Shania: Swiss Miss

These articles appeared in various "SUN: newspapers through out Canada on 09/19/04

Swiss Miss

Shania tells the Sun 'home' is in Europe -- sorry, Canada and New Zealand
By JANE STEVENSON, TORONTO SUN

SHANIA TWAIN sees no end in sight for her status as a Swiss Miss. The Canadian country-pop superstar and her mega-producer husband, "Mutt" Lange, may be in the process of buying a multimillion-dollar ranch in New Zealand, but she says she plans to raise their 3-year-old son son, Eja, in her adopted home of Switzerland.

"It's just a property to visit, this is our home," said Twain, 39, yesterday in an exclusive Canadian print interview with the Toronto Sun in Montreux.

"We're not moving. We're staying here. Eja will go to school here. I look forward to it. He speaks French fluently. It's his first language."

There has been some controversy over Twain's plans to relocate a public hiking trail off her new Kiwi property but reporters were told not to ask the singer about either her New Zealand land purchase or her half-brother Daryl's recent arrest on drug trafficking in Edmonton.

The actual reason media from around the world had descended upon Montreux Palace -- a gilded 100-year-old hotel on the banks of Lake Geneva and near Twain's chateau in the exclusive neighbourhood of Tour-de-Peilz -- is this past week's release of her new single, Party For Two.

The first cut off a 21-song greatest hits collection, due in stores Nov. 9, hit radio stations in Canada last week.

The singer said the song itself, which was recorded in two versions -- a country rendition with Savannah, Ga., newcomer Billy Currington and a pop take with Sugar Ray frontman and now Extra host Mark McGrath -- recalls the vibe from her last multi-platinum album, 2002's Up!

"Party For Two is kind of picking up where I left off," said Twain, who has sold close to 80 million albums worldwide.

"It's a pretty typical Shania-type lyric and feel. And there's not really a gap between the last CD and this CD per se. I just got off the road so the flow just continued."

'FLIRTY SONG'

Still to come is the soon-to-be released video, which she just finished editing, and sees Twain swinging from the chandeliers, even though the clip was shot outside in a London, England, park at night.

"It's very interesting. It's cool. We smash dishes. We swing from the chandelier. It's really fun.

"It's a party right? You know, it's really just a fun, flirty song. You know it's not sexual. It's a party. It's very flirty but obviously when we get there we just have fun 'cause I'm not into that kind of sexual thing."

On the subject of filming, Twain did say she enjoyed shooting her cameo in Los Angeles over one day on the David O. Russell film, I (Heart) Huckabees, which was just shown at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Normally, Twain doesn't accept any scripts because she simply doesn't have time for them. But one of the stars, Jude Law, personally wrote to her and asked for her to appear.

"Isn't that nice?" said Twain, dressed casually in a black hoodie, grey shirt and black pants with matching black boots. "So, I thought that was really cute and sweet."

Twain's scene finds her beating up Law's character for lying that he knows her throughout the movie. "It was such a great experience 'cause I've never been on a set before. All I had to do was slap Jude Law around a little bit and get mad at him. It was fun."

As for the two-hour CBC-TV movie about her early life, set to start filming tomorrow in Sudbury, Ont., Twain said she has no involvement in it.

'UNSETTLING'

"I'm not really crazy about the idea because if it's not correct (the public will) get the wrong idea of what my life is all about -- so that's a little unsettling," said Twain, who was raised in Timmins, Ont. "And who portrays you too, I mean what if they don't portray you (right)."

On that front, Twain was more than willing to check out a photo of the girl, Meredith Henderson best known for YTV's The Adventures Of Shirley Holmes, cast to play her.

"I don't know who she is. She sure looks lovely. She looks nice. I mean I'm sure she'll do the best job that she can. She's only going to take direction from whoever's directing."

Twain said she is coming to Toronto to do promotion after she performs Party For Two live for the first time at the Country Music Awards in Nashville on Nov. 9.

There won't be a tour, however, to go with her greatest hits collection.

"I just got off the road. I'm not going back out for a while. My bus is parked. It's in Timmins. It's on display. I gave it to the (Shania Twain) museum to display until I need it again. So people can go walk on it and check it out."

