Post by davidhr on Oct 12, 2010 10:29:14 GMT -5
Lara’s appearance on the TV show ‘Dans l’universe de’ did take place as planned last Wednesday. It featured various guests coming to honor Lara, including her parents and other relatives, Gerard (who reportedly stayed behind the scenes) and guests Cyndi Lauper, Daniel Levy, David Esposito, and Camelia Jordan among others. Lara’s mother and father did a duet for Lara and as you might imagine, Lara was very emotional and tearful, joining them on stage to complete the song from her childhood. Despite some delays and technical problems, she also got into a frolicsome mood on the show, telling some risqué anecdotes. The fans sang a rewritten version of “Je t’aime’ to Lara, which touched her as well (recalling what happened at the last TLFM show). The program will likely be broadcast on November 17th; although the official site lists it as December 17th, that is likely an error - they also list the ‘best of’ as December 15th, also probably wrong (unless Lara herself was wrong -see below).
At the show Lara announced plans for her future releases, and for once the rumors proved true (at least true to the extent that Lara did say what was rumored – whether it actually comes to pass is of course another issue). Her ‘Best of” album will be released on November 15th in a limited edition coupled with the live DVD of “TLFM font leur show”. Apparently the CD will define the ‘best of’ as songs that were actually (French language) hits: "Tout" (Top 4 in 1997); "Tu es mon autre" (Top 5 in 2002); "Je t'aime" (Top 6 in 1997); "Humana" (Top 15 in 1998); "La différence" (Top 10 in 1999); "Si tu m'aimes" (Top 4 in 1998); "J'y crois encore" (Top 17 in 2001), and "Immortelle" (Top 10 in 2002). In addition there will be three previously unrecorded songs: a new song Lara just recently recorded in Quebec (at the suggestion of Pascal Negro) called 'On s’aimerait' (We Love Each Other) written by Stanislaus and Maxime LeForestier (Lara sang it on the TV show); a virtual duet of the song “Ensemble” with Ray Charles; and one of the songs from Mlle. Zhivago (in French, most likely). Then, in January of 2011, the DVD will be re-released with a bonus component in a package with TLFM1. At this point in time, Mlle. Zhivago is not yet scheduled for release in France, but Lara is ‘hopeful’ it will be arranged. Lara also mentioned that she is currently working on a duet with Seal.
What can one make of this plan? First, it is nice (though expensive) for Lara’s fans that there is so much material to be released in the next few months (including of course Mlle. Zhivago). But one must say that the chaos that has historically accompanied Lara’s life and proposed projects has now infused her actual output as well. It really started with the boutique release of EWIM, and now involves three different CDs and at least 2 DVDs in a short period of time for a general public that has shown some reluctance to purchase anything of Lara’s. Obviously there is little confidence that the French audience would buy the ‘best of’ or the live DVD by themselves, so they’re bundled together; and similarly, to get the public to buy the DVD again (albeit with a supposed ‘bonus’ component) or TLFM1, they too are released together. The best of is composed mostly of songs from ‘Pure’ with a couple from ‘Nue’ – and since most of the interested audience has these songs already, the three ‘new’ songs are included. It all makes commercial sense, but artistically it hardly presents a coherent picture of Lara’s on-going career, with these disparate projects all dumped out at once. No wonder there is some reluctance on the part of Universal to add Mlle. Zhivago to the mix in France. However, given Pascal Negro’s apparent involvement in the ‘best of’ project, and Universal’s acquiescence to all these releases, it appears less likely that Lara will be moving to any other record company at this time.
For the fans it’s all very good! It will provide the opportunity to see the live TLFM show, hear the jazzier versions of TLFM1, and get several new cuts. Ray Charles had already done a duet of ‘Ensemble’ with his longtime French lady friend Arlette Kotchounian, and another version with Ginie Line (available on youtube at www.youtube.com/watch?v=fF9pBpt2rvo); perhaps they are just substituting in Lara’s voice. It would be nice if the French song to be included from Mlle. Zhivago were ‘Demain n’existe pas’, which certainly has the quality to be a big hit for a French audience. And if the songs listed above are truly the ones included, it would mark the return from limbo of ‘La difference’, relegated to a twilight life after the legal battle over its music; perhaps its reemergence helped Lara get over her difficulties with Rick Allison. A lot of material to look forward to, hopefully in the time frame given!
