Sherina used to play with her feminine side, crowning her look with pretty long hair and girly outfits.

But now, as she's back under the spotlight, she's having fun with a touch of boyish charm, looking cool with sexy short hair, cozy baby tees and pants.

So which one is Sherina's signature style?

Well, neither of them, she says. Sherina isn't girly or a tomboy. She's not the sweet-looking Vanessa Carlton or the gothic Amy Lee wannabe that many people claim. She's just Sherina, who prefers people to judge her for her music and distinctive vocals, not for her choice of dress, as both styles reflect an aspect of the woman Sinna Sherina Munaf has become.

"I get bored easily and always seek to find and try something new," Sherina says of her transformed image. "That's part of my self-exploration."

Self-exploration, Sherina says, is one of her life principles; she keeps exploring throughout her life. The reason the 19-year-old gives for that is interesting: "For me, exploration is one way to find perfection."

Following on this confession is another, suddenly not surprising: She's a perfectionist. Although she acknowledges that many people see perfectionism as a bad thing, Sherina says she has her own interpretation of "being perfect".

"Being perfect doesn't mean that I look for the most excellent thing," she says. "Rather, it's about getting the best from what I have or what I'm doing.

"In the end, I don't take something as it is," she adds.

In holding this principle, Sherina is seeking constantly to develop herself. It's not difficult to see how far she has already developed: Just check out her albums and listen to her songs. Her first and second albums, 1999's Andai Aku Besar Nanti (When I Grow Up) and 2000's Lihatlah Lebih Dekat (Take A Closer Look) are all about the world of children. When she released her third album, My Life, in 2002, Sherina expressed her life transition from childhood to adolescence. Her fourth album, Primadona (Prima Donna) in 2007, reflects her metamorphosis from a teenager to adult.

The latest, Gemini, wraps up her self-exploration over recent years, revealing the opposing sides of her character.

"I went deeper in exploring myself in Gemini," says Sherina of the album she released last month. "I'm someone with contradictory characters - sometimes I want to look girly, other times boyish. I'm a perfectionist, but also a moody person.

"Gemini just reflects the real me," adds Sherina, whose star sign on the zodiac is Gemini.

The album reveals that Sherina's "real" self is more than just a singer: She's now a producer and composer for her own records. Saying she was testing the water with Primadona, as she had shot to fame as a child performer, Sherina said she pushed her talents to the limit with Gemini by writing and arranging most of the songs herself.

"I became more independent than with my previous album," says the Bandung-born singer. "This time, I could freely express myself and feel more flexible."

Flexible as Sherina says, Gemini suits both her own and listeners' tastes.

"It's still pop *music* because I wanted to compromise with the market," says the 170-cm-tall singer. "I have responsibilities to the market and myself."

Finding a compromise with commercial interests, Sherina says, is one way to ensure the messages embedded in her songs reach the public. After all, as a musician, she says, she wants more people to listen to her songs.

Listening to the new album, it is noticeable that it includes more cheerful songs than her previous album, Primadona, which mostly revolved around love in sadness, protest and anger. And if that change of heart could surprise her fans, the album may have the same effect on her father Triawan Munaf, as Sherina "recycled" one of his songs from the 1970s.

The song, "Gregetan" (Excited Feeling), was performed by pop band Giant Step, for which Triawan played keyboards. As she wanted to surprise her father, Sherina arranged "Gregetan" on her own to adjust it to her own style.

"The song is catchy and I've been singing it since I was a little girl," Sherina says. "In fact, this is my tribute to Giant Step, especially my father."

Having had the chance to arrange "Gregetan" and other songs in the album, Sherina is seeking to use the experience as a stepping-stone before enrolling in the film scoring program at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, US. As well as requiring significant practical experience in musical performance, the college's admissions procedure includes a mandatory audition, in which candidates are challenged to compose music.

"Currently, I'm living my career to the fullest as I'm planning to enter the college next year," Sherina, a graduate from the British International School. "I chose the film scoring major because it has to do with making music for movies, like soundtracks."

It's a natural choice for someone who admits that both music and movies are her obsession. More surprising, perhaps, is that she has no interest in working in front of the camera, wanting to stay behind the scenes.

"I'm not into acting," reveals Sherina, who received a special award in the "Most Talented Child Artist" category during the 2001 Asia Pacific Film Festival in Hanoi, Vietnam, for her lead role in Petualangan Sherina (Sherina's Journey). Why? "Simply because I have no time for acting."

"I just want to focus on music; I want to be a total performer," she adds.

Whether this is another reference to perfection or not, Sherina has proved that she has something to pursue. Once a talented child singer, who broke the trend of instant child celebrities whose parents took them to studios and hired producers, Sherina is now a grownup musician with more talent to explore.

"Someday I want to write songs for other musicians," says Sherina, who did a duet with popular Irish boyband Westlife in 2001.

"As I go on, I hope people make their own judgments about what I've done *in my music career*."

Popular

To my horror, it’s just a movie!

RI, Australia strengthen partnership on taxing crypto assets

Pentagon chief congratulates Prabowo on being elected President