Post by davidhr on Aug 17, 2010 9:07:54 GMT -5
A week of the unexpected, but very memorable for some…
On the positive side: without a doubt, one of the highlights of the year for those who were there was the meeting of Lara’s fan club in Brussels Saturday night at a karaoke bar. Nominally it was to celebrate the five years of Farfallina, and about 80 fans attended. There were continual surprises. Gerard appeared(sans moustache), and Lara’s father, Pierre. Gerard told the fans that he had brought along a video message from Lara, and then while people were gathered to view the video, Lara stepped into the room! Lara’s arrival can be seen on youtube at:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7rCQPrsXng&feature=player_embedded
You certainly have to give Lara credit for attending. While on the surface it might not seem difficult to go to a place where you’re guaranteed to be adored, even the most narcissistic personality would feel some trepidation entering a room where hysteria, and the unknown, are likely to erupt. Perhaps that’s why she surrounded herself with those close to her as moral support and protection (even Justine Henin came). Reading the fans comments on the web makes it clear that they will remember this night for the rest of their lives. Lara’s reactions suggest that may will be true for her as well.
To make it, Lara had to reschedule a singing event in Nice, and Pierre had to alter his vacation plans, apparently why neither was originally expected. But with all the attention Lara has been paying to eastern Europe – and even Canada – the need to reconnect and reassure her core fans (and herself) in her own backyard proved impossible to ignore. This will go a long way to guarantee their continued devotion, regardless of her wanderings, and firm up her confidence in their devotion to her. The events of this evening will be covered extensively in Farfallina 19 and on Valou’s pure-lara websites, among others, which will help to keep it alive. Pictures from all phases of the party are available at:
www.flickr.com/photos/pure-lara/collections/72157624737707796/
Lara stayed for close to 20 minutes. During that time she did discuss her future plans a bit, basically repeating that Mlle. Zhivago (the album) will be released in October/November in the ‘countries in the east’, followed by a more general release to other countries next year.
And as s part of the continuing promo for Mlle. Zhivago, Lara appeared on the Russian TV show ‘Saturday Night’ this past weekend, as expected. What wasn’t expected was that they only broadcast one of the ~5 songs she did for the program. Apparently the others will be played on subsequent shows throughout the fall leading up to the Mlle. Zhivago album release, still nominally scheduled for October 23rd in Russia. While disappointing to fans, even they acknowledged that it made sense from a marketing standpoint, by keeping the album continually in the eyes of the Russian public. And it removed the oddity of having the public familiar with almost all of the songs on the album so far ahead of time (the fact that the other four songs are known to the public anyway, mostly via the bootleg copies from audience members attending the show, is not Lara’s fault).
As for the appearance itself, Lara’s presentation of “Mama” (lip-synched) drew praise from the fans for the song, and some criticism for the artificial manner in which these TV shows are done. “Mama” has wonderful lyrics – an extremely heart-felt paean to her mother. While somewhat low-keyed compared to other songs on the album, it is musical and touching (it was my favorite of the boot-legged songs from the show). The album is certainly going to be eclectic, given the wide variation of mood/language from one song to the next. It will demand a very flexible audience! The video of Lara’s appearance is available on youtube; note that it appears to have some Russian words at the end .
The criticism for the lip-synching came chiefly for the artifice that accompanies it – violinists pretending to play, choirs pretending to sing, Igor Krutoi continually pretending to play the piano, and of course Lara pretending (sometimes not very convincingly) to sing. While one may argue that these accoutrements ‘set the mood’, the approach also gives the impression of trying to trick the audience. One fan suggested that it would be much better if Lara just stood up there alone, without a microphone, the way it was done years ago on some TV shows. Lip-synching on TV appears in part to be standard operating procedure in Eastern Europe/Russia, perhaps because of the expense of putting together a top flight sound system in their studios, but Lara has fallen into the general habit of doing it for new songs on their first hearing wherever she is. Remember all the criticism for her lip-synching when “La Lettre” was first presented? In response, Lara defended herself by saying that she wants the new songs to make their best possible first impression, but fans recall the ‘old days’ when she was one of the few performers who wouldn’t do it. She was perhaps more audacious/less concerned with sales back then.
Continuing the 'unexpected' theme, in an unusual twist it was pointed out on the official site that the French company FNAC has begun listing the availability of the Canadian release of TLFM, as an import. This certainly raises the question of whether it will be different from the European release, perhaps including ‘Babacar’ or ‘J’ai besoin de parler’ , the song from the Canadian singer Ginette Reno. In preparation for the album’s release, ‘Soleil soleil’ is now available on the Canadian itunes.
