The 5-Minute Interview: Sarah Brightman, Singer

'I had no idea I was a teen idol in Asia'

Sarah Brightman, 46, is appearing in the BBC1 show 'Just the Two of Us', starting on 2 January

My best concert to date...

Queen, Hyde Park summer '76 - it wasn't just the concert itself, it was also the day. I was full of optimism, my life was ahead of me, and I decided I was going to do something with my life and nothing and nobody was going to stop me.

If I weren't talking to you right now I'd be...

Listening to music - Charlotte Gainsbourg's album 5.55.

A phrase I use far too often is...

"Hi, this is Sarah Brightman speaking here". I have to make a lot of calls and I get a lot of calls.

I'm good at...

Making decisions.

But I'm very bad at...

Allowing other people to make decisions for me.

I wish people would take more notice of...

Other people's sensibilities.

The most surprising thing that ever happened to me was...

That I became a teen idol in Asia. I went over there about seven or eight years ago and I didn't have a clue how well known I was in Asia, but I went for a CD signing and it was full of teenagers.

I'm not a politician but...

I am an expert in the "art of the possible".

The ideal night out is...

A night that I don't have to worry about things that I have to do tomorrow or in the morning.

In moments of weakness I...

Head for the fridge. It can be a spoonful of jam... anything!

You know me as a singer, but in a truer life I'd have been a...

Trapeze artist. I do quite a lot of flying in my concerts.

The best age to be is...

I haven't got there yet.

In a nutshell, my philosophy is this:

Life is too complex to compress into soundbites. Every situation is different. Philosophy changes day by day.

Elisa Bray