|
I
get 60 pounds a month.
Bedtime, 9.30 pm.
Charlotte
Church may be a jet-setting teenage superstar, but beneath
that celeb veneer, she remains your average sneaker-wearing
teen.
SO
THERE you have it. Fame and fortune and dynamite accolades,
but the hottest soprano on the music charts these days still
has to observe a curfew. And live off a very modest
allowance.
"Approximately 9.30 pm depending on the occasion,"
said Charlotte Church matter-of-factly of her curfew.
And the fortune? "I am not worth 6 million (S$15.3
million) as reported. The media has always exaggerated my
wealth. I receive 60 a month and all the other money goes
into a trust," she asserted from London, where she is
now based.
Ever since the 14-year-old Welsh singer smote the British
and American classical and pop charts with her extraordinary
voice burned into two best-selling CDs, the public -- and
private -- face of Church has been enlarged in print, on the
small screen and at sell-out concerts attended by
celebrities even bigger and a lot older than herself.
On Oct 18, she will sing at a special charity show in a
debut performance in Singapore to celebrate the 10th
anniversary of The Substation, the arts centre at Armenian
Street.
She will fly in from London with her parents, her manager, a
harpist and a pianist for a charity gala dinner at the
Ritz-Carlton Millenia Ballroom.
Her performance has been made possible by The Indigoz
Foundation, the charitable arm of the Indigoz Rewards
Program.
The new Singapore company provides a rewards programme on
consumer services and products, and the foundation was set
up last November to support humanitarian, civil society and
community causes.
SMALL GIRL, BIG PRESENCE
AS CAN be expected of a confident, level-headed 14-year-old,
Church has found that the fame machine that helps sell CDs
and concerts can be a lot of fun and a bit of a pain.
She has worked prime-time talk shows in the United States,
sung for American President Bill Clinton, Britain's Queen
Elizabeth II and Prince Charles, and done the media rounds
patiently with more journalists than you can throw a boiled
chicken leg at.
Church is big on boiled chicken. She likes her food very
plain, loves flying Singapore Airlines and, if you let her,
would live in combat trousers worn with tiny tops with a
wide band of midriff, what she calls "belly tops".
And while other teenagers might fantasise about singing a
duet with pop stars such as Robbie Williams, she is thinking
about it and her idea might actually materialise.
That is how big she has become in the music world.
Her travel schedule these days befits one of a Sony Music
superstar, and First Class or not, flying across time zones
only to head straight into studios for live interviews after
a session with stylists and the usual photographers, takes
some getting used to.
The Church family's annual vacations, previous to her fame,
involved plane trips no longer than two hours from her
hometown of Cardiff.
Now, she flies to Singapore or Tokyo or Los Angeles from her
base in London -- usually arriving to confront a packed
schedule of back-to-back activities.
On this trip to Singapore where she has only one
performance, she hopes, simply, to shop, shop and shop.
CHURCH SINGER IN TRAINERS
LIFE has gone a lot faster and regular school has given way
to tutors, voice training, some acting lessons and learning
languages.
She can sing in French, German and Welsh and, with help, in
Spanish. She is also learning Italian.
But she will still sing, as she has done every year, at her
local church, St Mary's Roman Catholic Church, in Cardiff,
on Christmas Eve for midnight mass.
It is sort of life as usual although she is now more famous
than she or her family and friends can actually grasp.
Winsome girls grow up quickly into beguiling young women and
Singapore audiences who are familiar with Church as
portrayed on her CD covers can expect the same engaging
confidence, and the winning sassiness, but now in a young
woman.
Clips of her Brit Awards performance now airing on TV
present the shape of things to come -- a voice, character
and personality developing with greater clarity and
presence.
It does not hurt that confident Charlotte possesses
photogenic glamour much prized by promoters in the
fiercely-competitive music business where fame can be easy
come, easy go.
"I feel I've grown up (in the past year) by becoming
more professional in my approach to work," she noted
thoughtfully.
She credits friends and family and her agent, Mr Josh Cole,
and "special individuals at Sony", for keeping her
sane.
