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Mandy, You're A Fine Girl
02/17/2000 3:00 PM, Yahoo! Music
Stephen Peters
In the last few years, the sun-dappled coastal mecca of Orlando, Fla. has become a sort of Hitsville, U.S.A. for the teenybopper crowd, producing a growing roster of fresh-faced faves that includes the
Backstreet Boys and
'N Sync. Now please welcome newcomer
Mandy Moore, the latest contender in a ring already bursting with challengers for the teen pop crown.
At 15, Moore certainly has youth on her side, making fellow freshmakers and late-teen superstars like
Britney Spears and
Christina Aguilera seem like older cousins while relegating 21-year-old
Brandy to something nearing crone status. And if the current onslaught of inoffensive, sugar-coated pop is destined to reach a saturation point with the gum-smacking masses, it certainly hasn't gotten there yet, as the success of Moore's radio-friendly confection "Candy," from her debut album
So Real, has proven.
"I'm so excited," she gushes in a tone of voice that puts her somewhere between typical teen and industry pro. "I don't mean this in a corny way, but it's such a dream come true, to be 15 and to be enjoying my job so much. There are people sometimes that go through their whole life and kind of regret going to work every day, and every day, it's like a new thing for me. It's just so exciting."
Like many of her fellow young adult warblers, Moore knew she wanted to be a singer at an early age--"like, when I was six," to be exact.
"By the time I was 10, my parents were finally persuaded enough to get me voice lessons and let me audition around and do a lot of theater," she recalls. "I have a theater background, and I started off doing plays and everything around Orlando, and then I kind of shifted and did a bunch of TV commercials. Then I kind of went back to strictly just the singing, 'cause that's what satisfied me the most, and here I am today."
One major-label deal and a hit single later, her potential as a pop star has been proven. But history has shown that "here today" can also mean "gone tomorrow" as far as the fickle teen market is concerned (see:
Debbie Gibson and
Tiffany), and Moore wisely hedges her response when asked about the possibility of exploring other avenues as a performer.
"I love acting," she says. "I have aspirations to do acting and modeling later down the road, but if the opportunity today presents itself in the right fashion, I would definitely go for it. I have nothing against that. It's just that singing is my first priority. It's something that I've wanted to do all my life. And I'm having so much fun doing it, too. I just don't want to be known as the actress who can sing. I want to be known as the singer who can act, too. I think that's kind of cool. It's great cross-promotion."
In the meantime, Moore seems happy to be included in the same peer group as Spears and Aguilera, and more than willing to field the inevitable comparisons, whether they have to do with her vocal style or her bra size.
"I'm just hoping that something like that's not going to happen, but I'm sure it's gonna happen," she sighs. "It's inevitable. But, you know, I guess you just have to handle the situations as they come, basically....It's going to be something new, but I'm ready for it. Whatever they have to throw at me, I'm ready to take it on. I don't think I have anything bad to hide, so too bad!"
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