If you remember the movie ‘Charlie’ that Lara is supposed to have a part in: a poster illustrating the concept of the movie Charlie has been made available at:
i983.photobucket.com/albums/ae312/bccmee3/misc/CharlieTeaserPostersmall.jpg
Whether the existence of this poster implies that the film is closer to being shot is uncertain. As Tarcisio noted on the official site, this poster still represents the concept phase; when (if) it reaches the production phase, there will apparently be a real poster. Several sources have indicated that Lara’s part would only require 10 days of filming, and Christina has repeated that Lara reaffirmed her interest in the project. Financing, and timing for Lara, will presumably weigh heavily as to whether this actually happens.
Laetitia (from larafabianweb.com) indicated that there is a small article about Lara in the magazine of AMTM, the charity that Lara supports. It basically thanks her for being such a loyal ‘godmother’ for the last 4 years, and notes how in addition to the concerts she has given, she mentions them before huge television audiences when she gets the chance. She even won money for them on the game show ‘paroles de femme’. BTW, Laetitia has been having some medical problems - hopefully they are now on the mend.
On the official site it was pointed out that Lara appears dancing in the front row of the audience in a video of Anastacia from the World Music Awards in Monaco, in 2001. The video is at:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=EN90xk277q8&feature=related
Fans related this to the fact that the song Anastacia was singing (“I’m outta love”) was written by the same people who wrote ‘Til I Get Over You” for Lara’s first English album (Sam Watters and Louis Biancaniello). Fans even felt the songs sounded very similar; I don’t actually hear it. This is the same event at which Lara sang perhaps her greatest version of Adagio.
Nicholas (“Willow Fabian") has opened up a bilingual website for Lara; it can be found at:
larafabian-angelicvoice.webs.com/
It is the first new Canadian site in quite some time, and here’s hoping it does well. Perhaps it will be an omen for a renewed push by Lara into the North American market. And, then, maybe one day there will be a meeting of fans in Canada that Lara will attend, just like in the old days.
Lara has nothing specifically on her public schedule for these next few weeks in August, before the beginning of what will undoubtedly be a very busy fall season.
David
On the positive side: without a doubt, one of the highlights of the year for those who were there was the meeting of Lara’s fan club in Brussels Saturday night at a karaoke bar. Nominally it was to celebrate the five years of Farfallina, and about 80 fans attended. There were continual surprises. Gerard appeared(sans moustache), and Lara’s father, Pierre. Gerard told the fans that he had brought along a video message from Lara, and then while people were gathered to view the video, Lara stepped into the room! Lara’s arrival can be seen on youtube at:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7rCQPrsXng&feature=player_embedded
You certainly have to give Lara credit for attending. While on the surface it might not seem difficult to go to a place where you’re guaranteed to be adored, even the most narcissistic personality would feel some trepidation entering a room where hysteria, and the unknown, are likely to erupt. Perhaps that’s why she surrounded herself with those close to her as moral support and protection (even Justine Henin came). Reading the fans comments on the web makes it clear that they will remember this night for the rest of their lives. Lara’s reactions suggest that may will be true for her as well.
To make it, Lara had to reschedule a singing event in Nice, and Pierre had to alter his vacation plans, apparently why neither was originally expected. But with all the attention Lara has been paying to eastern Europe – and even Canada – the need to reconnect and reassure her core fans (and herself) in her own backyard proved impossible to ignore. This will go a long way to guarantee their continued devotion, regardless of her wanderings, and firm up her confidence in their devotion to her. The events of this evening will be covered extensively in Farfallina 19 and on Valou’s pure-lara websites, among others, which will help to keep it alive. Pictures from all phases of the party are available at:
www.flickr.com/photos/pure-lara/collections/72157624737707796/
Lara stayed for close to 20 minutes. During that time she did discuss her future plans a bit, basically repeating that Mlle. Zhivago (the album) will be released in October/November in the ‘countries in the east’, followed by a more general release to other countries next year.
