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Shania Twain Reveals Her Favorite Lyrics and Where That Famous Leopard Print Coat Is

By Jessica Radloff | February 27, 2015

"That Don't Impress Me Much." "Any Man of Mine." "If You're Not in It for Love, I'm Outta Here!" "Man! I Feel Like a Woman." Shall I go on? Before Taylor Swift crossed over from country to pop and seemed to take over the world, Shania Twain did it first. The five-time Grammy winner's 1997 album, Come On Over, became the best-selling studio album of all time by a female act in any genre, as well as the best-selling country album of all time. Tomorrow night, ABC will air Shania: Still the One Live from Vegas, an exclusive concert event focusing on Shania's residency at Caesar's Palace behind the scenes and on stage.

On a recent afternoon, Shania called me from her home in the Bahamas (no publicist to connect us, just a "Hi, it's Shania!" when the phone rang) and reminisced on her greatest hits, most memorable moments, and the news fans have been waiting a long time to hear.

Glamour: To say this is a thrill is an understatement. You're doing a the special on ABC tomorrow night on your Las Vegas residency, and then on Tuesday, March 3, you're releasing the Deluxe Edition CD and DVD from the that concert. Why now?
Shania Twain: I wanted to do a summary of my life and career. There’s been so many different looks, and so many types of songs that have become iconic, so it was just kind of fun to look back on everything.

Glamour: I remember watching your docu-series on OWN a few years ago, which focused on your years out of the spotlight and the struggles you faced with your voice and performing live again. What have you learned since then?
Shania: I think I’ve gained a lot of confidence. I was more self-assured by the end of it and that I could actually do it again. It had been so long that I had been on the stage, so it was a really good test for me. I was uncomfortable of course doing something that I hadn’t done in so long, but I had to push myself out of my comfort zone to not only get back on stage, but do it in a way that I hadn’t done before. That was also part of the challenge.

Glamour: I'll kick myself if I don't tell you this, but the first concert I ever paid money to attend was yours. I remember telling my mom, "I want to be her when I grow up!"
Shania: Haha! That’s so funny! To go back all those years later, you’re revisiting a part of your own past. It was like going back in time, but at the same time, the new me, the more mature me, the more experienced me, I adapted the show to where I was now and by including all the iconic images and the fashion of those images. And that room at Caesar’s Palace is technologically so advanced, so I was able to do things there that I never would have been able to do touring 15 years ago.

Glamour: When you were starting out, Mercury Records asked you to change your first name from Eilleen to Shania. If you were beginning your music career today, would you have done it?
Shania: I think I would have changed it [still]. It added a bit of variety for me and was a chance to be fun. When I’m not working, I like to be Eilleen. But when you’re working, it gives you a little bit of an escape from the fancy life of being an entertainer. It’s very real of course, and I love to interact with the fans, and I always want to be approachable, but when I’m not performing, it’s almost just a different mood.

Glamour: To me, you're the original Taylor Swift. Not only did you cross genres between country and pop, but your songs were all about female empowerment. Would you say that’s an accurate statement?
Shania: I think it’s a great compliment because she’s such a great artist, songwriter, and a great entertainer, and she’s crossed genre and [she's] just herself. I’d say, yeah. I was always very hard to categorize anyway and wasn’t sure where I really belonged, and maybe Taylor experiences that too, to some degree. That’s a huge compliment, so thank you.

Glamour: One of your recent Instagram posts teased some exciting news. What more can you say?
Shania: I’m in the studio working on new music everyday and I’m collaborating with producers at the moment, so I’m very serious about it. I don’t think it will make it for this year, but I’m quite confident it will be next year. I just want it to be really right and be more about the quality than anything. The songwriting part of it has just gotten me in a whole other zone in my mind, and I think about it live, so I’m pumped personally about that new chapter.

Glamour: Let's play superlatives. What was your favorite song to perform live in Vegas?
Shania: Ah, good question. "You’re Still the One." I was doing a performance on a horse, and it really summarized for me what I was going after thematically in the show. I wanted to incorporate my favorite things in the show, so I would be around it every night and with elements that I related to very personally and directly, and horses are something that are a passion of mine. I don’t think it’s ever been done on a non-barrier stage, so there was no bridle, no saddle, just me and the horse, and singing “You’re Still the One.” It was such a fantasy come to life every night.

Glamour: What was your favorite music video look?
Shania: I think “From This Moment On” was probably my favorite look. I just loved that whole elegance of that look and the wet sort of style and the slicked-back hair. The whole look is hard to do on stage because it’s hard to do, so it was more unique for a ballad, so I guess I enjoyed that one a lot.

Glamour: Which song’s success most surprised you?
Shania: My whole career has been a surprise to me on the level that it reached. My expectations were high, but not this high, so it definitely went beyond. “Man! I Feel Like A Woman!” was a big surprise because it became such an iconic song for men and women. So that was a surprise!

Glamour: Guys sing it all the time and it cracks me up!
Shania: Yeah, definitely! It became an anthem in it’s own way and that was unexpected. And “From This Moment On” and “You’re Still the One” became such huge wedding songs that I never expected. So many people got married to those songs or engaged to those songs, and even proposed to during the songs at my shows, and that surprised me! They are beautiful love songs, but they ended up becoming such major parts of people’s lives.

Glamour: Is there a lyric that means the most to you?
Shania: Yeah, “Don’t Be Stupid!” I would always say that! “Don’t be stupid!” And I thought, ‘I should make that a song title,’ and it became a very big song. When the song first came out, some parents would complain to me because their kids loved it so much and it was little kids that would walk around saying “Don’t be stupid!” So a 5-year-old saying that was a bit rude for them to be saying it. That was odd a little bit and controversial in it’s own little way even though it was harmless. Anyway, so that line always stuck out for me.

Glamour: What CD cover was your favorite?
Shania: I think the one that I like the most is the Greatest Hits cover because it was the most effortless one and it was very....there was just something very natural about it. It wasn’t fashion-y or anything, but I just liked it and I guess it was my favorite one.

Glamour: Whatever happened to the leopard outfit from “That Don’t Impress Me Much?”
Shania: We have it! We kept that outfit. That was a really cool one.

Glamour: Have you ever worn it, I don’t know, on Halloween or something? Or just decided to one day try it on?
Shania: [Laughs] I should probably! It would be really fun to have a contest of some kind of who has the most similar dimensions to my body and then put them in it and get photographed or something because it would be great to see somebody wear it again. I’m not sure I would ever wear it again! I’ve never tried it on again!

Glamour: Well, I know it would still fit you perfectly. Maybe that can be your next throwback Thursday on Instagram.
Shania: Exactly! [Laughs] With the old leopard look! But the leopard look was constantly in fashion, not because of me...I mean, Marc Bouwer captured it and did a really, really great job, but the print just never died. It just worked really well for that video.

Glamour: Last thing for you: Since you are teaming up with ABC for this special tomorrow night, is there any chance you’d ever make a guest appearance on Nashville?
Shania: I’d want to do it! That would be cool, yeah!

Shania: Still the One Live from Vegas, airs tomorrow night, Saturday, February 28 at 9 P.M. ET on ABC. To buy Shania's exclusive DVD + CD pack, click here.

What most surprised you about Shania's look back? And what music video is your favorite?

http://www.glamour.com/entertainment/blogs/obsessed/2015/02/shania-twain-interview