From Whoa to Wow: The Transformation of Nelly Furtado

July 13, 2006 — -- The new sexy, sultry Nelly Furtado laughs when she looks at the girlishly cute Nelly Furtado we first got to know in the video for her 2001 hit single "I'm Like a Bird."

"They surprised me with it on a show in Britain," Furtado told ABCNEWS.com. "I saw it and I was like, 'Wow.' I kind of had that pixie, spunky quality. ... I remember how Janet Jackson looked on the cover when she came out with 'Janet' compared to her 'Control' days -- so womanly, so sexy. I'm at a point in my life where I am coming into my own as a woman. I feel most alive, sexy."

Even Furtado's most loyal fans may have had initial difficulty recognizing her when they saw her video for "Promiscuous," the first single off her new CD "Loose."

A hip-hop beat, honed by rapper-producer Timbaland, replaced the pop and folk sound Furtado presented in her 2000 Grammy-winning debut album "Whoa Nelly!" and 2004's "Folklore." The ponytailed (or sometimes pig-tailed) pop songstress who sang to birds while frolicking in a grass field in "I'm Like a Bird" let her hair down -- literally. Jeans, full-length T-shirts and sneakers were replaced with high-riding dresses, midriff-baring tops and high heels. Furtado's toothy grin transformed into a pout and come-hither smirk.

So far, the music and image makeovers have paid off. "Loose" debuted at No. 1 on Billboard's top album charts last week, and "Promiscuous" has topped the singles charts for the past two weeks.

"Maybe they liked my rapping," Furtado said, laughing. "I've never had a No. 1 album before. ... I think the people can tell we had a good vibe, had a lot of fun making the album. I tend to have a lot of ideas in certain sections of my brain and I decided to release my 'urban weapon.' Like the saying goes, sometimes it's best to surprise people when they least expect it."

And surprising people -- with either a new sound, a new image or unexpected artistic venture -- is part of the celebrity evolution process. It could make the difference between a has-been and a franchise. It separates the flash-in-the-pans from The Beatles, the Bob Dylans and Miles Davises of the world.

"In a world of iPods and Xboxes, where people have increasingly short attention spans, artists must constantly evolve to be remembered 10, 20, 50 years from now," said Ronn Torossian, CEO and founder of 5W Public Relations. "They must evolve to become considered among the Elvises and Beatles of the world. Madonna has been an example of a classic reinvention. And the way the music industry is going these days, artists are not relying on album sales but are trying to turn their name into a brand."