Charlotte Church Live from Jerusalem

The young Welsh classical singer gives a very nice concert at the Tower Of David in Jerusalem. With this beautiful setting and an orchestra backing her up, this short concert really brings out the talent in this famous teen singing sensation, who was quite a worldwide sensation at a very young age. It seems long ago, now. She sang like a young Sarah Brightman. It was incredible to think this girl was only 14 years old. Her vocal talent certainly was that of an adult. It's amazing how someone that young could have such a mature- sounding voice.

She also demonstrates a lot of poise for someone that young and the composure, mixed with the voice and wholesome beauty of her face, makes everything really attractive on this DVD. Most of the songs are somewhat similar, and they are fairly short. My favorite turned out to be the lone Celtic number. I'd like to hear her do more Irish songs, although I certainly enjoyed her "religious" repertoire here.

A disturbing footnote to the above comments, which I made after I saw this DVD over five years ago, is that Miss Church is hardly the sweet girl she was when she made this concert. Here is an account below, one of several I had read the past few years, on the 180-degree turn the singer made her life. This is from a column by political-cultural writer Michelle Malkin:

"The 20-year-old entertainer has rebelled against the wholesome image that brought her fame, fortune and worldwide respect as a rare role model for young girls. She has traded in "Pie Jesu" for "Crazy Chick" — a lousy pop anthem even Ashlee Simpson wouldn't be caught performing. Charlotte's gone from pure- hearted to pure crap. These days, she drinks, she smokes, she curses, she fights, she parties, and she tries very, very hard to shock and offend — like a trashier Lindsay Lohan, only with better pipes.

"Charlotte has a new talk show in England, where she plays a profanity- spewing hostess who is part Rosie O'Donnell, part Keith Olbermann (she has bashed President Bush as "clueless" and a "twat") and completely unhinged. The pilot episode featured Charlotte calling Pope Benedict XVI a Nazi, dressing as a nun and pretending to hallucinate while eating communion wafers imprinted with smiley faces (symbolizing the drug Ecstasy). The Catholic News Service reported last month that the pilot also showed Church smashing a statue of the Virgin Mary to reveal a can of fortified wine. To top off her anti- Catholic snit, she stuck chewing gum on a statue of the child Jesus.

"The sketch was scrapped from the show's debut, but in the most recent episode aired last week, Church strapped herself to a cross, Madonna-wannabe-style. As one viewer complained in a message quoted by the Daily Mail: "This woman may have had the voice of an angel in the past but now she has the foul mouth of a sewer rat." Some observers saw this coming back in 2001, when she trashed New Yorkers at Ground Zero soon after the terrorist attacks."

Let's hope and pray this talented singer grows up, returns to higher ground and once again entertains the world with nicer material as she did in this concert in Jerusalem.