Some Katherine Article's

Stephanie · Joined: Jan 14, 2006 Posts: 66

Here are some Katherine Article's

http://www.couriermail.news.com.au/story/0,20797,19111662-7642,00.html

Warbling like a bird
An opera singer wonders why being sexy causes a stir, writes Jill Fraser

May 13, 2006

BRITAIN'S newest classical crossover bombshell, Katherine Jenkins, is young, blonde and talented and sings like a bird. As the 25-year old mezzosoprano's popularity swells, so too does the green tinge in the complexions of her less well-endowed rivals.

It appears that Jenkins' cleavage and her willingness to show it off is causing some of her peers to throw a few hissy fits. In particular Russian soprano Marina Laslo, 24, who has been quoted as saying: "I was raised to conduct myself like a lady and have no interest in compromising those standards to achieve a shortcut to fame; the market is full of blonde classical singers with their cleavages on show."

Jenkins, whose third album, Living A Dream, has just been released after her previous album, La Diva, spent nine months monopolising the No.1 spot in the UK charts and won the Classical Brit Album of the Year Award in 2005, doesn't respond directly to Laslo's comment.

However, she does wonder why being sexy and an opera singer seems so incongruous.

"I'm not naive about the fact I use my looks in a positive way," she admits. "When I got my record deal I set about trying to encourage more people to become interested in classical music. I thought if they were presented with an accessible image that would help.

"I've never understood why anyone thinks you have to be 25 stone to be a good classical singer. I've always been a glamorous girl and I love make-up and clothes and getting my hair done."

The former hair and make-up model maintains that a classical concert is not just about the sound. "The visual presentation adds another important dimension to the show," she says. Consequently, since she began performing two years ago, Jenkins has made a point of wearing a different dress every time she makes a stage entrance.

She acknowledges she has harsh critics but says they are generally only from the core classical genre.

"I think it's a shame they're being so narrow-minded and can't see the bigger picture," she declares proclaiming that crossover is a "gateway".

"I say to the critics, people who have never bought a classical album before buy albums of crossover artists. Maybe this might lead them to go out and buy a core classical album."

Jenkins's meteoric rise is the sort of stuff dreams are made of. The Welsh-born singer was fresh out of London's Royal Academy of Music and had just started freelance teaching in order to fund her postgraduate studies when she was spotted by Universal Music and at the age of 23 was signed to a lucrative six-album deal.

"I didn't tell anyone until I saw my name on the contract. I'm very superstitious," she giggles.

Her choice of tracks for Living A Dream was guided by requests from fans. She has broken the mould by choosing a number of songs traditionally sung by tenors.

"I like singing the men's songs," she says. "I thought, why should tenors get all the best tunes? There's absolutely no reason why songs such as Nessun Dorma (Puccini), Torna a Surriento (E de Curtis) and Music of the Night (Lloyd Webber) can't be sung by a female voice."

Jenkins will be touring later this year. A warning for potential promoters: clear the venue of all chandeliers. Jenkins once shattered a chandelier during a rendition of O Holy Night. "I was 18 and singing in a hall in Swansea (Wales). I hit a top A and suddenly there was an enormous bang. It sounded like a gunshot. Everyone was ducking when I looked up and saw these tiny pieces of glass falling down from the ceiling.

"I'd love to be able to do it again," she chuckles. "It would be my party trick."

Katherine Jenkins' Living A Dream is available on Universal Music's Classical label.

HER cleavage causes peers to throw hissy fits . . . Katherine Jenkins.

Stephanie · Joined: Jan 14, 2006 Posts: 66

http://www.smh.com.au/news/music/when-this-valley-girl-sings-her-fans-sigh/2006/05/15/1147545264982.html

Princess of 'popera'
By Clare Morgan
May 16, 2006

HER hair is lustrous, her eyes sparkling blue, her clothes clinging to her curves.

Katherine Jenkins, Britain's highest-selling classical artist, is far removed from the traditional idea of a classical singer.

At 25, the Welsh mezzosoprano is a superstar, having signed a six-album deal reportedly worth ¬£1 million ($2.4 million), the biggest deal in British classical recording history. Her latest, Living a Dream, debuted at No.4 in the British pop charts and recently won album of the year at the Classical Brit awards, her second consecutive win.

Along with opera pin-up boys Il Divo, saucy string-quartet bond and vampy violinist Vanessa-Mae - famous for her wet T-shirt album covers - Jenkins represents the glamorous face of the new classical music.

The punters love it, with album sales for "popera" far outstripping more serious classical and operatic recordings. But some purists dismiss this success, sniffily suggesting that the package is often more alluring than the contents.

Music critic Rupert Christiansen recently wrote in London's Daily Telegraph that Jenkins and the telegenic opera singer Russell Watson "may have wider range and marginally stronger technique than an Arctic Monkey, but neither of them has ever sung a single performance of an opera in their professional careers, and they probably never will ‚Ä¶ Their artistry rises only a notch above karaoke."

Jenkins accepts such criticism with equanimity, pointing out that she is a classically trained singer and that she has never described herself as an opera singer, although she does dream of becoming an opera performer.

"It seems that the purists are looking at this with a bit of a closed-off mind," she said. "In my experience, people are buying crossover albums like mine or Il Divo's because classical music has had a change in image. I hope that if I can introduce more people to classical music, they might buy a core classical CD. It's about encouraging people to be interested in classical music."

