A girl band of transsexuals who model themselves on the Spice Girls are hoping to change social attitudes and achieve pop chart success in Thailand. Venus Flytrap's five members were all born males and later underwent gender reassignment surgery. Like the famous British group, they have onstage personas, namely Cool Venus, Naughty Venus, Posh Venus, Sweet Venus and Hot Venus. They have achieved the dream of many a struggling artist and been snapped up by Sony BMG Music Entertainment, one of the world's biggest recording companies. However, this is a purely commercial venture by a company looking to exploit a niche market in Thailand. Sony auditioned 100 transsexual performers before selecting the final five, who later underwent a year of singing, dancing and acting lessons. The band hope that their first single, 'Cause I'm Your Lady, will help to promote tolerance and inclusion of transsexuals in Thailand. Their first album, Visa for Love, was released in December. It has not had any chart success yet, but has earned the girls a lucrative concert deal, and has enjoyed repeat play on Bangkok's SkyTrain rail network. Sony's director for artists and repertoire Amonrat Homhoul told AFP: "It was not easy. "Recording was time-consuming because the group members sing as women, but cannot keep their voices at a high pitch for more than a few hours. "The response has been good, even if their songs aren't in the charts yet." Thailand is believed to have the largest transsexual population in the world. Experts estimate at least 10,000 trans people live in Thailand, though some put the figure at 10 times that. Even the conservative number would mean that per capita, Thailand has many more transsexuals than most developed countries. Ref: Pinknews.co.uk (m)
Credit: GayNZ.com News Staff
First published: Wednesday, 21st February 2007 - 12:00pm