"Let me get this straight," she said firmly about
her parents as managers. "My parents have not, and do
not want to manage me. They look after me and love me. They
are extremely proud of what I have achieved although they do
worry about me."
The Indigoz Foundation is supported by the Indigoz card, a
rewards programme. The sponsors asked her if she would like
to go shopping for something indigo to wear for her
Singapore performance.
Well, all right, if not indigo, a deep purple. Church
greeted the request with delight. Anything for a good shop!
She has her own stylist in London, but in Singapore, her
hair and glowing good looks will be groomed by Casey Chua
and Cecilia Westberry of Casey Inc.
Church's look for the big night here, like the dress, is all
part of a whacking good show for everyone.
"I chose a full-length dress. Fitted, very plain but
stylish with a low backline. It's so beautiful I can't wait
to wear it," she said excitedly.
But the dress will probably not be worn with her favourite
accessories -- very funky trainers.
She loves them. The funkier the better. Nike might consider
an endorsement outside of the Olympics with her.
HARK THE HERALD ANGEL SING
HER debut album, Voice Of An Angel, sold 2.2 million copies
worldwide. It astounded her family and it stunned her.
She thought, modestly, that it might sell "maybe 2,000
worldwide" and Sony, her recording label, expected to
sell 200,000 in Britain instead of the 600,000 the album
achieved.
In Singapore, both Voice Of An Angel and her second album,
Charlotte Church, sold around 8,000 copies, which is big for
classical voice music sales here (see story below).
The challenge for her career now is to grow up with her fans
and to continue to strengthen her strong appeal across
musical tastes.
Given her love of R & B, she may make the crossover more
naturally than other older, very established classical
heavyweights such as Kiri Te Kanawa or Jose Carreras or
Luciano Pavarotti.
The latter tenor has partnered pop names from The Spice
Girls to Boyzone for a variety of charity concerts and
recordings.
"I would like to sing a duet with Destiny's Child,
Eminem, N' Sync and Robbie Williams," Church said,
unhesitatingly.
Her latest album, to be released in time for Christmas,
teams the astonishingly-mature soprano with a 12-year-old
country singer, Billy Gilman, in a pop arrangement called
Dream A Dream.
Williams might start shopping for matching funky trainers
for an imminent twosome.
And does fame bring her in touch with other famous young
men?
"Not really," she said, noting that most famous
people are in their late teens and early 20s.
"Although I did meet Taylor from Hanson -- who is
gorgeous."
For table reservations for The Substation's charity gala
dinner on Oct 18 featuring Charlotte Church, call
1-800-816-8168 or e-mail eileen@indigoz.com. Ticket sales
are tax deductible.
HOW CLASSICAL CDS FARE IN S'PORE
By TEO PAU LIN
THERE may have been some big, glitzy names in the classical
music scene lately, like Charlotte Church and Andrea Bocelli.
But sales for this genre of music have not been flourishing.
A quick check with the record labels here reveal that sales
of classical albums, including classical recordings,
compilations and opera pieces, have remained level over the
past few years.
At EMI, the biggest sellers are still the classical-opera
artistes who have made crossovers to pop, such as singer
Sarah Brightman and violinist Vanessa Mae.
Mae's albums have each clocked average sales of 7,500
copies, says a spokesman for the record label. Brightman's
latest album, La Luna, which was released in August, has
also sold about 7,500 copies so far.
At Sony Records, the biggest classical star after Charlotte
Church is cellist Yo-Yo Ma, whose albums have topped over
1,000 copies over the past two years. Church's two albums
have sold 8,000 copies each.
These figures are still paltry compared to the biggest pop
acts today.
Ricky Martin's self-titled debut album in 1999 sold 32,000
copies here, says Sony Records. A Celine Dion or Mariah
Carey album easily tops 25,000 copies, it adds. EMI said
Robbie Williams' I've Been Expecting You album in 1998 sold
42,000 copies.
"It's harder to market classical albums," says the
spokesman for EMI.
"Unlike pop, where there are so many new exciting
artistes and music, classical music still appeals to a
smaller group of listeners. It's harder also because, unlike
boybands and pretty singers, the visual element is not
there."
|
