Anastacia: for years, Europeans have been dancing to her thumping music. When will America catch on?

Interview, Sept, 2002 by Sara Switzer

SS: Do you consider yourself a freak?

A: Yeah. And now I use the word freak as a positive--before I used it in a negative way. I'm trying to let my fans see the positive in that word because for so long I felt like I didn't belong. I felt like I was an outcast. My voice was different. My look was different. I wore glasses. So at the end of the day, I had this title, "Freak of Nature." I felt like it was a description of the way that I write, the way that I think. Freak describes somebody who embraces all their different qualities.

SS: What's next for you--any desire to do movies?

A: If the right one comes up. If I feel like I am ready to and I have enough time. I don't see it happening until three years from now, because I have a world tour next year. I'm not scared of it. I am not intimidated by the business of the theater or the film side like I was when I was a kid, so that's not what pulls me away from it. It just has to be right. I think it could be cool.

SS: But you would rather concentrate on the music?

A: Oh God, yeah. I love it. I am singing because I love to sing. I am singing because it really fills my heart when I am onstage. I really entertain myself. I really get a kick out of myself and then within that I feel like I see the joy in people's eyes and I'm like, Right on, we're all enjoying this. That's what I feel performing is about. It's not about making money, because even on my tour, I don't know if I am going to break even because I can only do four shows a week. I can't do more than that, because physically it would make me sick. But I am doing it because I love my fans and I really love to do a show and I think that at the end of the day that's what it's about. I don't lip-sync. I give my heart and soul for two-and-a-half hours on that stage.

Sara Switzer is a writer in New York City.