Lucy Lawless
FROM SWORDS TO SONGS:
Lucy Lawless
By Traci J. Grant
Lucy Lawless has returned. Back and blonde, she's armed for battle once again - with her voice. The new reality show, Celebrity Duets sees a slew of stars, including Lucy, face off in a duets competition that partners celebrities not known for singing, but who do actually have musical talent, with renowned artists. Lucy explains, "All the contestants can sing; they wouldn't want to dishonor these singing legends by putting them with people who were just cast for their comedy value. I'm really honored to be amongst them."
"It's kind of like a coming out party for me, in that [laughs], I've been gone a long time. After Xena, I went off and had a couple more kids, and spent the last five years just being with them almost exclusively, so I'm kind of surprised how beautifully this is going, and how this feels, because I feel like I've been hiding in the ‘burbs a long time. Now I'm coming out in a big way."
MINI SCOOP:
Celebrity Duets "was just such an attractive opportunity to sing with these amazing stars, that I just had to be part of it. It would be something that I would regret my whole life if I turned down."
A day in Lucy's life..."It ain't all swingin', but I sure make the most of what is in front of me."
We love Lucy because she says things like this: "I have a darn good time wherever I am. I always pick great people to hang out with, and so it's a beautiful world on planet Lucy [laughs]."
On Xena, sort of: Renee [O'Connor] and I are still great friends, and are getting together, because I haven't met her baby yet. She was born just as I was heading off to Vancouver, so I'm very excited. We're gonna get the kids back together, now it's going to be Xena: The Next Generation [laughs].
Quotable Lucy..."I think you have to be yourself. All you can be is yourself. I've reached an age where that's all I can do now."
Says Lucy, with obvious excitement, "I never foresaw myself in this position. I think that's why I'm so delighted; my heart is bursting out of my chest because I never foresaw this. I didn't ever think I would be in the same room as some of the people on this list, let alone actually getting to sing a song with them. It's their field of expertise, and you don't expect to be included in that way. This is just an extraordinary surprise of regional proportions."
Speaking of surprises, it sure wouldn't be one if Lucy ends up the winner. But that's getting a little ahead, now isn't it? You want to make it at least through the first round, right Lucy? "Oh, you bet I do. Because every week that you get to stay on, you get to meet another amazing human being. I certainly want to make it past the first week [laughs]. I would be embarrassed to be kicked out, but the truth is, all of these people are amazing singers. You just can never tell who the audience is going to respond to, so I don't know. I feel quite humble in the fact of that side of things, but my motivation for going into it is just because it's so life affirming, to do something just for the pure joy of it. And also, it's in a good cause. Whoever goes the distance, their charity receives $100,000. And everybody's charities get a whole lot of name recognition just for being mentioned, so everybody wins, really. There's no record contract waiting at the end. It's just a lot of people with great hearts and a lot of courage."
But if all goes well, one has to wonder whether or not Lucy would consider recording an album. "Yes, I'm always curious what lies on the other side of whatever door is presented to you, you know? I never thought I would find myself in quite this position, but I just love whatever comes. And if I get kicked out in the second week or the third week or whatever, it'd still be worth it. It's really been a really positive experience thus far."
MINI SCOOP 2:
Traci gets the scoop! Lucy tells her : "Now this person probably has no idea; I've never met this person. But this person was really instrumental in my career, and that was Whoopi Goldberg. Because when she [was at] the Oscars once, I was lying on a beanbag down in New Zealand, like in 1990, something like that, 1992, I don't know. And she was up there, I don't know if she was presenting, or if she was accepting an award, and she said, ‘For all those kids at home, who want to be up here one day, you better believe it, kid.' And I was on the horns of a dilemma, about whether I should go on with this dreary, disparaging career of acting, because it was breaking my heart. And I heard her, it was like she spoke to me nine thousand miles away, and I've always seen that as a pivotal moment in my career. So, thanks, Whoopi! Thank you Miss Whoopi. You know what? I've never told anybody that [story]. You are the first. You got the scoop!"
Website address: www.lucylawlessfanclub.com
Lucy has plenty of live-performance experience; she starred in Broadway's 1997 production of "Greece" as Rizzo, and more recently strutted her stuff as Dorothy Shaw in "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. So, for Duets, she should be a pro at keeping the nerves in check. "If I allow myself to get worried about it, you can only go down the gurgler, you know what I mean? [laughs]"
Hopefully, fans will continue to see more of Lucy Lawless once the show is over, but it seems she is singing just one song at the moment - to the tune of Celebrity Duets. Lucy concludes, "This [show] is my life at the moment. I could not be happier. I also could not cope with more than is on my plate at the moment, because this is a lot for me to wrap my head around. Technically speaking, getting my voice in shape, getting your body in shape, with dancing and all that stuff. I'm better now than I used to be. I think I'm in better shape than I was in my twenties, that's for sure."
It sounds like Lucy will be throwing us all for a loop, just not upside down, and backwards over her shoulder.
All quotes in this article were given in an interview with TheStarScoop.Com