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 Brightman, 54, will be the eighth space tourist, and first
professional singer, traveling as one of a three-person team to
the International Space Station in a Soyuz space rocket that
will launch from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Sept.
1. She will spend 10 days orbiting the Earth.
"I cannot explain in full why this is something that has been
very strong within me," Brightman said on Tuesday at a press
launch event for her trip.
"I am incredibly excited and as I have said, sometimes
overwhelmed, but I am finding all sorts of things about myself."
She was inspired to travel into space when she watched the first
moon landing on television in 1969 and says she has nurtured the
ambition ever since.
Brightman is reported by British media to have paid 35 million
pounds ($53 million) for the trip. She said that for contractual
reasons she could not reveal the amount.
The singer was assessed for suitability for the trip at Star
City outside Moscow in July 2012, and since then has undergone a
grueling training regime.
She plans to perform a song from the space station, accompanied
by an orchestra back on Earth, but has not yet selected the
tune. She has been working with ex-husband Andrew Lloyd Webber,
the composer of multiple hit musicals including "Phantom of the
Opera" which made Brightman a global star.
"I'm trying to find a piece which is beautiful and simple in its
message, as well as not too complicated to sing," she said.
"Because of the complexities of this I don't want to promise too
much," she added.
"SWEATING IN COSTUMES"
Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield recorded songs during his time
in space, including a rendition of David Bowie's "Space Oddity"
that was viewed by millions on Earth, but Brightman will be the
first professional musician to record in space.
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 "I found many parallels between the training I'm doing and
what I've been doing as a performer," Brightman said.
"When you're a performer you're traveling around for years,
going to different venues, different countries ... You have to
make fast decisions, you have to think on your feet, you're
often sweating in costumes."
An oddity in the musical landscape, Brightman first rose to fame
in 1978 as a member of the dance troupe Hot Gossip with the hit "I
Lost My Heart to a Starship Trooper".
In the 1980s, Brightman appeared in "Cats", the popular musical by
Lloyd Webber, whom she went on to marry. Her career reached starry
heights when she premiered the lead female role in "Phantom", a
record-breaking box office hit.
Brightman and Lloyd Webber divorced years later and she embarked on
a solo career. Often described as a crossover artist, she has
performed with opera stars including Jose Carreras and Andrea
Bocelli.
Brightman has sold 30 million CDs and DVDs during her career, making
her the top-selling soprano of all time, according to her
publicists.
($1 = 0.6629 pounds)
(Reporting by Estelle Shirbon and Karolin Schaps; Writing by Estelle
Shirbon; Editing by Michael Roddy and Ralph Boulton)
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