And as s part of the continuing promo for Mlle. Zhivago, Lara appeared on the Russian TV show ‘Saturday Night’ this past weekend, as expected. What wasn’t expected was that they only broadcast one of the ~5 songs she did for the program. Apparently the others will be played on subsequent shows throughout the fall leading up to the Mlle. Zhivago album release, still nominally scheduled for October 23rd in Russia. While disappointing to fans, even they acknowledged that it made sense from a marketing standpoint, by keeping the album continually in the eyes of the Russian public. And it removed the oddity of having the public familiar with almost all of the songs on the album so far ahead of time (the fact that the other four songs are known to the public anyway, mostly via the bootleg copies from audience members attending the show, is not Lara’s fault).
As for the appearance itself, Lara’s presentation of “Mama” (lip-synched) drew praise from the fans for the song, and some criticism for the artificial manner in which these TV shows are done. “Mama” has wonderful lyrics – an extremely heart-felt paean to her mother. While somewhat low-keyed compared to other songs on the album, it is musical and touching (it was my favorite of the boot-legged songs from the show). The album is certainly going to be eclectic, given the wide variation of mood/language from one song to the next. It will demand a very flexible audience! The video of Lara’s appearance is available on youtube; note that it appears to have some Russian words at the end .
The criticism for the lip-synching came chiefly for the artifice that accompanies it – violinists pretending to play, choirs pretending to sing, Igor Krutoi continually pretending to play the piano, and of course Lara pretending (sometimes not very convincingly) to sing. While one may argue that these accoutrements ‘set the mood’, the approach also gives the impression of trying to trick the audience. One fan suggested that it would be much better if Lara just stood up there alone, without a microphone, the way it was done years ago on some TV shows. Lip-synching on TV appears in part to be standard operating procedure in Eastern Europe/Russia, perhaps because of the expense of putting together a top flight sound system in their studios, but Lara has fallen into the general habit of doing it for new songs on their first hearing wherever she is. Remember all the criticism for her lip-synching when “La Lettre” was first presented? In response, Lara defended herself by saying that she wants the new songs to make their best possible first impression, but fans recall the ‘old days’ when she was one of the few performers who wouldn’t do it. She was perhaps more audacious/less concerned with sales back then.
Continuing the 'unexpected' theme, in an unusual twist it was pointed out on the official site that the French company FNAC has begun listing the availability of the Canadian release of TLFM, as an import. This certainly raises the question of whether it will be different from the European release, perhaps including ‘Babacar’ or ‘J’ai besoin de parler’ , the song from the Canadian singer Ginette Reno. In preparation for the album’s release, ‘Soleil soleil’ is now available on the Canadian itunes.
If you remember the movie ‘Charlie’ that Lara is supposed to have a part in: a poster illustrating the concept of the movie Charlie has been made available at:
i983.photobucket.com/albums/ae312/bccmee3/misc/CharlieTeaserPostersmall.jpg
Whether the existence of this poster implies that the film is closer to being shot is uncertain. As Tarcisio noted on the official site, this poster still represents the concept phase; when (if) it reaches the production phase, there will apparently be a real poster. Several sources have indicated that Lara’s part would only require 10 days of filming, and Christina has repeated that Lara reaffirmed her interest in the project. Financing, and timing for Lara, will presumably weigh heavily as to whether this actually happens.
Laetitia (from larafabianweb.com) indicated that there is a small article about Lara in the magazine of AMTM, the charity that Lara supports. It basically thanks her for being such a loyal ‘godmother’ for the last 4 years, and notes how in addition to the concerts she has given, she mentions them before huge television audiences when she gets the chance. She even won money for them on the game show ‘paroles de femme’. BTW, Laetitia has been having some medical problems - hopefully they are now on the mend.
On the official site it was pointed out that Lara appears dancing in the front row of the audience in a video of Anastacia from the World Music Awards in Monaco, in 2001. The video is at:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=EN90xk277q8&feature=related
Fans related this to the fact that the song Anastacia was singing (“I’m outta love”) was written by the same people who wrote ‘Til I Get Over You” for Lara’s first English album (Sam Watters and Louis Biancaniello). Fans even felt the songs sounded very similar; I don’t actually hear it. This is the same event at which Lara sang perhaps her greatest version of Adagio.
Nicholas (“Willow Fabian") has opened up a bilingual website for Lara; it can be found at:
larafabian-angelicvoice.webs.com/
It is the first new Canadian site in quite some time, and here’s hoping it does well. Perhaps it will be an omen for a renewed push by Lara into the North American market. And, then, maybe one day there will be a meeting of fans in Canada that Lara will attend, just like in the old days.
Lara has nothing specifically on her public schedule for these next few weeks in August, before the beginning of what will undoubtedly be a very busy fall season.
David