Though fans of Ugly Betty know Vanessa Williams best as scheming fashion mag beauty Wilhelmina Slater, the 16-time Grammy nominee's smooth vocals have also sound-tracked the past 20 years with songs like "Dreaming," "Save The Best For Last," "Love Is" and "Colors Of The Wind."To spice things up a bit, Williams turned to her past collaborators Keith Thomas, Babyface and Rob Mathes - "My good friends who are producers that I've worked with before," the singer/actress says-to craft her eighth studio album The Real Thing.
Below is Vanessa's recent interview with Robbie Daw at www.GayWired.com:
GayWired: Good morning, Vanessa! How did you decide to go with a Latin jazz vibe for The Real Thing ?
Vanessa Williams: I think I was on stage and my manager kept hearing me say I want to do a Brazilian album, because I do a couple of songs in a Brazilian feel in my act.
The idea was to actually go to Brazil, use the real guys and do an entire Brazilian album. Then it kind of morphed into, well, how about some smooth jazz Brazilian and some diva-sounding music to continue with the Wilhelmina Slater vibe that I'm on TV with weekly.
It basically is a combination.
GW: It's been four years since your last album. Did you find you miss recording or are you just too busy with Ugly Betty to notice?
VW: It's been busy. And I do pickup dates, so I'll do Vegas. I'll do Foxwoods. I'll do Atlantic City. But, after doing the same show for the past four years, it was wonderful to open the Tropicana last week with new material.
It just renews us all because the band's eager to do new stuff. And we have new outfits!
GW: Do you remember where you were the first time you heard one of your songs on the radio?
VW: Well, the first time I heard myself on the radio I was driving north on La Brea in L.A.
I had sung on a George Clinton record-one song was called "Hey Good Lookin'" and one song was called "Do Fries Go With That Shake?" I had just done an off-Broadway show in New York and the musical director, Deborah Barsha, and I both moved out to L.A. at the same time. She was a musician and a background singer, and she said, 'I got this call from this guy named George Clinton. I'm singing background. Do you wanna come in and sing with me?'
I'm like, 'Do you know who George Clinton is?' and I had to school her briefly. We ended up going to the studio and he was a riot.
GW: Looking back, can you believe we've come to the point where people now listen to music on tiny computer speakers?
VW: Technology is amazing. You can listen to everything and have it all in your pocket. I think what I enjoy, or what was a big difference for me as a singer...obviously you can hear the real drastic Auto Tune, like when T-Pain will sing or Jamie Foxx will sing through the Auto Tune.
But when all these acts are coming out and you hear them and they all sound the same, people get used to that. They all sound the same because they're being run through the same machine.
But when you actually get to hear the voice, unobstructed, people are always taken aback. I'd rather be like, 'Let's do that phrase again,' as opposed to 'We'll fix it in Auto Tune.'
You've got a seamless performance, but it sounds real. I think that kind of separates the singers from the manufactured pop products they're cranking out.
GW: It really is amazing how there's almost a whole Auto Tune genre now.
VW: Back in the '70s when you had [Kraftwerk's] "Computer Love," and Rick James did it a little bit, it was tasty. But it wasn't to disguise a lack of talent.
GW: Last year you were given the Ally For Equality award from the Human Rights Campaign for supporting gay rights. How did you come to be so outspoken on social issues?
VW: Going back to when I won Miss America in 1983, I remember in one of my first press conferences I was asked about how I felt about ERA. I said I was pro-ERA, everyone should get paid equally for what they do, especially women.
I was also pro-choice back in the time when people were not used to hearing a Miss America talk about her personal feelings.
The lucky thing was that there was no platform or agenda [where someone told me], 'Okay, this is what we want you to say,' because I don't think I could have done that.
So I've never really shied away from what my personal beliefs are. My mom had gay friends who were an integral part of my life growing up. And my father was completely supportive and comfortable with my mom's friends. So I never had any kind of issues. It was in my own house.
And, of course, I've danced my entire life and I went into musical theater...! [Laughs]
Thank God, I think it's all exploding now-there's more dialogue, more protests. It's a hot button issue, and it's fantastic. With dialogue comes change. And obviously in Iowa we've just seen a gigantic change. It's making a difference.
The time is here.
GW: President Obama even got caught in a bit of pro-choice controversy recently, with the protesters during his commencement speech at Notre Dame.
VW: The bottom line is, what your beliefs are, are your beliefs. And God bless you, if those are your beliefs, you can feel your beliefs. And I tolerate that. But you should tolerate other people's beliefs, too.
I'm a Catholic, and even though I'm a Catholic and my kids have been confirmed-and [my youngest daughter] Sasha just had her First Communion last year-I'm not gonna tell someone else that they don't have the right to do what they choose. That has nothing to do with my religion. It has to do with being tolerant of other people's beliefs and their particular rights.
So religion, I think, is how you approach it. I think Obama was completely eloquent. [He] did not shy away from it, and dug right into it. I applaud him. And the students applauded.
GW: What can viewers expect from Wilhelmina Slater on the fourth season of Ugly Betty ?
VW: We don't know! It's not even like I'm holding anything back. There are so many changes that happen within the storylines.
Writers can come up with something but then the network can also put the kibosh on it, as well.
So we never know what we're gonna get until we actually get to the read-through that day. And usually our read-through is the day we start the episode, so we're equally as shocked as everyone else! [Laughs]
GW: Any predictions?
VW: I'm sure [Wilhelmina] is anxious to get Connor back and we'll see whether that happens. It was such a great love interest for her, because he was strong and sexy and, really, her equal. I think the casting was brilliant. I don't know if they're gonna get much better than that. It'll be different, but I don't know if it'll be as good.
I honestly don't know what's in store. But it'll be more fabulous outfits by Pat Fields and more fantastic lines from Silvio Horta and our writers.
Courtesy of: www.GayWired.com
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