Sorry Alicia Keys, I'm not with you on this one!

Hi there,

Alicia Keys didn't wear make-up at a big event recently and the media is having a field day as a result. What do you think? I'm all for authenticity from the artists I admire but I don't actually need their stark reality. I've always thought the job description of a pop star was to be an exaggerated, perhaps more glamorous version of their real selves. After all, I don't want to listen to anyone sing about their grocery shopping or look like they're doing it! If Alicia wants to go out on a Sunday morning to pick up her sourdough, sans lipstick, then she should be allowed to do so without comment. But she is a card carrying member of the pop star elite and has always presented us with a full face of glamour so no wonder there is a media storm about her bare face at an awards ceremony. Ms Keys says that she has never felt more liberated and more 'herself' than without foundation and blush. If that's the case, then of course she should continue that way. But as far as the #nomakeup movement she has inspired - no thank you very much! 

The literal spotlight we put ourselves under as entertainers, whether it be a TV studio's lights or the LEDs on a stage, casts us in a severe and unrealistic glare. Even newsmen wear some pancake and powder to counteract the harshness, so there are practical reasons for make-up to start with. For me, make-up, like hair dye and costume, is an important part of a theatrical toolkit that helps spotlight our artistry. I'm not talking about plastic surgery or magazine airbrushing - those things are artifice, but for me, painting your face is art. I'm not a big fan of heavy make-up in the every day, but I love seeing my face metamorphose in the mirror while making up before a show. Coating my eyelashes makes my eyes look bigger and thus more expressive from a distance on stage under those bright lights.  If eyes are indeed windows of the soul then eye shadow is the window dressing that invites you in. 

Make-up is part of a showbusiness ritual I love, one that helps regular me transform to a more theatrical version of myself. And is it really a gender issue as the media is suggesting? Is there a social pressure for women to slather it on? Perhaps so, but I personally don't feel it. And I love a man in make-up too - black-lined eyes are a regular sight on a rock stage for both genders and even my young son likes wearing nail polish. Anyway, take away my kohl pencil and I'll challenge you to a duel. I have a mascara wand and I'm not afraid to use it! 

See you next time,

xAmanda

www.amandaeaston.com

When are you Too Old to Sing?

Hi there,

I had my 25th birthday while living in Japan, where I was singing with cover bands and writing songs. The Japanese always seemed obsessed with age to me. On meeting someone new, the questions would invariably be, in this order: "Where are you from?" and "How old are you?" When I answered '25' to the latter they would breath a sigh of relief and say: "Well that's OK then, still young". After experiencing this over and over I asked a hip Japanese friend what was going on. She explained that many Japanese people believed a woman was like a Christmas cake. Oh. Well I'm glad I asked... Luckily she elaborated, after an embrassed silence. "A Woman is like a Christmas cake because like the cake, after the 25th she is considered to be past her use-by date". Yes I can hear your gasps from here - shocking isn't it! So imagine my surprise when recently I find out that a current JPop (Top 40 Japanese Pop) Star is a girl by the name of Namie Amuro. Astonishing because guess who was a major JPop star when I lived in Japan all those years ago - the same 'girl'. So she is now 37 years old! Now don't forget we are talking Top 40 Pop! In Japan!

So are things changing? If an ageist society accepts a 37 year old as a Popstar then surely anyone can! A friend asked me recently, 'How long do you think you can keep singing?' It's not as if I haven't asked myself this question many times before. 

Putting aside all the Strolling Bones jokes, have you actually seen The Stones perform in recent times? That famous Jagger strut is still in fine shape and the whole band sounds rocking. There seems to have been a resurgence of late, of 'legendary' artists on tour and most of them are still getting rave reviews. There have also, of course, been past stars wheeled out again that have crashed and burned. I'm pretty sure I know why some heritage acts still have it and some don't. I'm no pedagog but I know that if I don't do any singing training or actual performing for more than a week, I can feel the muscles weaken. The Stones have never stopped doing what they do. Stars of the '80s who became stockbrokers or drug dealers when their starlight faded, only to jump on the Retro bandwagon more than 20 years later, can't expect to have the same skills they did in their heyday. Because they didn't keep it up. They didn't keep the muscles working.

Well that's me covered then. I have no intention of taking off more than a week here and there - I miss it way too much. So in decades to come when someone points out the 'little old lady with the (insert bright colour here) hair, wearing the sequins', you can say: "Oh that's Amanda, she's getting ready for a gig."

Till next time,
Amanda