Shania Twain Co Uk - The UK Shania Site

Shania Twain's last sit-down interview before being named Entertainer of the Year by the CMA was held in Studio C, the original home of "Nashville Now," "Music City Tonight" and most recently, the now defunct "Prime Time Country." A half-dozen of Music Row's lucky hacks (including CountryCool.com's Hazel Smith) were invited to the musty, dusty, postage-stamp-sized cubicle where country music stars shared their wares with fans via TNN.

Seven hours later, a tearful Shania accepted her Entertainer of the Year trophy from Reba McEntire on the stage of the Grand Ole Opry, and the 33rd Country Music Association Awards Show was history. Before it all started, however, Shania fielded questions from Hazel and a few select journalists about her tour, her upcoming albums and her appearance in tabloid headlines.

Hazel: Tell me about the screaming tabloid headlines.

Shania: (laughs wickedly) You want to ask that first? That's okay. Well, it's pretty funny. I'd have to know which one you're referring to there have been many. I've read not one, but I've heard little bits and pieces. None of it's true at all. I'm not getting divorced. I'm very happily married. I'm not going back with my old boyfriend. He won't be driving my bus. (laughs) What else is in there? I've never had an affair with a married man. What else in there was bad? (hesitates) I think those were the main things.

Q: Only [four] women have been nominated for Entertainer of the Year Dolly, Reba, Loretta and Barbara Mandrell. What did you learn from these women?

Shania: All amazing entertainers deserving of that [honor]. I never really gave it that much thought. I've been entertaining my whole life, yet I think I'd be surprised if I was to win. I've never won at CMA before, so it would be a first which would be surprising itself, no matter what the award was. I'm not expecting it. I'm just not expecting it.

Q: They're saying it's your year.

Shania: It's been my year success-wise for the last five years, not award-wise. I'm not saying I should be winning awards, but as far as success goes it's been as big as anyone can pretty much get for several years now. I don't know why, this particular year, people would be saying that. I guess what I'm saying is, I don't deserve all of a sudden being highlighted this particular year. But maybe this year I've put to rest a few questions and doubts in other people's minds. Maybe that's why the industry feels this is my year.

Q: What does it mean to win the BMI Songwriter's Award? (Note: Shania won the Robert J. Burton Award for "You're Still The One," the most performed song of the year, as well as Songwriter of the Year from performing rights organization BMI.)

Shania: That's a big honor for me. I've been writing songs since I was 10 years old on a very serious level. I've been dissecting Dolly Parton, Elton John, Stevie Wonder and Beatles songs my entire life trying to learn how to become a songwriter. I spent more time on that than I did becoming a singer. As a singer, my style is what it is. But as a songwriter there's so much room to grow because of life's experiences. You become more mature, more experienced and you improve, hopefully. That's the part I take the most seriously. Your voice isn't always there throughout the rest of your life, but your mind is hopefully and that can allow you to write.

Q: I heard you were doing a TV Special. Are you doing a Thanksgiving TV Special?

Shania:Yes, I am doing a TV special, a CBS special. It's going to be aired..I don't know when it's going to be aired (laughs). I don't know what it's called (laughs). As far as I know I will not be having a guest. I'm recording it in Dallas, at the stadium. And we just finished the promo's with the football players, which was great fun. It's gonna be a unique special, 'cause it's a stadium special. Obviously, there will be a lot of people there. I'm very, very exciting. It'll be directly after a game in Dallas. Actually, there's three specials in a row. Celine (Dion) the one night, my special will be the second night after the game, and then Ricky Martin will be the third night. So it's going to be an exciting week for CBS. And to be in their company is awesome obviously.

Q: Will you talk about your Christmas album.

Shania: We're working on a Christmas album that won't make it for this Christmas. It'll make it for next Christmas. So I'm gonna have two albums coming out next year. It'll be Christmas 2000. We haven't decided yet, I think the [other] album will come out then in the next year, or the beginning of the following. If we can manage it, we'll get it out before the Christmas album gets released. It's hard to say. We're writing it all now. We're writing both. I've been writing the Christmas album for a little while now. So to put two albums together it'll take a lot of work. I'm going to be off the road for a while. I'll be on the road for three more weeks in November. The tour ended a couple months ago, but we added three more weeks in November in the United States. Then I won't tour again until the new album is released. Maybe the summer of 2001.

Q: Will you include classic Christmas songs on your album or will they all be your songs?

Shania: There may be some original standards...I mean some classic standards on there. Of course, there will be original music as well. I'm of the feeling that if I can write them all, I will. If I have the time. If I don't, I'm fine with putting standards on there. Everyone wants to hear standards. So I've not decided yet exactly how many.

Q: Let's clear up a couple questions. First you mentioned you're not touring until 2001. Then I read somewhere about you touring with George Strait next year. Is that news to you?