She admits that her appearance hasn't hurt. "I always thought that I could use my image in a positive way. But I've always been a girl who's interested in hair and make-up, so it's not like the record company has pushed an image on me that isn't mine."

Jenkins has a few years before her voice is ready for full-on opera, and will continue with her lessons and recording her CDs. She will begin work on her next album when she returns to Britain, and plans to tour Australia in October.

There's also the matter of answering her fan mail from smitten teenage boys and marriage proposals from middle-aged men. "I always send them something back," she said.

Stephanie · Joined: Jan 14, 2006 Posts: 66

http://www.abc.net.au/queensland/conversations/stories/s1642766.htm?nsw

Katherine Jenkins and Lisa Lou
Last Update: Friday, May 19, 2006. 2:06pm AEST

After working as a high-class prostitute in Melbourne, Perth, London and Copenhagen, Lisa Lou probably knows a bit more about the seedy underbelly of society than most of us. She's now packed her experiences into a book: Red Velvet: Memoirs of a Working Girl, a raw behind-the-scenes examination of life as a working girl.

Lisa turned to prostitution after she was abused by both her husband and her father. It was a difficult move after a prudish upbringing. "I was probably the most prudish woman you met in your whole life," she says. "In fact, my husband said to me, 'If you had to sell your body for a living you'd probably starve.' My mother was brought up by her grandmother who worked 'below stairs'. My mother was brought up never to take her bodice off, in the Victorian era, by proxy of her grandmother and I was brought up that little girls should not be seen, heard -certainly not seen with their clothes off."

The first time Lisa had sex for money she found it very difficult. "I was shaking so badly I couldn't believe I got through it... and afterwards I thought, that was remarkably easy. It's amazing how you can detach yourself."

She soon became a more confident call girl. "When you do something regularly you get very good at it," Lisa says. "I became an actress and a dancer. I became very confident and full of my sexual power for that period. You become a different person for every man that you encounter - you're fulfilling their fantasy and fantasies vary vastly from person to person."

Her parents still don't know about Lisa's life as a prostitute. "Luckily I don't have any contact with my father - he wasn't part of my life as an adult.... I didn't have a good relationship with him. He had a breakdown when I was about 13 and I never saw him after that... My poor mother who lives a quiet isolated life in the country in England, she has no idea, but to do her justice - she was never judgmental."

Katherine Jenkins has gone from the church choir in the Welsh mining town of Neath to singing We'll Meet Again with Cherie Blair and Michael Parkinson at Chequers. She's broken all the records for classical musical sales in Britain and she's become the darling of the magazines and the British tabloid press as well - all this at the age of 25.

It's a life that Katherine has always dreamed for herself. "From as young as, I can remember I always wanted to be a singer.... My mum taught me 'Going down the garden to eat worms ' for a competition when I was about 4... I should put it as a secret track on the album if my mum doesn't expose the video to the world before then!"

Proving herself to be a true opera singer, Katherine had the dubious honour of actually shattering a chandelier with a high note at college. "I was singing as the soloist with my college choir. When I hit the high note in there was this huge bang - it was like a gunshot... I could see all these pieces of glass coming down from the ceiling...How cool would it be to have it on tap and start smashing things left right and centre?"

Singing with the Blairs at Chequers was a career highlight for Katherine. "I sang a few songs off the new album and finished by singing We'll Meet Again... I always try and get everyone to sing along... there was Cherie and Tony and Michael Parkinson all singing along! I was a little bit nervous... it was fantastic to be there and singing to them was a great honour. I thought Cherie was excellent - she was singing her heart out."

Despite now keeping such lauded company, Katherine is sure to stay grounded. "If my mum thinks I'm acting like a diva she'll soon tell me off... She'll cut me down to size!"

Stephanie · Joined: Jan 14, 2006 Posts: 66

http://dailytelegraph.news.com.au/story/0,20281,19148916-5001022,00.html

Classical life

May 16, 2006

SHE is a star with chart success to rival Robbie Williams and Rod Stewart ‚Äì but yesterday her greatest triumph was realising a rather different childhood dream.

Welsh opera star Katherine Jenkins has finally scheduled some substantial time in Australia, fulfilling an ambition she has carried since her navy father told her, as a little girl, how beautiful it was.

A high note: the UK's biggest-selling classical artist Katherine Jenkins.

The 25-year-old mezzo-soprano remembers her late father, who was a navy officer stationed here, telling her he was so enamoured of Australia he wanted to move the family here.

And she recalls a photo of him standing next to the Sydney Opera House. "He really did love it out here," she said yesterday.

While Jenkins has not yet performed in the iconic building, she is likely to during a concert tour here in October. For now she Down Under promoting her latest album, Living a Dream.

Her only previous visit was a fleeting one with the Welsh rugby side ‚Äì for which she is mascot.

Every time the team plays at home in Cardiff she is there, centre field, singing the Welsh anthem.

"It's a huge honour because I'm very proud of being Welsh and I'm a big rugby fan as well," she said.

Jenkins is the UK's biggest-selling classical artist of all time, posting sales of more than 1.5 million records in less than two years.

"It's great to see a classical album can sell in the numbers that pop albums can," she said.

"When Living a Dream entered the charts, the only people above me were Rod Stewart, Robbie Williams and Westlife."

It's an incredible rise for a girl who, two years ago, was teaching music to help fund her opera studies.

The album features a selection of classic opera numbers, such as One Fine Day from Puccini's Madame Butterfly, as well as an operatic take on Whitney Houston's pop hit, I Will Always Love You.