Mike Ross, May 31, 1998

Gosh, let's see. Could it be that she's the sexiest country star ever to drop a "g"? Just a theory.

We'll get to her music in a moment, but Shania's bare midriff has become as much a trademark as Terri Clark's hat, George Strait's hat or, um, Garth Brooks's hat. Shania Twain does not wear a hat. She doesn't have to. Come to think of it, country music needed someone like her.

The 32-year-old superstar figures the belly button thing has been blown out of proportion. It's just one part of a greater picture.

"I don't think that it's a belly button that makes somebody sexy," Twain says during a recent phone interview. "Somebody can be incredibly unsexy and show their belly button." (Agreed, but no one's going to get in a car accident after seeing a shirtless Mike Duffy walk down the street.)

"So it's got nothing to do with what you reveal. I think it's the music that dictates that. It's the voice that dictates that. I don't think it would matter what I wore. I think that there's just a sexy way about the way I translate my music."

Fans will no doubt get the proof when Twain performs at Edmonton Coliseum Wednesday. She's on her first tour since The Woman in Me sold gazillions and made her into one of the most unlikely and refreshing stars the country music industry has ever seen. Twain and producer-husband Robert John "Mutt" Lange broke all the records by breaking the rules:

1. They spent a large amount of money and time on the project, more than most observers deemed necessary.

2. Twain wrote her own material, almost unheard of for a new country artist.

3. Most bewildering of all, she didn't tour to support the album. That's absolutely unheard of.

About 12 million in sales and another already-multi-platinum album later (Come on Over), Twain is more than ready to make up for lost time.

"I'm dying to go out there. And I'm also very happy that I waited, because the anticipation has been able to build. Now I have a show that I want. It's moulded to me. I've been hands-on with everything - lights, sound, the performance of every single person. I hand-picked my band. I auditioned everybody personally."

Contrary to perception, the live stage is where Twain is the most comfortable. She performed frequently as a child, appearing on radio, TV and anywhere she could get booked. After both her parents were killed in a car accident when she was 21, Twain supported three younger siblings with a house gig at the Deerhurst Resort, singing show tunes by Gershwin and Andrew Lloyd Webber. She later focused on country music, her first love, and hit the road with designs on a record contract in Nashville. By then she had changed her given name, Eileen, to Shania, which means "I'm on my way" in the Ojibway tongue of her father. She finally grabbed the brass ring in 1993. Her first self-titled album was released on Mercury Records and, while it contained only one of her own songs, she says she was signed on the strength of her original material.

"You can't have everything at once," she says now. "I knew it was all part of the process."

The album was a modest success, but her career really took off after she met her future husband. Perceived as the Svengali behind Twain's success, Mutt Lange was already famous for polishing the metal on such acts as AC/DC and Def Leppard. He had never worked with a country artist - or a female artist - before. The result of this experiment, an exuberant, brash blast of country rock called Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under?, turned the country establishment on its ear. The fans voted their approval and Shania Twain quickly became a household name.

With that, naturally, came the inevitable backlash. "She's just a studio creation!" cried detractors, and those were just the nicer ones. Her numerous and sexy videos only increased the perception.

"People thought I must be a studio product," Twain says. "They obviously don't know my history, which I didn't expect them to. I just did kind of come out of nowhere as a recording artist. But I made my living being a road dog and travelling around in cube vans. I've done all that . The thing is now I'm finally going to get to tour in actual luxury and be comfortable and have everything the way I want it. I'll have a custom show, rather than just be a cover artist, which I was for so many years on the road. I'm back in my element, if anything. And I'm back in a way that you can only dream of as a touring artist."

Twain's too modest to take credit for changing the way country stars are built, but, "maybe it's changed as a result of what I've done. I don't know. A lot of people say that. But that's not my goal. I guess the beauty of that is that I've been able to be myself and country has em braced it. And by doing that, they've had to loosen up a bit and widen their margin of what they support. What made that happen is the fact that the fan support was there. That's all that the industry needed. That's all that counts.

"I think fans don't even really care if it's labelled as country or not, to be honest. They just want to be entertained. They want great music. They want something cool to party with. I consider my music somewhat of a free spirit. Let it just land where it lands."

And who's going to argue with someone who has a belly button like hers? Not us.

TWAIN TIDBITS

BORN: Eileen Regina Edwards, Aug. 28, 1965, in Windsor, Ontario (changed last name to Twain when mother remarried).

RAISED: Timmins, Ont.

HUSBAND: British producer Robert John "Mutt" Lange.

ALBUMS: Shania Twain, 1993, The Woman In Me, 1995, Come on Over, 1997.

No. 1 Singles: Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under?, Any Man of Mine, The Woman in Me.

AWARDS: One Grammy, seven Junos and various ACMs, CCMAs and Blockbuster Entertainment awards.

BOOK: Shania Twain on My Way, a new unauthorized, but still flattering, biography by Dallas Williams.

CHART-TOPPING WOMEN IN COUNTRY

It may be "Women in Rock" when Lilith Fair rolls through town, but it's still very much a man's world in the country music industry.

With a few notable exceptions: Shania Twain is by far the top sweetheart of the rodeo at the moment, having sold more than 12 million copies of her second album, The Woman in Me, with her latest, Come On Over, already well into its third million. It's unprecedented success for any female country artist.

Here's how some of the other ladies of country stack up:

REBA McENTIRE: She may look as though she's about to cry at any moment, but the red-haired queen of country is laughing when it comes to album sales. With Greatest Hits Volume II leading the pack, McEntire has sold an estimated 35 million records in her long career.

LEANN RIMES: The junior Dolly Parton, who turns 16 in August, is being milked for all she's worth. Her four albums - Blue, Inspirational Songs, Unchained Melody and the latest, Sittin' on Top of the World - have collectively racked up sales of more than 10 million.

FAITH HILL: This 31-year-old Mississippi native, wife of country star Tim McGraw, has three albums to her credit, including her latest self-titled release. Estimated album sales: Six million.

DEANA CARTER: The daughter of Nashville session guitarist Fred Carter Jr. failed to get a break when she was 17, but made up for it with the release of Did I Shave My Legs For This? in 1996. Her debut album has sold nearly four million copies. Her follow-up is scheduled for August.

TRISHA YEARWOOD: A powerhouse singer and wife of the Mavericks' Rob Reynolds, this Georgia-born star has six albums under her belt, plus a new greatest hits collection. Estimated album sales: Eight million.

MICHELLE WRIGHT: Originally from Chatham, Ontario and now based in Nashville, Canada's sweetheart measures her album sales in hundreds of thousands, not millions. Her success is largely confined to Canada, although she sure is trying.

TERRI CLARK: This long, tall, Medicine Hat woman, usually decked out in a white cowboy hat and Wrangler jeans, bought into the Nashville status quo with impressive success. Her first two albums collectively sold more than two million copies. Her latest, How I Feel, is in stores now.