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It could be any teenage girl's bedroom, with its tumble of
tops and jeans, hair ties, make-up, shoes and boots. A copy of the
classic novel Wuthering Heights, with a bookmark halfway through,
sits on the bedside table and a pair of pyjamas decorated with cartoon
canary Tweety Pie peek out from under a pillow.
And in the middle of all the chaos, apologising for the mess with a
heart-breakingly beautiful smile, is Hayley Westenra, who is most
certainly not just "any teenage girl".
This 16-year-old singer from Christchurch is on the brink of
international stardom and the person least fazed by her new jetset life
is Hayley herself.
"Sorry about the state of the room. I can be really untidy. I get to a
point where I think, 'I wish I wasn't so messy,' and have to tidy it all
up," she explains.
"I quite like a bit of order but I'm not naturally tidy. It's a sort of
balancing act for me."
To be fair, the untidy room, in one of Auckland's exclusive Hilton hotel,
is not really Hayley's doing. The make-up, hairstyling equipment and
outfits have been brought in for yet another photo shoot as she promotes
her new album Pure and her suitcases, ready for another overseas
trip, take up much of the free floor area.
Just minutes earlier the room was full of people and noise - a publicist
chatting into his mobile phone, a make-up artist discussing colours with
a photographer, Hayley's parents Jill and Gerald popping in, the
telephone ringing constantly with calls from radio stations and TV shows
and Hayley's little brother Isaac (10) demonstrating his latest magic
trick.
"Isaac's only been learning magic tricks for a few months but he's really
good," says Hayley, as the room empties and becomes quiet. "When I
had to perform at the launch of Pure in Auckland, I was quite
nervous. On the way back Isaac taps me on the arm and says, 'Hayley you
sang really well,' all serious-faced and it was so, so cute.
"I'm really close to all my family. Mum comes with me when I travel so
it's just as well that I get on well with her. They keep me grounded
when all this is going on. It's very busy."
Does that mean she's too busy for romance, the main preoccupation of
16-year-old girls?
"I always get asked about whether I've got a boyfriend or not but at the
moment I don't have time," she says. "Actually, they always seem to ask
what I think about Prince William. He's okay but I think pop singer
Enrique Inglesias is cute and he has a gorgeous voice.
"It would be nice to have more social life but who am I to complain? I'm
so lucky. My life is so exciting at the moment and so many people would
like to be in my shoes.
I want to make the most of it. There's plenty of time for boyfriends and
socialising later.
"Before all this the only time we had been outside of New Zealand was on
a trip to Hawaii when my parents won a competition. Now I've been to
Australia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, New York, Los Angeles, Paris, London,
Dublin, Wales and Scotland. I'm still amazed and love finding out as
much as I can about the country I'm in."
There is no doubt the past three years have been a huge upheaval for
quietly-spoken Hayley and her family. |
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After her remarkable early success in New Zealand with two hit
albums, Hayley signed to Decca Records International in London. The
petite schoolgirl joins opera greats Pavarotti and Russell Watson at the
record label. She recently sang at the Royal Albert Hall in London and
turned down the chance to perform with Posh Spice because it would
interrupt a tour.
At a meeting with her idol, opera legend Andrea Bocelli, he told her she
sang like an angel. It's enough to turn anyone's head but Hayley insists
she still has her feet on the ground.
"Even though all this has happened, I haven't changed deep down as a
person. My friends back at school in Christchurch all still know me as
just Hayley, not as a singer," she says. "The only thing that's changed
about me is my confidence. As I sang more and got good feedback, it grew
stronger. Now I feel comfortable with saying what I like and don't like
during the making of an album. There's no way I would be pushed to do a
certain song if I didn't agree.
"I chose all the songs on Pure and it's a mixture, from classical
to pop music and the songs come from allover the world.
There's one called Who Painted the Moon Black and it's by this
really cool singer from Namibia.
It was hard to make a choice though. When I first listened to
Wuthering Heights by Kate Bush, I thought, 'No way can I sing like
that - it's too screechy'. Then my mum got her little 45rpm record out
recently and played it again and I was like, 'Um, yes, that's really
good.' I gave it a go and now it's on the album." Before her big break
three years ago, Hayley was always on the fringes of the spotlight.
"I loved singing but didn't think I could ever actually have a career as
a singer," she says. "I saw it as a fun thing to do but thought that I'd
have to get a proper job, like be a vet, eventually. My first big role
was as Tiny Tim in A Christmas Carol and I only got it because no boys
auditioned. I had to wear a wig! Then my second role was also as a sick
boy. What is it about me and those parts, I wonder?" Hayley grew up
playing music, either violin or piano, and singing with her family but
they were far from classical buffs.
"My mum used to play Australian singer Nick Cave or Sheryl Crowe, rather
than opera," laughs Hayley. "It was me who introduced her to classical
music."
When asked if her new fame has brought riches too, Hayley shakes her head
firmly.
"No way. People think we must be millionaires but not at all," she says.
"Dad is a gemologist and values jewellery so he works hard in his own
business. We still live in the same house. A lot of the work I do is for
promotion and I wish we were rich, so the whole family could come too
when I travel. I also have to spend money on clothes which are needed
for all the appearances I have to do." |
Little sister Sophie, also a talented performer,
enjoys that part of her sister's life.
"Sophie loves borrowing my clothes but when I go away, she claims them
for herself and I have to say, 'Hey, give that back,'" says Hayley.
"It can be hard for her because a lot of attention is on me just now but
she accepts that I'm older and do things first. Sophie loves the stage
and wants to act. I make sure she is included with things like getting
make-up done when I do so she doesn't feel left out." It's not so long
ago that Hayley and Sophie were sharing a room in the family's house in
Christchurch.
"I moved into the study recently and it's lovely," she says.
"I've got a cool mosquito net and glow-stars on the ceiling. It's got
all my CDs there. The first two I ever bought were Andrea Bocelli and
the Spice Girls. At the moment I'm listening to a CD the music company
gave me, of Daniel Bedingfield (a New Zealand-born pop singer) and 50
Cent (a US rapper). It's good to listen to lots of different things."
When she isn't touring, Hayley attends her high school in Christchurch.
At other times she has a tutor and is studying history, French, German,
maths, science, English language and literature. The copy of
Wuthering Heights by her bed is a course book but one she enjoys
reading.
While she peppers her conversation with music industry phrases like
"gigs" and "promos", fears that the pressures of fame might be too much
for her are firmly quashed by Hayley.
"I don't think I'll go off the rails," she says. "I know physical
appearance is focused on a lot in this industry but my family is so good
about making sure I stay healthy.
I don't get worried about what I eat. I eat to be healthy and take
vitamins. It's always funny at the airport with Mum carrying a bag of
clinking vitamin bottles. But I'm not going to feel bad because I ate
too much one day so I have to starve the next. That's not me."
A girl of her age not worried about her appearance? Can that really be
true?
Hayley laughs. "Believe me, there are days when I wake up and see that
I've got a spot and think 'Oh no, I don't want to go out'" she says.
"But there are other days when I'll think, 'Oh, I just don't care,' and
decide I'm not going to let a spot rule my life. It's just a teenage
thing."
Sharon Course |
