Post by davidhr on Jan 4, 2011 13:54:32 GMT -5
The new year began where the old one left off, with Lara’s releases in both Russia and France making news…
Lara ‘celebrated’ New Year’s Eve by appearing on both Ukrainian and Russian TV, presenting the Russian song from her new album. Given that both appearances were lip-synched, as noted previously the prime attraction for the Ukrainian show, ‘Blue Light’ was Lara’s outfit and makeup. On the Russia show (yet another “Song of the Year”, this time from Podolsk, a province of Moscow) she also did ‘Demain n’existe pas’ and helped present an award. Some French fans were of the opinion that the Ukrainian show was the height of ‘kitsch’, and represented the style of the late 70s-early 80s in France (including the lip-synching). From their point of view, the ‘countries to the east’ had only now caught up to that, while the rest of the ‘civilized’ world had moved on! Others, however, thought Lara looked beautiful and glamorous, and would not mind her appearing with that much thought and care in France. Videos are available on youtube, with the several songs and award presentation from Moscow available at:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=beseSlzpYu8
Some of the versions of the ‘Blue Light’ show have a glitch in them; the one linked on larafabiannews.com does not.
The original singer of the Russian song, Alla Pugacheva was in the audience in the Ukraine, and possibly to commemorate that fact, Russian TV also showed a parody of Lara and Igor including the perspective of Alla; larafabiannews.com has the youtube link to it as well as a translation of the ‘lyrics’. It was noted that this was not a ‘mean parody’, as has happened in France. And no surer sign of one’s having entered the mainstream culture than to find oneself being made fun of!
Lara was supposed to have actually been in the Ukraine on New Year’s Eve on another Ukrainian show, the finals of the X Factor, to sing a duet of ‘Je Suis Malade’ with one of the candidates (Maria). However apparently she lost her passport and couldn’t get there. She left a message for Maria (in French); it can be heard (sort of) at:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_5OW93x2-4&feature=related
(starting at 2:30). The youtube video shows a promo for both Lara and Maria (obviously made ahead of time), and then Maria’s nice performance of the song. Not surprisingly, the suspicion arose in some fans’ minds that Lara really did not want to go to the Ukraine on New Year’s Eve, and the passport was really just an excuse. Whatever the real reason was, it was too bad – to see Lara interact with her would have been great (and not lip-synched!).
All of this publicity is helping Lara’s sales; ‘Mlle. Zhivago’ is near the top on ozon.ru (where they give it a 5 star rating) while ‘ETI’ and ‘A Wonderful Life’ are also selling well. On the site RussianCDDVD, Mlle. Zhivago is again at the top, with a 5 star rating from those who bought it. And as of 12/24, it was #4 in Russian chart over-the-counter sales.
Back in France, the stand-alone version of the ‘TLFM font leur show’ DVD was released, and as suspected, there was no bonus. Obviously it is therefore meant only for those who did not want to buy the ‘best of’ release that included it. What it does include is a poster for the tour, a photo taken during the studio recording sessions of TLFM1, and a gold DVD with the initial TLFM in the background. There is no booklet (as you may have seen, the DVD itself displays credit information on its recording). It sells for 13 euros.
It would appear that this was an opportunity missed, especially if, as reported, there is a bonus DVD on the ‘Making of” that is available and was almost released with the ‘best of’. And of course the fate of TLFM1 is still unresolved. Hard to know what goes on in the minds of Universal/Lara, and who is responsible, but the convoluted pattern of releases does not appear aimed at maximizing the commercial potential of this amazing DVD.
As far as the sales of the ‘best of’ are concerned, it has risen two places to #15 in the French list of compilation, and is 66th for albums in France overall (a gain of 15 spots). For on-line sales, it is 26th on FNAC, 33 on Virgin and at the moment 31 on amazon.fr. (with a lot of volatility). It is in 7th place for albums in Belgium, where it is now officially a ‘gold disc’.
