Hayley Westenra Opens Giant Ball In Paris
26 Sep 2007
New Zealand singing sensation Hayley Westenra will open the giant rugby ball venue that is being inflated alongside the Eiffel Tower in Paris on October 5 for the 2007 Rugby World Cup.
The twenty-year-old Soprano joins a select group of leading Kiwi musicians, Dave Dobbyn, Hinewehi Mohi and Hollie Smith, who will perform for special guests inside the eye-catching venue.
Westenra has had a meteoric rise to fame. She was spotted by a talent scout while busking in Christchurch just before she reached her teens. From there it was a recording deal with Universal New Zealand before landing a contract with Decca records in the UK.
Her first album Pure sold more than two million copies worldwide, and reached number one on the UK charts. In New Zealand Pure went 10 times platinum, making Westenra the best selling local artist ever for any genre.
Her second album Odyssey reached the top 10 in the UKs pop and classical charts - and her third album Treasure, has achieved number one in the Classical Music chart while debuting in the Top 10 of the Pop charts. Her music is the most downloaded of any classical artist in the UK and she has sold well over 3.5 million albums worldwide.
Westenra has performed alongside Andrea Bocelli and Il Divo, and she has sung for the British Royal family, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, US President George Bush and the Dalai Lama.
Outside of her singing career, Westenra is the youngest ever ambassador for UNICEF, travelling to Ghana in 2005 to publicise the Bikes for Ghana project.
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