First Published : May 05, 2000
Total Wales
WHEN Charlotte Church collected her gold statue for Best British
Artist at the first Classical Brit Awards, she looked radiant in a purple sleeveless top and contrasting cerise skirt.
With her long tousled hair and immaculately made-up face, Charlotte looked every inch the international celebrity she has become.
Her appearance at the Royal Albert Hall in London highlighted the
rather dramatic image-change the teenage soprano has undergone in the 18 months since she shot to fame.
She first appeared on our TV screens as a fresh-faced 12-year-old, and it was that innocent schoogirl appeal which helped millions of
copies of her debut album, Voice of an Angel, to sell throughout the
world
Now, although still only 14 years old, Cardiff-born Charlotte has been
transformed into a glamorous young woman.
Unlike child stars before her, such as Bonnie Langford and Shirley Temple,
She already seems to be shaking off her child-like image.
She has ditched the cute plaits for a
layered hairstyle, and her pretty face, which was once free of make-up, is now usually made up with
coloured eyeshadow and dark red lipstick.
With her new sexy appearance, she could be mistaken for a
17-year-old and, not surprisingly, it has led to a flood of e-mails from young male admirers.
But they have not all been innocent messages of adoration. Her
former manager, Jonathan Shalit, revealed tht one message sent to her Web site was an "unpleasant e-mail of a sexual nature."
After winning her Classical Brit award, Charlotte immediately announced that she was not going to become the next Britney
Spears by carving out a pop career.
But it looks as though she could soon be giving the American songstress a run for her money in the sexy image stakes.
Although Charlotte's image as an angelic schoolgirl with a remarkable voice undoubtedly attracted the majority of her fans in the first
place, the question is -will they remain faith-ful to her as she
continues to mature.
PR guru Max Clifford believes they will.
"Its a very important time in her career. The novelty has had its full
exposure," he said.
"She has an amazing voice for someone so young and now people
are accustomed to that. Now she has to develop into a personality.
"At 14, she is doing all the kinds of things any girl of 14 would do-becoming more fashion-conscious and clothes-conscious.
"I think these days, 14 or 15-year old kids are very grown-up,
probably far too grown-up, but that's how it is. She can't stay 11 or 12
forever.
"Cliff Richrd has reinvented himself in a subtle manner and that's
why he's so popular today.
"I think Charlotte will need to adjust her image and occasionally
re-vamp herself during the next 10 years, but it must be natural.
"it appears she's doing what comes naturally to her, rather than
jumping on the bandwagon and trying to be somethin she's not."
Mr Clifford said that, as Charlotte matures, her fans would continue
to support her, as long as she retains her down-to-earth nature.
"What little I have seen of her, she comes across very well, natural,"
he said. "That's the most important landmark when engineering an image.
"She is someone who is obviously enjoying her success and does
not come across as spoilt.
"The talent is there for everyone to see. She seems to have a nice
nature and personality and if she can continue down that vein, its the
best combination to endear yourself to the British public. We don't go
for arrogance or brashness."
A spokeswoman for Charlotte's record company, Sony, said the
singer's fans were growing with her.
"Charlotte's 14 now and loves clothes," she said.
"She's developing a great sense of style, which we saw at the Classical Brits. We are watching her mature.
"I think Charlotte's fans have become very fond of her as a person,
not just the way she looks. She has lovely bubbly personality and
that's what people go for now."
Charlotte herself, who is already a multi-millionaire, is currently
working on her third classical album and is not worrying about the
future.
"I'll worry about what I'm going to do when I'm 20," she said recently.