‘Musicor’, which apparently handles Lara’s releases in Canada, announced that the ‘best of’ will be released in that country in 2011, presumably in the next few months. The statement does not say whether the ‘TLFM font leur show’ DVD (in an NTSC format) will be included as an option. Fans suggested that the ‘best of’ might do very well there, given that many of the songs (on CD #1, at least) first came to prominence in Quebec. And with its release, there is always the hope that she will come to promote it…
It has now been verified that Michael Bolton’s Christmas album, presumably containing his duet with Lara of ‘The Prayer’, has had its released pushed back until some time in 2011. And given that it is a Christmas album, maybe one shouldn’t expect it until next Christmas. Reading his site, it’s nice to know that other artists have release dates that fluctuate wildly at the last moment, and/or false information.
In one of the wilder possibilities, it has been rumored for some time now that Lara would go to China to sing, and now fans on the official site forum found an article in China News that states Lara will sing in the Beijing Global Spring Festival celebrating the Chinese Lunar New Year, probably in February. Fans are to vote on whether they want to hear ‘Broken Vow’ or ‘I Will Love Again’ . Of course nothing has been confirmed, and the initial impression had been that such a trip would most likely have been to promote ‘Mlle. Zhivago’, which neither of those songs would really do. Since China is closer to Russia than it is to France, given Lara’s preoccupation with Asia recently, this may be more likely than it initially sounded. Wouldn’t it be ironic if ‘Mlle. Zhivago’ were to be released in China before it’s released in France?
The biography of Lara has now appeared in the hands of a number of the fans, and they are already making comments on it. Rather than report on those, having received the book myself, in the coming weeks I’ll comment on it chapter by chapter. Initial impressions: two strange things about this soft covered book – no pictures of Lara, outside of the album covers used on the book cover; and many points are illustrated with links to youtube videos. The first point emphasizes that this was not an authorized production, which we knew already but nevertheless diminishes it, while the second suggests that downloading it would probably be more effective than getting the physical book.
Finally, Christina has put together a video containing sections of Lara’s various TV appearances in 2010. It can be found at:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9lDCOCK3EE
Thanks, Christina!
There is nothing obvious on Lara’s schedule, and clearly she can’t go anywhere until she finds her passport ☺, so maybe she’ll have time to write a holiday message for her fans on the official site.
David
Lara ‘celebrated’ New Year’s Eve by appearing on both Ukrainian and Russian TV, presenting the Russian song from her new album. Given that both appearances were lip-synched, as noted previously the prime attraction for the Ukrainian show, ‘Blue Light’ was Lara’s outfit and makeup. On the Russia show (yet another “Song of the Year”, this time from Podolsk, a province of Moscow) she also did ‘Demain n’existe pas’ and helped present an award. Some French fans were of the opinion that the Ukrainian show was the height of ‘kitsch’, and represented the style of the late 70s-early 80s in France (including the lip-synching). From their point of view, the ‘countries to the east’ had only now caught up to that, while the rest of the ‘civilized’ world had moved on! Others, however, thought Lara looked beautiful and glamorous, and would not mind her appearing with that much thought and care in France. Videos are available on youtube, with the several songs and award presentation from Moscow available at:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=beseSlzpYu8
Some of the versions of the ‘Blue Light’ show have a glitch in them; the one linked on larafabiannews.com does not.
The original singer of the Russian song, Alla Pugacheva was in the audience in the Ukraine, and possibly to commemorate that fact, Russian TV also showed a parody of Lara and Igor including the perspective of Alla; larafabiannews.com has the youtube link to it as well as a translation of the ‘lyrics’. It was noted that this was not a ‘mean parody’, as has happened in France. And no surer sign of one’s having entered the mainstream culture than to find oneself being made fun of!
Lara was supposed to have actually been in the Ukraine on New Year’s Eve on another Ukrainian show, the finals of the X Factor, to sing a duet of ‘Je Suis Malade’ with one of the candidates (Maria). However apparently she lost her passport and couldn’t get there. She left a message for Maria (in French); it can be heard (sort of) at:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_5OW93x2-4&feature=related
(starting at 2:30). The youtube video shows a promo for both Lara and Maria (obviously made ahead of time), and then Maria’s nice performance of the song. Not surprisingly, the suspicion arose in some fans’ minds that Lara really did not want to go to the Ukraine on New Year’s Eve, and the passport was really just an excuse. Whatever the real reason was, it was too bad – to see Lara interact with her would have been great (and not lip-synched!).
