Italian pop star Pausini in Spanish foray

NEW YORK (Billboard) - Italian superstar

Laura Pausini's new album, "Yo Canto," is a collection of Italian pop standards that span the singer's lifetime -- 32 years.

Released in Italian and Spanish, the Warner Music disc highlights the synergies that exist between the Romance languages, and the musical similarities that allow a handful of artists, Pausini included, to navigate both marketplaces.

WHAT IS YOUR PROCESS FOR RECORDING IN TWO LANGUAGES?

What I do in Italian, I do in Spanish. I've been doing the two simultaneously for 14 years now. I don't record in Italian, and then a month later in Spanish. On the same day, I record the two versions of one song. Because at that moment, I concentrate, I really get into the song, and it has to be identical. I have the same image, the same emotion, the same voice.

YOU SPEAK FLUENT SPANISH. IS IT NECESSARY TO SPEAK THE

LANGUAGE IN ORDER TO SING IT?

It's necessary. It's a way of showing respect for what you do. I sing in Spanish because I love the language.

YOU SING A DUET WITH (COLOMBIAN ROCK SINGER) JUANES, "MI

LINDA CANCION," BUT YOU'VE USED THE SPANISH-LANGUAGE VERSION ON

BOTH THE LATIN AND ITALIAN ALBUMS. WHY?

This song is like a hymn in Italy, and I thought it would be fantastic for Italians to hear it in Spanish. I like the idea that Italy is finally listening to music in Spanish. Many Latins come to my country to sing in English, and I would like more Spanish as well. I live among Latins, and I'm very comfortable. It bothers me that in Italy they only play music in Italian or English.

Reuters/Billboard