Hayley Westenra under pressure from record company to dress ‘tarty’

When Hayley Westenra (pictured with Jonathan Ansell) sang in front of the Queen on Saturday at the Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall she was a picture of primness. However, the soprano claims that her record company, Universal, would like her to dress more like a member of the Pussycat Dolls or Girls Aloud. "I have had to stand my ground on image issues," she told the Sunday Telegraph. "I am not a tarty person and I don't wear those clothes when I am out, so I don't wear them to perform or for interview either.

"It's funny because there are always people at record companies who push you to change yourself. They don't care about your longevity as an artist."

Westenra signed with Universal when she was 15 and her album Pure has sold more than two million copies. The company, whose artists include Kylie Minogue, admits that it has discussed her appearance. A spokesman said: "Now she's turned 21 we have encouraged Hayley to think freely about how she presents herself and to be on-message with singers and artists of her own generation."