When did you discover Hayley?

[Oksana]

I discovered her in 2005.

[Joe]

I discovered Hayley on November 14, 2003. back then I was a frequent poster on cc.net's forums. Somebody had posted links to samples of Hayley's "Mary Did You Know" and "Pie Jesu". I was so taken by her voice that within the next few days I ordered the UK Pure and My Gift To You...then I joined this very forum!

Joe

[Caitlin]

I discovered Hayley in the fall of 2003. I don't remember exactly when, but I do remember being awed by her voice, and not having enough money to purchase one of her CD's.
I've certainly made up for that lost time now! =)

[stevemacdonald]

Great question. I'm not sure how best to respond, but here goes:

I first learned of Hayley's one-in-a-million talent back in the year 2000, and yet I'm always discovering her each time I play one of her CDs. I can honestly say no two listenings are quite the same. I look forward to playing "Dark Waltz" all the time because I feel like I'm hearing it freshly in every case. There isn't another singer in the world who puts me in this position... Well, before I go that far, let me sneak in a plug for Holly Holyoake, because she, too, is phenomenally talented and, similarly, her songs are recurring discoveries.

Incidentally, I was one of the founders of CCFans back in late 1999/early 2000, along with Mark, Dave and Joe (not the same as the ones in here). I initially heard about Hayley by way of a post in the "Other Music" area of that site's forums made by a Kiwi poster named Lindsay who went on to start the controversial HayleyWestenraFans.com site not long thereafter.

I raved and raved about Hayley on the CCFans site and surely enough a gentleman by the name of Keith Sheel took notice of my wholehearted endorsement. He checked her out per the links I provided and was, to say the least, most impressed. This stupendous website (HWI) is the direct result of his initial impressions and consequent full-on dedication to spreading the word.

Since then I've seen Hayley perform in six appearances and spoke with her briefly four times. You know how she says it was "surreal" meeting Tony Blair, the Queen and Pres. Bush? Well, it was just as surreal for me to meet her. I'd never been starstruck in my life and had met some fairly famous people before, but nothing prepared me for encountering an artist as wondrously gifted as her.

[Richard]

Hello Oksana and everybody!

I first discovered Hayley on Friday 19th September 2003 when I spotted "Pure" on a listening post in a Borders store in London's Oxford Street. I was immediately impressed by her voice, and when I looked at her web site a few days later I saw she was appearing with Aled Jones at the Fairfield Hall in Croydon on Wednesday 1st October 2003. I managed to get a seat in the middle of the front row, and I met Hayley in the foyer just after I got there, about four hours before the start of the concert!

It was far too good an experience to be a one-off, and so far I've met Hayley ten times! i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gif

Best Wishes,

Richard

[alien]

Hi all,

Okay, the is a bit of a long story that's too good to be true...

I first discovered Hayley's "Beat of Your Heart" back in Oct 20, 2003. It was pure coincidence and even now I have no idea why I decided to play it... also the song is very special for me because my grandma passed away later that morning in the hospital due to heart complications. Guess I can call that destiny

The fact that Hayley is from NZ makes her even more special, first time I was on a plane was a flight to NZ... I just realize I still have the NZ All Blacks rugby ball in my room!

Allen

[1littlegirl]

I discovered her a month or two before Pure was being released in NZ and Australia. So I guess that would have been the summer of 2003.

I bought Hayley's self-titled album after I discovered her. Then I bought Pure from Australia soon after it was released.

That's my story.

[roger]

Thank you, Oksana, for a very interesting question. With just 9 votes so far, already a pattern is beginning to emerge. The majority discovered Hayley during 2003 - the year in which Pure was released in many countries. Perhaps that was predictable but it will be interesting to see if this pattern is maintained when later votes are added.

I first heard Hayley on 10th October 2003 when 'Pokarekare Ana' was played on Classic FM. I bought Pure within an hour or so. That much, I have told many times. What I have never said publicly is the reason why I remember the precise date. It was my birthday and Hayley was the best present I ever received.

Roger

[gareth]

I first heard about Hayley in 2001 - on some Charlotte Church forums. The first song I heard was the Pokarekare Ana version as recorded on Hayley's first CD - an mp3 of that song appeared somewhere on the web - but I don't remember where.

