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Post by comet on Nov 29, 2009 15:32:52 GMT
In terms of cover design, Faryl wins hands down, of course. The cover may be a bit crowded, but it's also very striking, very eye catching. Hayley's album has a far more minimalist design, which can work if done right, but sadly this just looks kinda boring. I can't see too many people picking it up on the strength of the cover alone (And yes, people do that. At least, I do that. Found some really good artists that way, too). As for the name, there's one point no-one has covered yet: while Hayley may be the most famous Hayley soloist right now, nothing is to say that will still be true in a year or two. All it takes is for some young up and comer to catch the public eye, as happens so often, and suddenly there is serious confusion. In Japan it's probably safe as Hayley is a far rarer name, but worldwide Westenra is the rare name, being almost unheard of outside of Dracula. I always used to think Bram Stoker invented it before I heard of Hayley and I'm sure I'm not alone... I have a few undesirablec in my CD collection because of similar names. Patti Smyth Patty Smyth I'm still confused about which spelling is which. but the song was Because The Night.... |
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Post by Richard on Nov 29, 2009 15:45:03 GMT
Don't forget Google -- Westenra is an unusual name so most search results refer to Hayley.  Richard  |
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Post by grant on Nov 29, 2009 16:09:17 GMT
Some of you seem not to have noticed that it's only for album cover design that I suggested it... it's even in the thread title! The front cover in fact. I can imagine how much more prominent the name would be on Hayley's new album cover if it didn't have to be squashed in to what is a vast area of open space, using (relatively) small lettering. Point taken Dave, but how long would it be before someone though it a good idea to roll 'just Hayley' out across all promotion and publicity material. On a different tack, would it not lead to confusion if we had 'Hayley' on CD covers and 'Hayley Westenra' in concert. Not everyone is as smart as us!  Best wishes Grant |
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Post by roger on Nov 29, 2009 16:52:23 GMT
They shoulda stuck to 12" vinyl. Then there woulda been room for her full name!  Roger  |
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Post by stevemacdonald on Nov 29, 2009 18:00:05 GMT
Seems as though the majority of us here feel that if it ain't broke don't fix it. I happen to think it's a good idea to improve it. Improving Hayley's name would retain her essential identity but open up pathways for better recognition. Here are my suggestions:
For the sake of albums maybe she should use "Hayley" and add her middle name "Dee" to give her odd surname less preponderance. It would best appears as:
Hayley Dee WESTENRA
It may take a little getting used to but it fully sets her apart from the other two Hayleys (actress Mill's & Paramore's Williams).
Another idea is to give her a cool nickname and use that on her albums and promotional materials. If Maria Callas can go by "La Divina" and Frank Sinatra can be "Old Blue Eyes" then why not create something just as fun for Hayley. Some possible new sobriquets:
1. La Purella
2. The Princess of Popera
3. Hay-West
4. dame hayley (using lower case for obvious reasons)
5. Crossover Angel
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Post by Roger-G on Nov 29, 2009 18:39:32 GMT
For the sake of albums maybe she should use "Hayley" and add her middle name "https://i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gifee" to give her odd surname less preponderance. I think it would be very presumptuous of anyone to suggest that Hayley should change her name. If she is not happy with how it is presented then she will be the one to decide. And I don't think that Westenra is an 'odd' surname as you put it. It may be an unusual name but that just makes it more distinctive. I'm sure Hayley is very proud of her surname and would not wish to diminish it by using a smaller size font or in any other way. If I search on Google or Youtube I use Westenra rather than Hayley because it gives many fewer false returns. |
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Post by martindn on Nov 29, 2009 19:01:21 GMT
Hayley on its own would not work here in my opinion.
In Peterborough alone there is a young singer called Hayley Sanderson for example, who is one of the singers who performs for Strictly Come Dancing. There are probaly several other singers called Hayley too.
Martin
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Post by stevemacdonald on Nov 29, 2009 21:09:45 GMT
For the sake of albums maybe she should use "Hayley" and add her middle name "https://i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gifee" to give her odd surname less preponderance. I think it would be very presumptuous of anyone to suggest that Hayley should change her name. If she is not happy with how it is presented then she will be the one to decide. And I don't think that Westenra is an 'odd' surname as you put it. It may be an unusual name but that just makes it more distinctive. I'm sure Hayley is very proud of her surname and would not wish to diminish it by using a smaller size font or in any other way. If I search on Google or Youtube I use Westenra rather than Hayley because it gives many fewer false returns. But Roger, if I had a double sawbuck for every time her surname gets mispronounced as "Westerna" I'd be able to buy everyone in here a Hayley-Davidson motorcycle! We've all seen it happen on television shows she's been featured on, and even a Borders store has her with that spelling. No less than the late great Skitch Henderson introduced her at Carnegie Hall as Hayley Westerna! The sad truth is that entertainers are sometimes handicapped by their names and are well advised to change them if they want to make it big. Guess who Florence Gumm was. Guess who Maurice Mickelwhite was. To become a household name you have to have a name people can relate to. Note that I'm not asking Hayley to change her name -- though it might actually have helped to do so -- but merely to go with the easiest version of it for general consumption. Rarely at best do singers with unusual last names reach the top. It's even tougher for those with hard to spell/pronounce correctly the first time surnames. Obviously Hayley will always go by Hayley Westenra. No one here seriously believes otherwise. The purpose of this exercise is to stir up possibilities. We are probably 10 years too late in this case, but at least I find it amusing to toy with the idea. |
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Post by Roger-G on Nov 29, 2009 21:22:54 GMT
Steve, lots of people have adopted stage names to be launched on a career.
