Selena Gomez talks ‘Star Dance’ and World Tour

Selena Gomez is one of those exceptionally talented young performers whose level-headed perspective on life puts to shame the worst elements of pop culture. Not only is Gomez bright, unpretentious, and unfailingly polite, but she’s now taking her music to a new level of maturity as she celebrated her 21st birthday on July 22nd and embarks on a world tour later this year. It’s a series of milestones for the leggy singer-actress.

“Turning 21 is exciting,” Gomez says. “It’s not such a big deal about being able to order a drink, but it’s meaningful in terms of my personal evolution.”

Gomez, the former Disney princess, is clearly growing up. In person, she can sometimes give the impression of being 20 going on 30, and her maturity is amply reflected in the sexually- charged lyrics to her new album – Stars Dance – released on July 23rd, one day after her 21st birthday. The album, the fourth of her career, marks a decisive new sound and vibe for the Texas-born beauty. In addition to the first hit single “Come and Get It” released back in April, the second single, “Slow Down,” features suggestive lyrics like, “You know I’m good with mouth-to-mouth resuscitation/Breathe me in breathe me out so amazing.”

And if that weren’t enough to whet the appetites of her legions of fans, Gomez pushes the sexual boundaries ever further with the song “Undercover,” lusting after a “sexy machine” to fulfill her desires: “I wanna find a place where we can be alone in the dark (oooooh) and you can navigate me like a map that you know by heart.”

Music industry observers are expecting Stars Dance to be one of the top-selling albums of the year while Gomez gears up for her world tour. As the following interview will reveal, her stage show will feature many more choreographed dance routines that are inspired to a large extent by Britney Spears whom she idolized as a young girl.

Selena, was turning 21 a milestone for you while you launched your new album the very next day?

This is an interesting transition for me. I like to think I’m pushing myself. I feel my music is evolving, too, and I’m doing other things like acting, and now I’m going out on my first world tour. I’m really stoked about that because now I’ll finally meet so many of my fans from thousands and thousands of miles away. That’s the best feeling in the world to be meeting the people who enjoy your music and who you feel you’re connecting to. And after the tour is over, I’ll probably be getting my own place!

Are you looking forward to touring in Europe?

Yes. I love performing more than anything else. You get tired of being in the studio by yourself working with your producers and working in an isolated way. For me, the real thrill comes from performing live. You need to be able to see the faces of your fans and enjoy the atmosphere that comes with being on stage and hearing people sing along with you. Singing live, dancing on stage, it’s like an adrenaline rush. Half the time I want to give the mike to the fans because they’re so into it and they even interpret my music differently from the way I do.

Your new album Stars Dance is very different from your past work. Tell us about this new chapter in your musical evolution.

I’ve never spent as much time working on a record as I did with this one. I started working on it last October and I knew that I wanted to do something very different and that it would be a difficult transition for me. This album is much more personal and an expression of who I am than anything I’ve done in the past. On my previous albums I felt rushed to a certain extent but with this one I felt I had a much better idea of what I wanted to do and how I wanted it to sound.

Apparently your new world tour will see you dancing a lot more?

Yes. I’ve recently began working on a lot of choreographed dance pieces that we’re going to use on the tour. I love dancing and it’s a great way to stay active because I hate working out. I’ve always wanted to do more dancing because I grew up watching Britney Spears and N’Sync and Christina Aguilera. Britney Spears has always been one of my idols and hers was the first CD I ever bought and first concert I ever went to. I’m still a huge fan and her dancing and performances are so cool.

What kind of message do you want to send out with your new album?

I’m expressing a new sense of confidence and fun. There are some middle Eastern influences. There’s a dance vibe to it and it’s trying to create a different sound. I knew I wanted to go a lot further than I had ever tried before. This record has much more of me in it.

Do you think of it as a breakthrough in some sense?

It was liberating for me. It represents the kind of place I’ve been in my life for the past year, having a better sense of who I am, what I want to accomplish, and working on Spring Breakers. I feel like it was all starting to come together for me.

How do you think you’ve changed of late?

First and foremost I know what I can handle and what I can’t. I also think as a woman it’s important to know what I deserve too and what I don’t deserve. That applies in my music and my personal life and everything. You are who you surround yourself with. You have to surround yourself with positive people who will encourage you and help you. I’m lucky I have friends inside and outside of the music business to keep me humble.

You and Taylor Swift are very close, aren’t you?

Taylor is my best friend. She’s like a sister to me, someone who inspires me and someone I can confide in. What I admire about Taylor is how strong she is – whenever I’m feeling down I know I can call her and she’ll listen to me and give me great advice. I’m so grateful to have her as a friend who’s always going to be there for me and look out for my best interests. You need a great friend like that.

How difficult has it been for you to grow up in the spotlight and have so much attention constantly focussed on you?

Ultimately this life is all that I know. The most important thing is that I love what I do. This is my job and this is what I’ve chosen to do with my life. At times it’s been difficult dealing with the attention and growing up in front of the cameras and having so much of your personal life in the media. Having everyone watching you grow up is kind of weird but I accept it. As a performer you want to connect with the public and create that attention for yourself. I feel like I’ve been blessed to do what I know and what I Iove so much.

Do you ever wish you can hide sometimes?

(Laughs) More than sometimes. At the end of the day I’m only 20 and I would like to be able to live my life and do things without being followed and not thinking about what might reported. But I’ve gotten used to it. I try to hang out with my friends and be as normal as I can and not think about my work or always be aware of being recognised. I’m still friends with people I’ve been with since the 3rd Grade (school) in Texas. That’s very important to me especially with the big tour coming up. I’ve made pacts with my friends that they will come visit me on tour and we’ll skype chat in between to stay in touch that way.

Your recent film Spring Breakers earned you a lot of good reviews for your acting. Was making that film a big step for you?

It was a very serious and mature role and playing the part gave me a whole new level of self- confidence. I felt that I needed to do the film as a way of coming out of my shell as a performer. It was the kind of test that you need to go through to take you to the next level. I hope it’s going to help me find more good roles in the future. Acting is very important to me.

Do you feel like you’ve lived in a bit of a bubble during your teenage years?

In some ways, yes, but on the other hand I’ve been able to travel so much and meet so many extraordinary people, too. I feel like I’ve done a lot in my life even if I didn’t go to college and I didn’t have the usual kind of life as a teenager.

But I don’t feel I’ve been overly insulated from the real world. I can be very independent at times and not just always think about work and performing.

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