Hayley still hunts for bargains
4 August 2005

After limited success talking to Welsh opera-turned-rock brat Charlotte Church, Keri Welham finds Christchurch's beloved classical songstress, Hayley Westenra, happy to talk.

At first it sounds like a normal teenage road trip. Catch the bus from Christchurch to Dunedin, spend most of Friday night at McDonald's, stay in the university halls of residence, go out boozing at The Cook on Saturday night.

But nothing is normal when you're talking about the adventures of Christchurch teenage classical sensation Hayley Westenra.

The 18-year-old megastar with faultless porcelain skin took her multi-vitamins all weekend. And, even though she frequented one of the most notorious student watering holes in the country, she didn't drink.

"It's just a lot more fun watching people being drunk," she says. "It affects your thinking and affects how you act. I'm not a big fan of drinking, actually."

London-based Westenra is back in New Zealand for three weeks promoting her new album, Odyssey. She has never heard of Homer's Odyssey, one of the ancient Greek poet's most notable contributions to the literary epics. Sensibly, she was more into music during her years at Burnside High School.

Her last album, Pure, sold well over one million copies worldwide.

Back then, Westenra was 16. Now she is old enough to vote, loves clothes, cooks healthy meals for herself, tries to avoid colds and wears size six to 10, depending on the brand.

Today she has skin-tight jeans, cowgirl boots, a tight green top and a thick scarf. She wears $8 earrings and still shops in second-hand stores.

She likes the Black Eyed Peas and Faith Evans. She calls Lord of the Rings star Orlando Bloom "eye candy".

But that's about where the "average teenage girl" in this story ends. At an age when many of her peers are anonymous, debt-laden, pimpled and packing on the booze-fuelled "first-year 5kg", Westenra owns an apartment in London, sports a gorgeous healthy glow and recently sang for the Queen, George W. Bush and Tony Blair.

"It was nice to get a taste of their life," Westenra says of the Dunedin road trip.

During university orientation week, she received emails from her friends relaying their party antics, and she thought: "Man, wouldn't it be so cool to be part of that."

But this is her dream and she will not sacrifice it to party. "I don't envy what they do. I just much prefer to be doing what I'm doing."

She says singing is "like a hobby". The major difference between a hobby and a career, of course, is that the latter has probably made Westenra a teenage millionairess, although she says she does not know how much money she has.

"I don't even know if I'm a millionaire. It's all in the system, money going back and forwards," she says.

Whatever the sum, she's one wealthy teenager. Nevertheless, she remains a bargain-hunter, more through thrill than necessity.

But when she's with her friends, she pays for taxis and other small expenses; walking a fine line between a fear of being patronising and a desire to share some of her wealth.

Westenra is often likened to her Welsh contemporary, Charlotte Church. But this polite, captivating, smiling young Kiwi woman – sitting on a park bench outside the Canterbury Museum on one of those sparkling winter days she misses so much – is a far cry from the inelegant, cussing Welsh songstress who greeted The Press with a mouthful of filth during a recent visit to Christchurch.

"She (Church) doesn't seem to have any airs," Westenra says, giggling.

As the interview draws to a close – a delightful half-hour with one of the city's most-loved daughters – there's one subject I feel compelled to broach on behalf of a colleague and his Holden Kingswood.

On September 17, when the country goes to the polls, Westenra will be on a radio tour around Britain. Although she is not yet on the electoral roll, she will file an absentee vote.

Westenra, who keeps up to date with New Zealand news through the internet, won't reveal her political leanings, but says she is not a single-issue voter. "Not one party has it all right."

Photo : GROWING UP: Nothing is normal when you're talking about the adventures of Christchurch teenage classical sensation Hayley Westenra.
Hayley Westenra won't sacrifice her dreams to party.
DAVID HALLETT/The Press