SHE’S the gorgeous, curvaceous Dutch jazz singer who is dominating the music charts across Europe.

Despite being hailed a retro pin-up, Caro Emerald admits that she feared she would be labelled “the fat girl” among her pop star contemporaries.

True, Caro does stand out as being larger than the teeny tiny size eight pop stars. But this has been embraced as a breath of fresh air, rather than something to be ridiculed in the press.

Caro says: “I was very aware of how I might be perceived to be by the media when I started out.

“I didn’t want to be seen as the ‘fat girl’ and so I avoided any questions about weight to start with. I knew there was a time when people wanted their singers to be so thin, but I felt that it wasn’t all about that.

“Now I think things are changing and people want more from their female singers. They want people with substance and something to say.”

The 32-year-old singer has seen her second album, the Shocking Miss Emerald, shoot to the top of the UK charts.

Her previous album, Deleted Scenes from the Cutting Room, is also in the charts at number 40.

Her brand of vintage-sounding music with a hip-hop beat is dominating the airwaves in her native Holland, as well as Germany and Poland, amongst others.

Caro says: “Fame is such a strange concept and it is not something I really think about. I mean, how do you measure success? Is it how happy you are? How much money you have?

“What is interesting is arriving by plane in different countries and seeing how fans react. I didn’t know that Poland was interested in me at all, but the reaction was huge when I went there recently.”

The singer, who has been compared to the late Amy Winehouse, believes fame is easier to handle in your thirties.

She says: “I gained confidence in my thirties, which has made me able to handle everything better. In my twenties, I would be worried whether I was doing OK and scared to say anything.

“Now I work hard to make it clear what I want and put my point across. It’s not easy when you are saying something and you have nine other people around you saying the opposite, but that confidence has come with age. I own the record label with my partner and I have that much more control over things.”

Caro’s feels the UK is a particularly exciting place to be right now.

She says: “I feel like I am starting afresh with every country I go to and building up that success.

“At the moment I think the most exciting place for me is the UK, because there is a buzz with the second album, like there was for the first in Holland.

“Selling out the Royal Albert Hall was a highlight for me and fans from Holland came all the way over, as well as friends and family, and it felt like a celebration of my success.”

Performing live is when Caro is most happy.

Caro says: “Even if I have had a bad day or I am angry, I still have a great time on stage. “It is when I am happiest. That and being with friends, and having dinner together and drinking!.

“I have always sung, but it is on a different level now. Singing my own songs has been a challenge, because it can be repetitive and I have to make sure it is fresh for me and the audience.

“But singing the same songs comes with success and I completely understand fans want to hear the classics, like I would. And I hope to be doing this 20 years from now, so I don’t mind.”

Caro makes sure she can enjoy her fast-paced lifestyle.

She says: “I take time out when I can, because I want to be able to enjoy this time and my success.

“I see so many people doing it who feel that they have to sacrifice everything and don’t enjoy it.

“I always think I could die tomorrow and had never enjoyed the moment.”

Another passion of Caro’s is vintage clothes, and she is looking for some places to go to when she is in the county this month.

Caro says: “I don’t always have time to shop, but I am hoping to on this tour. I love vintage clothes, so if anyone wants to let me know of any vintage shops in Essex that would be great!” Tweet her at @caroemerald.

Caro Emerald will be performing at the Cliffs Pavilion, Southend, on September 20 and the Regent, Ipswich, on September 23. Visit www.caroemerald.com for details. The album the Shocking Miss Emerald is out now.