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The Shania Machine Is Gonna Getcha Good

She launched a new perfume and got the Order of Canada. All in a week, Twain tells Gayle McDonald
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Saturday, November 19, 2005
The Globe and Mail
Gayle MacDonald

It's been a whirlwind few weeks for country's sweetheart, Shania Twain. Between touring and fundraising for her favourite charity (Second Harvest Food Bank), the diminutive Twain has been busy making poutine with Martha Stewart and appearing at the Country Music Awards. She'll fly to Ottawa with her cousin Patsy to get the Order of Canada and, next week, she appears with The Donald as his final five Apprentice contestants battle to come up with the smartest way to market, oh yes, her newly launched fragrance, Shania by Stetson. (The episode is called Shaniagans.)

Sitting in a Toronto hotel room this week, Twain -- surrounded by sumptuous pink flowers to match the packaging of her new perfume -- spoke about her busy schedule, her talent and her mission -- to help underprivileged kids.

Word has it that you were hands-on in the creation and subsequent marketing of your new scent (even choosing the shape of the perfume bottle based on a vase in your home in Switzerland). Are you always so involved?

I wouldn't have done it if [Coty] had just said we have this really nice fragrance, if Shania likes it, we'll just put her name on it. Maybe I am a control freak, but I've got to be involved to make sure it's true to who I am. Or else why do it? It takes up my time for what? Just to earn more money? There's no fulfilment in that. How much money can you spend in a lifetime?

Do you ever worry about over-selling your celebrity?

I think about it, sure. When your celebrity gets bigger than your talent, that's when you run into problems. That's my personal gauge. I want my talent to be in the forefront, and this [the perfume] is something fun for me to do. If you asked me what I want to be remembered for? It's my music, so I wouldn't ever want anything else to overpower that.

You're donating a percentage of perfume sales, as well as concert-ticket sales, to Second Harvest Food Bank. Why have you thrown so much support into that particular charity?

I was often hungry growing up. And I just wanted to concentrate on North America. The tour was a very good way of exposing the charity, and it's already a program in place. I wanted [my impact] to be immediate, not something that was going to be 10 years in the making. I wanted the kids to benefit while I was touring immediately.

You turned 40 recently. How did it feel reaching that benchmark? And what's your take on women and aging?

I'm great about it. It didn't bug me at all. Personally, I want to age gracefully like everyone else. But I think it's important to care, but not to be concerned. I mean, Christ, we're all going to age, we can't fight it forever. And I just think it's not worth stressing about. You can be beautiful and 80.

Is there any woman you look up to?

Dolly Parton does it very well. I've been two inches from her. I know what she looks like in person. Sure, she doesn't look 20. But I don't look at her and say, wow, what a facelift. She looks beautiful and she looks real.

How did you feel when they asked you to accept the Order of Canada?

I said, yes, I guess so but I feel kind of awkward accepting it. It's really kind of too big for me. But it's a wonderful honour. This honour is just so beyond music. It's more about where I'm going in the future, which is more involved with my charity. I want to help underprivileged kids.

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