 

Shania talks

JANE STEVENSON, SUN MEDIA


MONTREUX, Switzerland -- Shania Twain sees no end in sight for her status as a Swiss Miss. The Canadian country-pop superstar and her mega-producer husband, "Mutt" Lange, may be in the process of buying a multi-million-dollar ranch in New Zealand, but she says she plans to raise their three-year-old son, Eja, in her adopted home of Switzerland.

"It's just a property to visit. This is our home," said Twain, 39, yesterday in an exclusive Canadian print interview with the Sun in Montreux.

"We're not moving. We're staying here. Eja will go to school here. I look forward to it. He speaks French fluently. It's his first language."

There has been some controversy over Twain's plans to relocate a public hiking trail off her new Kiwi property but reporters were specifically told not to ask the singer about either her New Zealand land purchase or her half-brother Darryl's recent arrest for drug trafficking in Edmonton.

The actual reason media from around the world had descended upon Montreux Palace - a gilded 100-year-old hotel on the banks of Lake Geneva and near Twain's chateau in the exclusive neighbourhood of Tour-de-Peilz - is this past week's release of her new single, Party for Two.

GREATEST HITS, NEW SINGLES

The first cut is one of three new singles included in a 21-song greatest hits collection, due in stores Nov. 9.

The singer said the song itself, which was recorded in two versions - a country rendition with Savannah, Georgia, newcomer Billy Currington and a pop take with Sugar Ray frontman and now Extra host Mark McGrath - recalls the vibe from her last multi-platinum album, 2002's Up!

"Party for Two is kind of picking up where I left off," said Twain, who has sold close to 80 million albums worldwide. "It's a pretty typical Shania-type lyric and feel. And there's not really a gap between the last CD and this CD per se. I just got off the road, so the flow just continued."

Still to come is the soon-to-be released video, which she just finished editing, and sees Twain swinging from the chandeliers, even though the clip was shot outside in a London, England, park at night.

"It's called rigging," she explained. "No, it's very interesting. It's cool. It's so fun. We smash dishes. We swing from the chandelier. It's really fun. It's a party right? You know, it's really just a fun, flirty song.

"And so in the end, we end up at the party and it's just the two of us and we have a great time. You know it's not sexual. It's a party. It's very flirty but obviously when we get there we just have fun 'cause I'm not into that kind of sexual thing."

On the subject of filming, Twain did say she enjoyed the one day of shooting her cameo in Los Angeles for the David O. Russell film, I (Heart) Huckabees, which was just shown at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Normally, she doesn't accept any scripts because she simply doesn't have time for them.

But one of the stars, Jude Law, personally wrote to her and asked for her to appear.

"Isn't that nice?" said Twain, dressed casually in a black hoodie, grey shirt and black pants with matching black boots."So, I thought that was really cute and sweet."

Specifically, Twain's scene finds her beating up Law's character for lying that he knows her throughout the movie.

"It was such a great experience 'cause I've never been on a set before. All I had to do was slap Jude Law around a little bit and get mad at him. It was fun. It was really fun."

NOTHING TO DO WITH TV MOVIE

As for the two-hour CBC-TV movie about her early life, set to start rolling in Sudbury, Ont., tomorrow, Twain said she has no involvement in it.

"I'm not really crazy about the idea because if it's not correct (the public will) get the wrong idea of what my life is all about, so that's a little unsettling," said Twain, who was raised in Timmins, Ont.

"But otherwise, I don't really give it too much thought. And who portrays you, too, I mean what if they don't portray you (right)?"

On that front, Twain was more than willing to check out a photo of Meredith Henderson, best known for YTV's The Adventures of Shirley Holmes, cast to play her.

"I don't know who she is. She sure looks lovely. She looks nice. I mean, I'm sure she'll do the best job that she can. She's only going to take direction from whoever's directing."

Twain said she is coming to Toronto to do promotion after she performs Party for Two live for the first time at the Country Music Awards in Nashville on Nov. 9.

There won't be a tour, however, to go with her Greatest Hits collection.

"I just got off the road. I'm not going back out for a while. My bus is parked. It's in Timmins. It's on display.

"I gave it to the (Shania Twain) museum to display until I need it again. So people can go walk on it and check it out."