Shania Twain On Success, Tabloids, Marriage

"I wouldn't say they're out to get me."

Her 1995 album The Woman in Me has sold 11 million copies. Come on Over, released in 1997, has sold nearly 14 million. "You're Still the One," one of the singles from that album, won best country song for Twain and husband Robert John "Mutt" Lange and female country vocal performance for Twain at the Grammy Awards. She is the CMA's Entertainer of the Year, drop-dead gorgeous with a Barbie-Doll figure, has homes and fans all over the world.

The enigmatic Ms. Twain responded to "Five Questions" from Associated Press

 1. You have five horses. Are you a real cowgirl?

 Twain: No! I'm from Canada. We don't know how to rope. Just because you're a horse person doesn't mean you know anything about cows. I'm into pleasure riding. 

2. How do you react to reports that your marriage is in trouble because your husband is rarely seen?

 Twain: It just happens that now he's married to someone famous and he values his privacy. We live in Florida and Switzerland and are really very ordinary people. Nobody's very interested in anybody's spouse anyway. 

3. What do you think of your popularity in the tabloids? Is the media out to knock you down now that you have reached the top?

 Twain: It is hard. Sometimes the facts don't get straight and you are misquoted. But I think it happens to everyone and you don't single yourself out in any way. No, I wouldn't say they are out to get me. There's a point somewhere where your life becomes everyone's business. It's a pain in the butt. But it doesn't matter. My focus is the music. I'm very content with what I've achieved. I'm not so ambitious that I'm worried about who's going to try to knock me down. 

4. Is acting next on your professional agenda?

 Twain: If the opportunity came up, I might try," Twain told the A.P. "I can't say to you though, 'Yeah, I'm going to try it.' I've heard it's a very tedious thing. Some of the stories they tell me - how boring it is waiting around - I don't know if I can deal with that. I can't stand modeling. You have to stand in uncomfortable shoes for a long time and stand still for 15 minutes. I like something brief and quick. It's my thing. 

5. 'Come on Over' was your first big pop-country crossover hit. Do you believe that you have been a major force in opening doors for other country music artists? 

Twain: Well, it's a nice compliment that I somehow did bring more people to country music. The more fans who listen to country music, the better. It's good. It shows hard work pays.

 Mercury Nashville, Shania's record label, has released a re-mixed version of Come On Over. This new sales blitz, along with the Thanksgiving night TV special, and her elongated tour (thru Dec. 6) should continue the ringing of the cash registers through the holiday season. This project is just behind Alanis Morrissette's Little Jagged Pill as the best-selling distaff project of all time. 

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