As a further part of the promo for the 'best of' CD, yesterday Lara recorded the show “Chabada” and sang three songs: ‘Requiem pour un fou’, ‘Je t'aime’ and ‘On s'aimerait’. Laurent Gerra joined Lara for the first song, imitating Johnny Hallyday. It’s not clear when the show will be broadcast.
Lara’s trip to Canada with its media blitz seems to have worked wonders for sales of TLFM there. It jumped to #1 on Archambault, jumped 43 places to #26 in Canada overall, up to 7th in Montreal, 5th in Quebec and 2nd for French records overall. And the publicity is still on-going; on 10/11 Lara was on the show “2 filles le matin”, and that evening on the program “Benezra recoit” (http://www.musimax.com/emissions/benezrarecoit/accueil.html) where it is reported she talked about her breakup with Rick Allison, her thoughts of suicide and the birth of Lou. What has helped Lara with the Canadian public is not only her obvious talent, but her natural friendliness and appearance as ‘one of them’ (e.g., her making ‘salmon canapes’ on the show ‘Pour le plaisir’). Hopefully videos of these new shows will become available.
Mlle. Zhivago is being introduced to the public, French and otherwise, by the selective release of singles. First, according to on-line articles, there was ‘Mlle. Hyde’ [apparently released as a single, although nobody really remembers that], and now ‘Toccami’ is getting play; several French on-line publications (e.g., Charts in France, www.chartsinfrance.net/Lara-Fabian/news-71111.html) have provided links to the studio quality version of it (available on youtube). They even show a cover for it, although whether that is the official version for the album is unclear. If so, it is certainly different!
The Mlle. Zhivago album is still nominally thought to have its release in Russia on October 25th. In preparation for it, more of Lara’s performance on ‘Russia Saturday Night’ will be aired this coming Saturday, October 16th. Despite the proximity of the supposed release date, the official site is still saying nothing, it cannot be pre-ordered from them (or anywhere else as far as we know). Even the Russian fans don’t know where to order it ahead of time, although they don’t appear particularly surprised by this. Perhaps that’s just the way it is there. French fans have inquired and found that the local stores (e.g., FNAC) have indicated that they will be able to import it about a week after its release. One would expect the official site should have it sooner, but their silence may mean even that is uncertain. [Good thing we have most of the songs already ☺].
David
At the show Lara announced plans for her future releases, and for once the rumors proved true (at least true to the extent that Lara did say what was rumored – whether it actually comes to pass is of course another issue). Her ‘Best of” album will be released on November 15th in a limited edition coupled with the live DVD of “TLFM font leur show”. Apparently the CD will define the ‘best of’ as songs that were actually (French language) hits: "Tout" (Top 4 in 1997); "Tu es mon autre" (Top 5 in 2002); "Je t'aime" (Top 6 in 1997); "Humana" (Top 15 in 1998); "La différence" (Top 10 in 1999); "Si tu m'aimes" (Top 4 in 1998); "J'y crois encore" (Top 17 in 2001), and "Immortelle" (Top 10 in 2002). In addition there will be three previously unrecorded songs: a new song Lara just recently recorded in Quebec (at the suggestion of Pascal Negro) called 'On s’aimerait' (We Love Each Other) written by Stanislaus and Maxime LeForestier (Lara sang it on the TV show); a virtual duet of the song “Ensemble” with Ray Charles; and one of the songs from Mlle. Zhivago (in French, most likely). Then, in January of 2011, the DVD will be re-released with a bonus component in a package with TLFM1. At this point in time, Mlle. Zhivago is not yet scheduled for release in France, but Lara is ‘hopeful’ it will be arranged. Lara also mentioned that she is currently working on a duet with Seal.