All of this publicity is helping Lara’s sales; ‘Mlle. Zhivago’ is near the top on ozon.ru (where they give it a 5 star rating) while ‘ETI’ and ‘A Wonderful Life’ are also selling well. On the site RussianCDDVD, Mlle. Zhivago is again at the top, with a 5 star rating from those who bought it. And as of 12/24, it was #4 in Russian chart over-the-counter sales.
Back in France, the stand-alone version of the ‘TLFM font leur show’ DVD was released, and as suspected, there was no bonus. Obviously it is therefore meant only for those who did not want to buy the ‘best of’ release that included it. What it does include is a poster for the tour, a photo taken during the studio recording sessions of TLFM1, and a gold DVD with the initial TLFM in the background. There is no booklet (as you may have seen, the DVD itself displays credit information on its recording). It sells for 13 euros.
It would appear that this was an opportunity missed, especially if, as reported, there is a bonus DVD on the ‘Making of” that is available and was almost released with the ‘best of’. And of course the fate of TLFM1 is still unresolved. Hard to know what goes on in the minds of Universal/Lara, and who is responsible, but the convoluted pattern of releases does not appear aimed at maximizing the commercial potential of this amazing DVD.
As far as the sales of the ‘best of’ are concerned, it has risen two places to #15 in the French list of compilation, and is 66th for albums in France overall (a gain of 15 spots). For on-line sales, it is 26th on FNAC, 33 on Virgin and at the moment 31 on amazon.fr. (with a lot of volatility). It is in 7th place for albums in Belgium, where it is now officially a ‘gold disc’.
‘Musicor’, which apparently handles Lara’s releases in Canada, announced that the ‘best of’ will be released in that country in 2011, presumably in the next few months. The statement does not say whether the ‘TLFM font leur show’ DVD (in an NTSC format) will be included as an option. Fans suggested that the ‘best of’ might do very well there, given that many of the songs (on CD #1, at least) first came to prominence in Quebec. And with its release, there is always the hope that she will come to promote it…
It has now been verified that Michael Bolton’s Christmas album, presumably containing his duet with Lara of ‘The Prayer’, has had its released pushed back until some time in 2011. And given that it is a Christmas album, maybe one shouldn’t expect it until next Christmas. Reading his site, it’s nice to know that other artists have release dates that fluctuate wildly at the last moment, and/or false information.
In one of the wilder possibilities, it has been rumored for some time now that Lara would go to China to sing, and now fans on the official site forum found an article in China News that states Lara will sing in the Beijing Global Spring Festival celebrating the Chinese Lunar New Year, probably in February. Fans are to vote on whether they want to hear ‘Broken Vow’ or ‘I Will Love Again’ . Of course nothing has been confirmed, and the initial impression had been that such a trip would most likely have been to promote ‘Mlle. Zhivago’, which neither of those songs would really do. Since China is closer to Russia than it is to France, given Lara’s preoccupation with Asia recently, this may be more likely than it initially sounded. Wouldn’t it be ironic if ‘Mlle. Zhivago’ were to be released in China before it’s released in France?
The biography of Lara has now appeared in the hands of a number of the fans, and they are already making comments on it. Rather than report on those, having received the book myself, in the coming weeks I’ll comment on it chapter by chapter. Initial impressions: two strange things about this soft covered book – no pictures of Lara, outside of the album covers used on the book cover; and many points are illustrated with links to youtube videos. The first point emphasizes that this was not an authorized production, which we knew already but nevertheless diminishes it, while the second suggests that downloading it would probably be more effective than getting the physical book.
Finally, Christina has put together a video containing sections of Lara’s various TV appearances in 2010. It can be found at:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9lDCOCK3EE
Thanks, Christina!
There is nothing obvious on Lara’s schedule, and clearly she can’t go anywhere until she finds her passport ☺, so maybe she’ll have time to write a holiday message for her fans on the official site.
David