Shania: It's not news to me. I've been asked to do that. But I still haven't completely decided. Touring with him next summer or in the spring really puts pressure on me timing-wise to get my albums finished. So I really have to think about it very hard and I really haven't had time to talk to [husband/producer] Mutt about it seriously. Cause we just started to talk about this George Strait thing just last week. He and I have to sit down and decide. Cause that would dig in. That's several weeks. I think it's seven or eight weekends. So I'm not sure yet.

Q: And the other thing, any insight creatively where you are going on the next album?

Shania: Well, I suppose like any songwriter, I'm always looking for a new angle people can relate to on an everyday basis. I like to stay close to home and tell it from my perspective, meaning it's always going to be fairly conversational and clear. I think that's just my style of writing and I'm not so sure I'll veer so far away from that. Musically, that's another thing all together. I don't know how it's going to come out musically yet. That is all a huge experiment. Until you get into the studio it's..it sorta gets....it's kinda like pottery. I mean, lyrics and the subject matter you write about is like deciding you're going to do pottery. Once you're doing it, it could take any shape, any form. In any second it can change so dramatically. That's the part that's harder to pre-determine. It's like we don't even know ourselves until we're closer to the end as far as the sound goes.

Q: How much stock do you put into winning awards?

Shania: Very little value. I don't mean to demean or insult anyone cause some people take a great deal of pride in winning awards. Obviously, the associations do as well. It's fun to win. It's a novel thing. If I scratched and won a five-dollar ticket , I'd probably be jumping up and down, "All right, I won!" There's something novel about winning whatever it is. I'm as excited as anyone when I get up there and I win. And I'm moved a lot of times by the audience. There is a real audience up there in the balcony. They are happy for you. There are people you see in the audience and you see they are happy for you. It definitely does that for you. But to be honest with you, I don't know even half the time what I'm nominated for. Like last night, I went to the BMI Awards. I didn't even know what was going on. I didn't know I was getting all those things. I wasn't aware. I never ask (laughs). I just go. The Canadian Country Music Awards happened recently, I didn't even know...I knew I wasn't going to be able to go. I remember saying sometime ago I wasn't going to be there. I knew on that date I was doing something else. My sister called me the next day and told me the whole scoop and what I'd won. I didn't even know what I was nominated for. I don't sit there waiting. I learned a long time ago you can end up being very disappointed. I think it can make you very bitter if you put too much weight in all that. I don't want to be like that. I don't want to be bitter. I don't want to compete on that level. I take it quite lightly, actually.

Q: I hear you are going to Asia?

Shania: Yes, January, February.

Q: Are you concentrating on Japan or will you go all over Asia?

Shania: All over Asia. Once we're over there we'll hit a few places. I'm not exactly sure where.

Q: How much does your family depend on you and how much do you depend on them?

Shania: I depend on my family a lot. I need to stay grounded in the sense I like to remember where I'm from. I get lonely. I mean, everybody gets lonely. I get lonely for smelling firewood in the air. I get lonely for the sound of a loon. I get lonely for snow-mobiling with my nephews. I get lonely for those sorts of things. And I don't get home often enough. So I bring my family to me on the road. They are experiencing new things because of it. It's kinda neat what's happening to us as a family. We depend a lot on each other.

Q: Did you see Dick Frank last night at the BMI Awards? (The attorney who brought her to Nashville originally)

Shania: (animated) No! Was he there?

Q: Yes, he sat by me.

Shania: I saw Mary Del [Frank's daughter] but I missed Dick. Shoot.

Q: You had a massive tour, that just ended, for the last year and a half. When you find time to relax, what do you think about it? About the tour?

Shania: Yes. The tour finished two months ago and ended in Dublin. Biggest, most successful, fun show of the whole tour. Not the biggest audience, but the biggest audience, you know. It was exciting 'cause when we left the states we were playing 20 to 30 thousand a night. Then we went over to England we were playing 10 to 15 thousand, which I knew we were doing that in the states a year ago. But they totally shocked me, they sounded like 40 thousand. It was so fun. I have great memories to take with me from that tour. Fabulous experience. I had so much freaking fun. I never wanted to sleep.

I don't drink. I don't do drugs. And I eat well. I like to stay fit. I had a lot of fun doing it. I didn't feel like I was on some heavy strict regime and it was a real drag doing it. I took my horse on the road. I took my dog on the road. I danced every night I possibly could, in a moving bus, of course. I had a wonderful time. I look forward to my next big tour. I think I'm going to have a great time again. In those two months I've been home I have had a chance to sit back and say, "It's such a great experience. I'm not afraid to go and do this again." Not that I was afraid the first time, I mean, I'd done so much promotion. I'd been away from home so much time the first four years. I wasn't so sure I wanted to do this tour in the sense I'd be away from home again. But it was such a fun experience I'm okay with it now.