But Hayley has already made a name and career for herself as herself. She has frequently said when compared to other performers "that's not me". I cannot imagine that she would wish to reinvent herself now, and certainly not reduce the significance of her family name.
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Post by Libby on Nov 29, 2009 21:45:06 GMT
Steve, it's not the end of the world if her name gets mispronounced. It's annoying, but it doesn't really hurt anything. My last name is ALWAYS mispronounced, and it's shorter than Hayley's. So what Hayley goes through with her name is very minor from my view. I've only heard it happen a few times.
I disagree about adding Dee to her name on albums again. How is adding 1 more syllable going to reduce the mouthful. I don't consider her name to be a mouthful, but I suppose that's partly because I'm used to it.
I don't see how removing Westenra would improve anything.
Hayley Westenra is probably the most famous Hayley in Japan right now, so I can see how they can get away with it, maybe Taiwan, too, but not really anywhere else.
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Post by Libby on Nov 29, 2009 22:00:40 GMT
Belinda, I agree the background is a little plain, but I think that it just helps make Hayley's image that much more prominent. I'm more interested in Hayley's picture than the writing, but the writing is pretty easy to see. It's white because it's supposed to be snowy, so that shouldn't surprise people that much. Unless of course, they don't see snow that much.
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Post by martindn on Nov 29, 2009 22:32:58 GMT
I don't think adding "Dee" would be accepable to Hayley. She is on record as saying she hated that about the original "Walking in the Air". She seemed embarassed about it. And Hayley is, I'm sure, proud of her family name. So I think it is always going to be "Hayley Westenra".
Martin
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Post by postscript on Nov 30, 2009 9:45:25 GMT
They shoulda stuck to 12" vinyl. Then there woulda been room for her full name! Roger I love that! I was playing some oldies recently (ploughing through my set of Sibelius symphonies). There is something magnificent at opening a case of well packaged LPs! However, we are now in the age of laptops and CDs are easier to pack. Remember the old gramophone portables?! Peter S. |
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Post by Elliot Kane on Nov 30, 2009 14:13:49 GMT
I don't think an unusual last name hurts at all in showbiz. If anything, it makes the performer that much more memorable - even if they can sometimes be harder to Google 'Westenra' does seem to suffer from the 'rogue-rouge' problem sometimes, but Hayley could have it FAR worse: she could be Hayden Panettiere More seriously, having an incredibly awkward to spell last name hasn't hurt Hayden at all, as she's the only famous Panettiere. I can't see the only mildly awkward 'Westenra' hurting Hayley at all. While many stars do indeed take on stage names the reason is that their own given name is usually either rather dreadful (The aforementioned Maurice Micklewhite. Somehow 'Michael Caine' just works SO much better, doesn't it?), totally embarrassing (John Wayne's real name was Marion, poor guy) or just not quite having the right sparkle (Winona Horowitz is OK, but Winona Ryder is awesome). For me, Hayley has the perfect mix of the magical and the mundane. I don't think her name really needs any improving. |
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Post by Libby on Nov 30, 2009 21:20:27 GMT
Another idea is to give her a cool nickname and use that on her albums and promotional materials. If Maria Callas can go by "La Divina" and Frank Sinatra can be "Old Blue Eyes" then why not create something just as fun for Hayley. Some possible new sobriquets: 1. La Purella 2. The Princess of Popera 3. Hay-West 4. dame hayley (using lower case for obvious reasons) 5. Crossover Angel Hay-West? That sounds like a rapper's nickname.  And why would Hayley want to be dame, like Dame Kiri Te whatever-her-name-is who bad-mouthed her? Is her music style really popera? Even Josh Groban's music isn't really, because even though he often sings songs in Italian that are more contemporary than opera, he never actually sings opera, and rarely sings classical arias. His first album might have been more that way, but his others aren't so much. Another thing, would Hayley feel comfortable being referred to as the Princess of something, or an Angel? La Purella just sounds silly. |
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And why would Hayley want to be dame, like Dame Kiri Te whatever-her-name-is who bad-mouthed her?