By Michael Letterlough Jr.

When Ciara first began her career, like anyone, she developed a list of people she admired. With this list, she combined everyone to create a mold of the person she aspired to be. She wanted to have the drive and ambition of Michael Jordan, the vocals of Patti LaBelle and Whitney Houston, the business mind of Oprah Winfrey and Sean “Diddy” Combs—who she cleverly calls, Poprah—and the overall success of her idles, Michael and Janet Jackson. But today, with four Grammy nominations, her multi-platinum selling debut album “Goodies” and a year’s worth of prestigious accolades, it’s safe to say that it’s pretty good just being Ciara.

“You know, it’s so funny because from day one, I believed in myself…kind of like, when nobody else did,” she said. “I guess that was my way of reaching out to people; to get them to believe in me. And then once things began to happen, I worked so hard at it. And my thing was, I would always say I want to get this amount of work accomplished within 10 years, or within five years, because in this industry, as we know, it moves so fast, before you know it a year passes by, and once I learned that, it made me go so much harder.”

At 19, the multi-talented songstress has been moving a lot faster than most new artists. She’s released four singles, appeared on tracks for Missy Elliott and Bow Wow, made numerous performing appearances on everything from the Billboard Awards to the MTV Awards and been awarded Soul Train’s “Entertainer of Year” award. Currently, she’s been on tour with Gwen Steffanie and will be spending her Christmas this year on tour with Chris Brown, Bow Wow, Omarion and Marques Houston for the “We Ain’t Done Yet Holladay Jam 2005” tour, coming to the Wachovia Spectrum Dec. 27.

“It can definitely be a lot,” said Ciara on how overwhelming things can be. “But the most important thing is balance. I will be honest, because sometimes you have your days when you’re like ‘Oh my gosh, I just want to go to sleep!’ But for the most part, I can’t complain about it, it is what it is. It’s the job I asked for. Being that I like it, I think that’s what makes it more fun. Because if I didn’t enjoy what I was doing I think I would be like, ‘Oh my gosh, I cant do this.’ But I love what I do.”

But for Ciara, adaptation comes easy. Growing up as a “military brat,” she’s lived everywhere from Germany to New York, California, Arizona and Nevada. Yet, for her, the experience she said is one that she doesn’t regret and she believes has helped make her the person she is today.

“It allowed me to adapt to different surroundings, cultures and lifestyles, and I really really believe that it has contributed to who I am today,” she said. “From meeting different people and being around people of a whole different lifestyle than mine and being able to live in that has really helped me a lot.”

Throughout it all, and despite being a solid high school track athlete and a cheerleader, performing is something she said she always knew she wanted to do—from modeling to dancing. But it wasn’t until her 10th grade year she decided that, rather than attend college like many of her classmates she wanted to pursue a career as a singer.

“I just said, you know what, this is what I want to do,” she said. “It was almost like an affirmation of watching TV one day and someone was performing. They were performing and doing an amazing job and I felt as if I was on the stage. And it almost felt as if—and this may sound crazy—but it felt as if God was talking to me, like ‘This is what you’re going to do’ and I began to cry, like tears ran down my eyes, and I got goosebumps, and I was like, this is it!”

From there she briefly joined a girl group and made the break to becoming a solo artist. Since then, and to this day, Ciara has been a student of music. While she may not be in college, she said she feels like she’s in school right now, enrolled in the university of music and entertainment. One of her biggest subjects, and who she’s been most compared to since her step into the spot light, has been non-other than Janet Jackson.

“People have compared me to her so much and I must say that, that is a great comparison and it is a compliment to me,” said Ciara. “(But) my most important goal as an up and coming entertainer is to be Ciara, and only me. But I have so much respect for what she has done and I also feel that it is my responsibility as an up and coming artist and as an artist of today to acknowledge those before us that have paved the way for us as artists to come through and do what we do. Janet is definitely one person that has inspired me in so many different ways and I think she’s just amazing and she’s one of a kind. At the same time, I’m not trying to be like her. I want to do me, but I’m definitely inspired by her.”

Although, the history of Jackson’s successful music career isn’t the only thing that motivates Ciara. Music, success, and probably more importantly, her fans, she said, are her biggest forms of motivation.

“I really can say from my heart that I realize the reason why I’m here is because of my fans,” she said. “They motivate me in so many different ways, and when you hear their stories and see that people are doing your dance moves and they’re doing it to the T, it’s motivation.”

Unsurprisingly, one thing fans of Ciara can expect is a second album. 

“But of course,” she said, “I have to.” While it’s more than likely she’ll team up again with producer Jazze Pha, who she has called her “musical soul mate,” nothing can be expected she said until “I’m finished doing tours. That’s when I want to go into my creative world and get ready.”

But no matter what progressing heights her popularity soars to between now and then, or what her next album is about, Ciara said she will continue to maintain the same premise she created in sharing her “Goodies” with the world.

“In my heart, I’m here to talk to my young women, and women, of today,” she said. “I really believe I’m here for that, and I’m just here to be the best entertainer that I can be, in whatever way, and doing it to where it’s fun and positive energy.”