What can one make of this plan? First, it is nice (though expensive) for Lara’s fans that there is so much material to be released in the next few months (including of course Mlle. Zhivago). But one must say that the chaos that has historically accompanied Lara’s life and proposed projects has now infused her actual output as well. It really started with the boutique release of EWIM, and now involves three different CDs and at least 2 DVDs in a short period of time for a general public that has shown some reluctance to purchase anything of Lara’s. Obviously there is little confidence that the French audience would buy the ‘best of’ or the live DVD by themselves, so they’re bundled together; and similarly, to get the public to buy the DVD again (albeit with a supposed ‘bonus’ component) or TLFM1, they too are released together. The best of is composed mostly of songs from ‘Pure’ with a couple from ‘Nue’ – and since most of the interested audience has these songs already, the three ‘new’ songs are included. It all makes commercial sense, but artistically it hardly presents a coherent picture of Lara’s on-going career, with these disparate projects all dumped out at once. No wonder there is some reluctance on the part of Universal to add Mlle. Zhivago to the mix in France. However, given Pascal Negro’s apparent involvement in the ‘best of’ project, and Universal’s acquiescence to all these releases, it appears less likely that Lara will be moving to any other record company at this time.
For the fans it’s all very good! It will provide the opportunity to see the live TLFM show, hear the jazzier versions of TLFM1, and get several new cuts. Ray Charles had already done a duet of ‘Ensemble’ with his longtime French lady friend Arlette Kotchounian, and another version with Ginie Line (available on youtube at www.youtube.com/watch?v=fF9pBpt2rvo); perhaps they are just substituting in Lara’s voice. It would be nice if the French song to be included from Mlle. Zhivago were ‘Demain n’existe pas’, which certainly has the quality to be a big hit for a French audience. And if the songs listed above are truly the ones included, it would mark the return from limbo of ‘La difference’, relegated to a twilight life after the legal battle over its music; perhaps its reemergence helped Lara get over her difficulties with Rick Allison. A lot of material to look forward to, hopefully in the time frame given!
As a further part of the promo for the 'best of' CD, yesterday Lara recorded the show “Chabada” and sang three songs: ‘Requiem pour un fou’, ‘Je t'aime’ and ‘On s'aimerait’. Laurent Gerra joined Lara for the first song, imitating Johnny Hallyday. It’s not clear when the show will be broadcast.
Lara’s trip to Canada with its media blitz seems to have worked wonders for sales of TLFM there. It jumped to #1 on Archambault, jumped 43 places to #26 in Canada overall, up to 7th in Montreal, 5th in Quebec and 2nd for French records overall. And the publicity is still on-going; on 10/11 Lara was on the show “2 filles le matin”, and that evening on the program “Benezra recoit” (http://www.musimax.com/emissions/benezrarecoit/accueil.html) where it is reported she talked about her breakup with Rick Allison, her thoughts of suicide and the birth of Lou. What has helped Lara with the Canadian public is not only her obvious talent, but her natural friendliness and appearance as ‘one of them’ (e.g., her making ‘salmon canapes’ on the show ‘Pour le plaisir’). Hopefully videos of these new shows will become available.
Mlle. Zhivago is being introduced to the public, French and otherwise, by the selective release of singles. First, according to on-line articles, there was ‘Mlle. Hyde’ [apparently released as a single, although nobody really remembers that], and now ‘Toccami’ is getting play; several French on-line publications (e.g., Charts in France, www.chartsinfrance.net/Lara-Fabian/news-71111.html) have provided links to the studio quality version of it (available on youtube). They even show a cover for it, although whether that is the official version for the album is unclear. If so, it is certainly different!
The Mlle. Zhivago album is still nominally thought to have its release in Russia on October 25th. In preparation for it, more of Lara’s performance on ‘Russia Saturday Night’ will be aired this coming Saturday, October 16th. Despite the proximity of the supposed release date, the official site is still saying nothing, it cannot be pre-ordered from them (or anywhere else as far as we know). Even the Russian fans don’t know where to order it ahead of time, although they don’t appear particularly surprised by this. Perhaps that’s just the way it is there. French fans have inquired and found that the local stores (e.g., FNAC) have indicated that they will be able to import it about a week after its release. One would expect the official site should have it sooner, but their silence may mean even that is uncertain. [Good thing we have most of the songs already ☺].
David