Madonna's explosion on to the big screen in Desperately seeking Susan was full of promise. It fizzled like a damp squid in Shanghai Surprise and positively ground to a halt with Who's that girl Where's that girl now as far as movies are concerned?

Here comes another rock/blonde superstar Cyndi Lauper making her movie debut in the company of Jeff Goldblum and Peter Falk for an opus titled 'Vibes'. Six years ago cyndi signed a recording contract and in no time became an international rock star with two massive hit albums, "she's so unusual" and "True Colors". Her single, and video version of "Girls just want to have fun" was another enormous hit. With tempting movie offers coming her way Cyndi declined all. "To be honest," she said, "I was getting supersensitive to dingbat scripts. I wasn't holding out for anything ultraserious. I just wanted to do something funny but with heart." Finally she found a project to her liking. Vibes. It took her to the mountains of Equador in the role of a breezy beautician, Sylvia Pickel. She and a fellow psychic, a museum curator played by Jeff Goldblum, become unwilling participants in a search for the treasure of a lost civilisation. They are hired by Peter Falk to help him find his missing 'son'. also starring is Julian Sands as a not so nice psychic expert.Vibes sounds like it could be fun. Cyndi says, "Sylvia offered a lot of possibilities, and there are touching elements in the film. She's not exactly the girl next-door. A little kooky whose best friend is Louise a spirit guide from the 'other side'." She continued, "As a beautician she's seeing how she can look on the outside, and she's also finding out, through Louise, how she feels on the inside. Psychics are very attuned to their inner feelings."

The trendy Cyndi particularly liked selecting her movie gear to shape Sylvia's character. "She goes in for the disco-safari look. She has a sense of fashion. Her favorite colour is leopard skin. She's all blonde, a little too subdued for me."

Like Sylvia, Cyndi once felt like a misfit after surviving troubled years at school. She left home at 17 with her dog, Sparkle, and sketched trees in Canadian woods, then worked as a waitress while taking art classes. Back in New York she discovered she had a four octave voice while auditioning for a disco band on Long Island. But her untrained voice eventually gave out and it took a year to undo the damage. She later learned how to vocalise correctly.

Apparently the vibes on the set between her and romantic interest Jeff Goldblum were good. Said Jeff, "It was Cyndi's first movie and she prepared for the role in depth. She's smart, eager, and fun to be around and very good at what she does." Peter Falk, as the unscrupulous Harry, says his character is a "fabulous liar with an insatiable desire for gold. He can extend a lie beyond the point where anybody will believe him." I bet Columbo wouldn't!

Julian Sands, after A Room With A View; The Killing Fields; Gothic and Siesta, undergoes a change of pace from his more serious work. "It's the kind of light hearted entertainment I haven't done before," He says, "A nice punctuation for my career. I thought it would be fun and it was." Julian says his character of Dr. Steele is a sort of cross "between Dr. Strangelove and Dr.No. He's a misguided romantic, a zealot. I like him!"