NZで発売されている雑誌「New Zealand Woman's Weekly on 14 May 2007」で紹介された記事。
Hayley: Teen To Temptress
Singing superstar Hayley Westenra is all grown up - and sweeping the world with her success
NZで発売されている雑誌「New Zealand Woman's Weekly on 14 May 2007」で紹介された記事。
Hayley: Teen To Temptress
Singing superstar Hayley Westenra is all grown up - and sweeping the world with her success
Hayley Westenra has come a long way from being the Littlest Star in her primary school play and busking for pocket money in central Christchurch at weekends.
And if there's any doubt that she's very much a grown-up these days, the 20-yearold walks all over it when she arrives at the New Zealand Woman's Weekly photo shoot in super-skinny jeans, a slinky top and a killer pair of high heels.
There seems to be no trace of the schoolgirl- or even teenage - Hayley as this elegant long-legged young woman sits down in a comfy armchair.
She kicks off the stilettos, tucks her bare feet under herself and grins sheepishly, providing a reassuring hint of the little girl who charmed the world with her angelic voice.
"I couldn't find anything else except these shoes as I was rushing to get here. Everything is still packed," she says, with a laugh. "They're not very practical, are they? But they're lovely."
As well as an eye for cutting-edge fashion, there are other signs that little wide-eyed Hayley is long gone.
For a start, she is no longer a "teen singing sensation" but a well-respected international artist of 20.
She's also going it alone after her parents Gerald and Jill decided earlier this year to stop travelling with her so much so they could spend more time at home in Christchurch with their other two children Sophie (16) and Isaac (13).
After living out of a suitcase for most of her singing career, Hayley is also making the very adult move of buying her first home. It will be a flat in London, although she wants to have a home in Christchurch too one day.
And, in another big step, Hayley can also reveal that, yes, she is dating. The boyfriend question has been asked lots of times in the past and it's always been laughed off - until now.
"Yes, I am dating but it's nothing serious," she says. "I work too hard and there's too much travelling for me at the moment, so it's too difficult to date seriously. Besides, I'm still young."
Whoever Hayley's mystery man is, she has no time to think of him on this lightning-fast trip home to New Zealand. She's here to promote her latest charttopping album Treasure, singing at the Anzac Day dawn ceremony in Wellington and on TV One's Dancing with the Stars. Best of all, she gets to grab two rushed days at home with her family.
She would also love to catch up with her grandmother but sadly Shirley Ireland, who has diabetes, is too unwell to see her famous granddaughter during this visit.
Shirley and Hayley enjoy an extraordinary bond, forged by their shared love of music and the fact that Hayley inherited her voice from the talented 71-year-old.
That's why Hayley decided to honour her grandmother by dedicating her album Treasure to her.
"I'm carrying on what Nana started, following in her footsteps," says Hayley, who has Scottish, Irish and Welsh heritage. "She used to sing Celtic songs like Danny Boy, with Granddad playing the accordion or piano. I remember sitting on his shoulders, listening to them sing and play. It was magical. They were well-known singers on the West Coast, where they lived, and they were amazing together.
"While making Treasure, I rang Nana from the studio in London and said, 'Guess what I'm in the middle of recording, Nana?
Danny Boy!' and she didn't say a word.
"Then suddenly she started singing it to me down the phone line.
So I sang along with her, the two of us singing, on opposite sides of the world. It was a very special moment."
Initially, Hayley wanted to fill Treasure with Celtic songs Shirley had taught her, but then decided to add some of her own compositions. "When I was younger I didn't really have anything to write about but as time goes on, "ve gained more and more material. It comes with age and life experience," says Hayley. "With my own songs I can write straight from the heart rather than interpreting someone else's songs." So when does she find time in her hectic schedule for writing songs?
"I try to do some when I'm on planes. I sit in the 100, recording melodies and lyrics on a Dictaphone," Hayley laughs.
"People must wonder what I'm doing in there, singing away. I'm getting a program put on my laptop so I won't have to do that any more, thank goodness.
"That's another thing I share with Nana - we're both quite shy." Shy? The girl who has sung for US President George Bush, UK Prime Minister Tony Blair and the Queen, three times?
"I am! It's funny, but once I'm singing, I forget about the fact that people are watching me and just lose myself in the music," she says.
But a terrifying incident with an obsessive fan in Germany last year changed that for a while.
The man jumped onstage during her performance and tried to grab her.
Hayley was unharmed but badly shaken and arranged to have a bodyguard.
"I took it for granted that nothing like that would happen, then having someone jump onstage and run after me was such a shock," she says.
"For a while after that I would keep an eye on the audience and if I saw someone behaving differently, I'd think, 'Oh, are they going to try to get onstage?'lt made it hard to concentrate and lose myself in the performance because it was always at the back of my mind. It's all blown over now, though. And it was a reality check for me, but it hasn't put me off meeting fans."
And Hayley definitely gets a chance to meet lots of fans during her heavy work schedule. She's just toured the US with the hit music show Celtic Woman, singing in a different city each night for three weeks. She then spent a week in London recording and a week touring Japan, before finally getting two nights back home in Christchurch. Next, she's off to Australia for three days, then she'll be heading back to the US for more touring with Celtic Woman.
Like any mum, Hayley's mother Jill worries about her busy daughter, especially now she is travelling without one of her parents for company.
"It's physically stressful for her, but j she is young and can handle the late nights and early starts," she says.
"Our biggest worry is her emotional wellbeing. When she's busy it's okay, but when she has time on her own, she gets lonely and misses her family. She is so far away that it's a big deal for her to get home to New Zealand.
"I worry about her getting sick. Her manager is planning a decent break for her next year so she can rest, but the problem is, some wonderful opportunity will come up.
"Hayley is starting to say 'no' these days but it's still very difficult for her. She doesn't like to let people down."
Even when a notorious British tabloid newspaper asked for an interview, Hayley agreed. "They ended up not publishing any story because the reporter only had nice things to write about her," laughs Jill. "They couldn't drag up any dirt at all."
As soon as she arrives at her family home, however, Hayley slips seamlessly back into family life, the Littlest Star again, rather than the Biggest Star as she is on stages around the world.
"Hayley was laughing today and when I asked why, she said, 'It's just you, Mum. I'm getting used to all your funny little ways again! '" says Jill, looking over at her beautiful daughter, who is trying on gorgeous Trelise Cooper dresses.
"She likes the way we never change, although Sophie and Isaac always surprise her by how much they have grown when she gets back.
"And to us, she's Hayley, our girl, just as she always is."
Sharon Course
Pictures: Emma Bass, Stylist: Krystal Spicer, Makeup: Kristen Stewart, Clothing: Trelise Cooper
付け足し。
NZでの慌ただしいプロモーションの中で行われた写真撮影ですが、結構普通に見えますね。
あ、でも、NZに戻ってきて2日目だったからまだマシだったのでしょうかね？
さてさて、まじめなお付き合いでないにしろ、デートをするボーイフレンドとは誰でしょう？
おばあちゃんと本当にそっくり！赤ちゃんの頃の写真と、この白黒左側の写真なんて同じじゃないですか！
まさしく、おばあちゃんの遺伝子をそのまま受け継いだっていうことなんでしょうね。
あと、Jillの美しいこと。一体おいくつ？と聞きたい！(笑)
