Katherine Jenkins: Pop stars should know boundaries

CLASSICAL chart star Katherine Jenkins has warned up-and-coming female artists to know their boundaries and think hard about creating raunchy videos and images which might come back to haunt them.

Katherine Jenkins made her remarks at yesterdays signing. Picture: Ian Gavan/Getty Images

The singer – celebrating a decade in the music business by signing a new record deal – yesterday advised rising stars to make a stand if they feel they are being pushed too far.

Her comments come amid concerns about young performers willing to exploit their sexuality, with the singer Miley Cyrus recently appearing naked in the video for her single Wrecking Ball.

Another classical crossover star, Charlotte Church, delivered a withering verdict on the sexism of the music industry in a BBC lecture late last year.

Jenkins, 33, said: “I’ve been on photoshoots where they’ve been, ‘OK, let’s try something different for this shoot’ – sometimes it’s fun to experiment but sometimes it’s really not what you are. And I think you’ve got to know, in that scenario, to say, ‘Actually I’m game for this, but this [other idea] is too far’. It’s about knowing the boundaries.”

She continued: “You need to know who you are. I think that’s the most important thing and that somehow comes with age and experience. People may try to change you but you have to try and stick to what you know, what you want to be.

“These images are going to be around for a very long time. You can’t pretend you’re something that you’re not.”

Jenkins – who has signed a new deal with Decca, part of the Universal group of companies which gave her a break by releasing her debut in 2004 – also talked about her desire to return to teaching, a career she pursued briefly after studying at the Royal Academy of Music.