She's still a modern girl, cruising round the world

Published on Saturday 10 May 2008 20:06

SHE'S back – not in her native Scotland, of course, but very definitely in the pink.

Sheena Easton is launching a bold bid to reinvent herself as a gay icon.

The Scottish singer has sold more than 20 million records around the world in a career which has spanned three decades – but recently the hits have dried up and she is without a major record deal.

Now the Grammy-winning 48-year-old is making a comeback and is counting on the power of the pink dollar to catapult her back to the big time.

This summer Easton will top the entertainment bill on a prestigious gay-friendly cruise around the coast of North America. The '9 to 5' chart-topper is also headlining Gay Pride events across the US – including a carnival at Palm Beach which is expected to attract a crowd of more than 100,000.

Despite keeping a low profile in recent years, Easton has enjoyed a resurgence in popularity among sections of the gay community in the States, where her kitsch Eighties hits and sassy style are venerated.

The Bellshill-born performer has become an American citizen and has endured a distinctly frosty relationship with her home country.

In the latest example of this apparently mutual antipathy, the director of Scotland's largest gay festival expressed horror at the idea of Easton's comeback, labelling her a "washed-up has-been" and claiming he would never book her "in a million years".

But the organisers of the Phoenix Pride gay festival, which took place in Arizona last month, said they were delighted to have the Bond theme singer agree to become their headline performer.

Executive director Brandi Sokolosky said Easton's performance, which included hits such as 'Modern Girl', 'For Your Eyes Only' and 'The Lover In Me', went down a storm with the gay and lesbian audience.

She said: "Sheena's performance was very well received by everyone. She is a true Eighties icon and that is why people love her and her music. Sheena proved she is a great performer with fantastic music and she is one of the people that everyone, not just a gay audience, will always love."

Sokolosky said the Scot's set was so successful that they would consider inviting her back to a future event.

Easton, who was born Sheena Orr, will also take centre stage at the Long Beach Lesbian & Gay Pride festival in California later this month.

The artist, who was discovered by Esther Rantzen in the 1980 talent show, The Big Time, will perform alongside other huge names including KC & The Sunshine Band and The Bangles.

A spokesman for the event, also known as the 'I Am What I Am' celebration, said: "We are absolutely thrilled to confirm that Sheena Easton will be appearing on our exciting main stage line-up."

The singer will also be taking to the high seas to perform on a gay and lesbian cruise sailing from New York around some of the "most gay-friendly destinations in the world" in Canada between July 13 and 20.

The trip is being organised by R Family Vacations, which specialises in same-sex holidays, while the entertainment is handpicked by American chat-show queen Rosie O'Donnell.

Artists who have performed on previous cruises include Eighties chart-toppers Cyndi Lauper, Erasure, Desperate Housewives star Alec Mapa and the New York City Gay Men's Chorus.

Places on the upmarket week-long cruise cost up to 2,500 per person and include a host of fancy dress theme nights entitled Think Pink, Fairy Tale, Tropical and Seventies Night.

But Steven Taylor, the producer of Glasgay!, Scotland's biggest gay festival, was unimpressed to hear of Easton's attempts to tap the pink dollar.

"As far as I'm concerned she is pretty much a washed-up has-been," he said. "We have a very young funky audience who, to be frank, are into much cooler acts than Sheena Easton. The idea that we would ask her to come back and perform in Glasgow is completely laughable.

"Gay audiences do love their ageing divas, but I think Sheena Easton is pushing things too far. In Scotland straight and gay audiences both tend not to like people who go away, change their accent and lose complete touch with their roots. I'm very sorry, Sheena, but your invitation to come back to Glasgow is not likely to be sent out any time soon."

Easton's much vaunted home coming ended in disaster when she performed at the massive Big Day festival on Glasgow Green in 1990.

She was booed by tens of thousands of fans after introducing tracks in an excruciating mid-Atlantic accent. The visibly shaken singer was showered with bottles, some containing urine, throughout her short, chaotic set.

Afterwards she vowed never to play in Scotland again and has been as good as her word.

She said: "It was nice when we arrived. I showed off the city to my American band, the fish-and-chip shop we used to live above. But as the evening went on the audience became rowdier. I was ashamed for my own people in that audience who were drunk and throwing things."

A spokesman for the fan website Sheenaeaston.co.uk said: "The gay iconic tag seems to get labelled on female singers and Sheena does have a large gay following."

Easton declined to comment.

EVERGREEN PINK CLASSICS

The top 20 all-time gay anthems as voted for by attendees of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras.

Dancing Queen – ABBA

YMCA – The Village People

It's Raining Men – The Weather Girls

I Am What I Am – Gloria Gaynor

I'm Coming Out – Diana Ross

9 to 5 – Dolly Parton

Better the Devil You Know – Kylie Minogue

I Want To Break Free – Queen

Over the Rainbow – Judy Garland

Go West – Pet Shop Boys

I Will Survive – Gloria Gaynor

In the Navy – The Village People

Smalltown Boy – Bronski Beat

Relax – Frankie Goes to Hollywood

You Spin Me Round (Like a Record) – Dead or Alive

Wake Me Up Before You Go Go – Wham

Chain Reaction – Diana Ross

Believe – Cher

I'm Every Women – Chaka Khan

Proud – Heather Small