Gerrit

[Dave]

Great question, great poll Oksana. My route to discovering Hayley was indirect, to say the least. Bear with me, we'll get there - or skip straight to the end

At the beginning of October 2003, a couple of weeks after "Pure" was released in the UK, I tuned in by accident to a preliminary round of "Pop Idol" series 2 (the original UK version of American Idol). For a few years, I'd hardly ever watched that TV channel, ITV, and I certainly didn't listen to radio much at the time. Well I heard on Pop Idol a young lady called Danielle Tedford singing one verse of Sting's "Fields of Gold". I thought it was a lovely rendition, most unlike Sting's original, and I decided to find out more about it. Sadly, Danielle failed to qualify by a whisker - was given a second chance the next week with others, and was eliminated, again by a whisker. She deserved better but that's another story.

Well, my googlings soon led me to Eva Cassidy - it was Eva's arrangement of Fields of Gold that Danielle had sung. I had to have it! I went out to buy Eva's "Songbird" and I haven't stopped playing it since that day. I soon found myself on one of the Eva websites - evacassidy.org I think, and I remember thinking as I played Songbird for about the 10th time in two days how tragic it was that we would never be able to hear Eva singing "live". But how had I managed to miss hearing of her in over two years since her albums had been released in the UK? This set me wondering: who else is out there that I've also missed?

Well I soon came across a name mentioned casually by an Eva fan - if you like Eva, you MUST listen to Hayley Westenra, she said. So off I went a' googling... soon to find myself on the wonderful HWI website, playing hour after hour of Hayley clips samples and even full videos. I thought I was in heaven - and decided to buy her album! But it was not that simple as first, I happened to mention Hayley to one of my daughters and it was agreed - (why did I agree ) that "Pure" would be on my Christmas present list; well Christmas was still two months away!!! But I would not spoil the "surprise" (I couldn't be sure I would actually receive it) so I had to content myself with HWI and what ever else "Hayley" was around on the Internet. But the wait was worth it - I did indeed receive "Pure" on December 25th 2003 - one of my best Christmas presents ever!

Somehow, all Hayley's UK TV appearances in November passed me by, and the first time I actually saw her "live" was on the infamous Frank Skinner show broadcast in early December that year. I was captivated by her story - and how well she handled the "Master of Innuendo" Mr Skinner. I don't think I've missed a single UK TV appearance by Hayley since then!

Or, to put it in a nutshell, it was the week beginning October 11th 2003!

Dave

PS I also discovered Katie Melua and Katherine Jenkins in October 2003, well before their first albums were released!

[Ross]

I discovered Hayley at the Christmas in the Park concert in Christchurch in 2000 and have followed her since then.

[disca]

Nice Question!
I discovered Hayley in 2003 when SARS was affecting Hong Kong
Having no school,I turned on TV everyday!I saw her album,PURE.
There's a song sound familiar.it called "Never say goodbye"
I used to sing it in my Beijing concert.
A gorgeous song indeed
LOVE IT VERY MUCH

[wormy]

ross said:

I discovered Hayley at the Christmas in the Park concert in Christchurch in 2000 and have followed her since then.

Likewise, but the Christmas in the Park concert was televised later in Malaysia in 2001 if I'm not mistaken.

[george]

The first time I heard Hayley was when I received a free Classical Compilation CD with my Mail On Sunday in the late summer of 2003. She sang Pokarekare Ana and I was instantly hooked forever!
I purchased Pure in the UK and ordered the previous two albums from NZ.
My wife and I discovered Hayley was a guest at the Christmas Cancer Concert at the Royal Albert Hall so that was our first time to see Hayley live where she sang a number of Carols. During the second half of the concert she wandered out into the audience and immediately a queue formed for an impromptu autograph signing session even though the concert was still ongoing. My wife joined the queue and here is my first photo of Hayley




So that was the start of a magical two and a half years so far. Seven times more we have seen Hayley, almost every time meeting with her afterwards.
This year we will be in Nottingham, Wisley Gardens and hopefully Macclesfield to see Hayley as well as whatever else may materialise later in the year.

Cheers,
George

[Andrew]

Hi George,

Thanks very much for sharing your photograph with us!

Hayley looks very elegant (as always!)

Is that your son who has asked Hayley for her autograph?

I'm sure Hayley thought he was very cute! He looks as though he's dressed to go on stage too! i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gif

Regards,

Andrew