ANASTACIA

Interview, Oct, 2000 by Tom Lanham

THE LATEST HOTSHOT VOCALIST

Picture your favorite soul-steeped belter. Then adrenalize her times ten. And give her a studio megaphone instead of a mike. That's what you get on "I'm Outta Love," the gale-force barnstormer of a single from diva-in-training Anastacia. After seven fruitless years of Hollywood struggle, twenty-eight-year-old Anastacia (surname: Newkirk) first came to public prominence via the Star Search--like MTV competition The Cut. She made it to the finals, growling her selfpenned R&B anthem "Not That Kind." "The minute it aired, my life changed," she marvels. "I got like a million phone calls from presidents of record labels, and there were bidding wars. Even Michael Jackson called my house." In the end Epic/Daylight won the war, and Anastacia's debut album, Not That Kind, is currently conquering Top Ten charts around the world, from Europe to Australia. America, prepare to be blown away later this fall when the album is released stateside. No megaphone required.

Tom Lanham is a San Francisco-based writer.