s just not the kind of thing you do in Britain at all, unless you live in London. I love to be able to meet people. 

ET: You met the Pope last year. What was that like? 

CC: Meeting the Pope was amazing. My whole family is Catholic and I’m Catholic so it was like the biggest honor possible. He’s amazing. He’s the holiest man on earth. 

ET: Did you have any idea when you started doing this that things would get this out of hand? 

CC: Never. We never ever dreamed that I would even be famous. We’ve got lots of singers in my family and all of them have tried to be famous and never got anywhere. It wasn’t like I wanted to be on TV or anything, so that’s why it was a really big shock when it happened. But it is kind of odd because it is out of control. I’ve been on Oprah’s show three times in the last year and Jay Leno five times. 

ET: What is the subject in school that you just can’t quite get? 

CC: I can do all of them OK, but math is my worst subject. 

ET: Do you take school very seriously? 

CC: I do. There is some stuff that I don’t study in school which I enjoy learning about personally. Like I love philosophy and ancient history. So I am reading The Complete Works of Plato at the moment. 

ET: A lot of people in your position who have good jobs and presumably make a lot of money might not be as motivated to study. 

CC: I know, but that’s just my priorities. Other people may have their priorities in a different place because of age or whatever. But I love learning. So I am quite a dedicated person to whatever I take up. I will always see it through. So I want to go to University and take a degree in either philosophy or engineering.