|
Charlotte
Church's fascination with batik
Tight
schedule keeps soprano prodigy busy all day
By
DAVID KWEK
WELSH
soprano Charlotte Church was bursting with a childlike
curiosity as she watched a batik artist at work yesterday.
""So
cool,'' exclaimed the pint-sized starlet, who was visiting
The Substation for the first time.
""I
want to see if I could do it afterwards.''
But
Church never did because she was on a tight schedule.
At a
press conference held in the Guinness Theatre at the arts
centre in Armenian Street, the 14-year-old singing sensation
showed she was precocious not only in her talent, as she
fielded questions from the press guilelessly.
""I
don't want to be famous,'' she said. ""It just
happened to me. I'm extremely lucky.''
Her
current visit to Singapore, she said, was ""extra
special because you are doing it for a reason''.
She had
flown in from London on Tuesday to sing at a sell-out
charity gala dinner for 760 people last night to celebrate
The Substation's 10th anniversary.
According
to Ms Seow Sher Yen, general manager of The Substation, all
76 tables at the Ritz-Carlton, Millenia were booked within
three weeks of the tickets going on sale last month. The
guest-of-honour was the Prime Minister's wife, Mrs Gok Chok
Tong.
The
event raised about $400,000 for the arts hub and the Lee
Foundation donated another $200,000.
Ms Seow
declined to divulge how much Church was paid for her
appearance but said the artiste lowered her rate by a
quarter.
""We
decided on her because she is this great, young talent, a
fantastic artist to pick,'' said Ms Tan.
She
looked more at ease wearing a pout than her combat gear,
which she tugged and pulled constantly to prevent the skin
on her waist from showing.
With
two albums, Voice Of An Angel and Charlotte Church, selling
more than five million copies worldwide, and winning British
Artiste Of The Year at the Classical Brit Awards in May, the
singer has earned dazzling accolades.
Her new
Christmas album, Dream A Dream, will be released on Nov 20.
But
studies are still important to Church.
In
fact, the press conference was held in the afternoon.
Because
of her whistle-stop tours, her two private tutors give her
three hours of lessons every day.
Accompanying
her was a phalanx of adults that includes her manager, a
harpist, a pianist and her parents.
""My
life has changed,'' she admitted. ""But my life at
home has not changed.''
With an
occasional curl of the lip, the spritely lass said she had
read each of the Harry Potter books about five times each.
She
does household chores, too.
""I
have to tidy up my bedroom.''
And she
loves making pancakes.
""It's
not a chore,'' she said with a twinkle of the eye.
|
