Post by davidhr on Mar 15, 2011 10:57:31 GMT -5
Lara continued spending time in the ‘countries to the east’ this past week, recording her appearance on the Russian show “Fabrika Zvezd” (their version of ‘American Idol’), which was then aired the next day (the 12th). While the song “Mlle. Hyde” was lip-synched, it is hard to remember when Lara has looked more beautiful. Since she doesn’t have to do any real singing, it seems her main concern is now looking as glamorous as possible (similar to fashion models). This seems to be the ‘idol’ that perhaps Igor has set her up to be, and Lara has bought into it. The video is readily available on the web.
Lara’s continued reliance on lip-synching got renewed scrutiny by fans on her official website, not only for this latest show but for the songs she sang in Grozny. Some fans wondered why anyone would go to a concert to hear songs not being sung live. Others again emphasized that the sound systems in these countries are not up to live performances, and everybody does it, not only on TV but in concerts.
However, that wasn’t the only question being raised with respect to her Chechen appearance. It is, after all, not exactly a bastion of democracy, and many in the country are not happy being under Russian domain. To see Lara standing on stage with a Russian flag, helping to boost the credibility of the regime, struck some as inappropriate, especially when the president of the country stated that he had personally invited her (as reported last week). The press immediately hypothesized that Lara must have received a healthy payment to go, a precedent that was already under attack with respect to the singing stars that Omar Khadafi had ‘imported’ for his events (Mariah Carey, Beyonce, Lionel Richie, etc). Lara’s people for once responded to the press (in translation, from http://reflets-mag.blogspot.com):
“Alain Dierckx, manager of Lara Fabian, clarified that the Belgian-Quebec singer had not been paid above normal for the mini-concert given for 40 minutes Tuesday in Grozny, Chechnia: "No, Lara was not invited by President Ramzan Kadyrov”, he tried to clarify, “even if he was in the room. It was the Chechen women who invited her as part of the Women's Day. There were almost only women in the room moreover. Be aware that for five, six years, Lara is a true star in all the republics of Russia. She released an album composed by the Russian equivalent of Elton John. She has performed a lot all over Russia. She was in Moscow two days earlier, which is the reason why, agreeing to sing for women the majority of whom are Muslim, she accepted a lower fee than that normally required for an international star. "
Even without this explanation, fans defended Lara’s right to accept high fees, in part since she obviously has a right to make a living, but also because it would help fund her albums. In that respect, Candydo on the official site forum responded to the question of whether it is Lara’s money that is going into producing her albums with the following ‘lecture’. It seems worthwhile to repeat it here (in translation):
“In fact, to be quite accurate it is Lara and Universal who fund her albums. Lara is in a "licensing agreement" with Universal. I am very familiar with all this because I record my own records. There are 3 types of contracts between an artist and a label: the "artist contract" - the record company fully funds the disc (registration, payment of musicians and technicians, trade distribution and communication). There is a "distribution contract" - the artist finances entirely the recording of the album, pays musicians and technicians involved in the promotion and communication, the record company finances only putting it on the shelves. With regard to the "license agreement", which involves many artists, like Lara Fabian but also Calogero (who has an independent producer in license with Universal) and Gregoire (who is produced by MyMajorCompany and distributed by Warner) it is between the two other types. Under a licensing agreement, the artist or her producer finances the recording of the album, pays the musicians and technicians. The record company then finances the manufacturing, shelving and communication. In the case of Lara, 9 Productions allows her to finance the recording of her albums. That's why she knows very well that to have a string ensemble for a song, it costs 100 000 €. These 100,000 €, it is she who pays via 9 prod. For MZ I confess that I do not know how the funding took place, but for all other (French) albums (for the English albums that were produced entirely by Sony, well there one speaks of an artist contract that Lara moreover bought back after the fiasco of the second album in English), it is still Lara who produced them either with Rick Allison, from 1990 to 2004 with Clandestine Production, or alone, with 9 Prod since Neuf. 9 prod had also produced the 9 tour and co-produced the TLFM tour. Pascal Negre wrote a book in which he speaks precisely about the various contracts he signs with his artists. He evidently prefers the artist contracts for then the record company decides everything and still owns the master tapes. That's why when Johnny left Universal, he sued Negre to recover the master tapes of his albums produced by Universal. In the case of a license agreement, like the one that connects Lara to Universal, Lara still owns the master tapes.”
Continuing with Lara’s activities in this region, as noted first by Isa on the official site forum, one can now order the DVD of Lara’s Moscow concert on-line, at:
www.russiandvd.com/store/product.asp?sku=56743&genreid=&genresubid=
It is a region 5 PAL disc, and costs $19. It does not actually contain the whole show, only those songs from the Mlle. Zhivago album (so, basically, they have cut the additional live songs from Lara’s other albums, which were shown on TV). In addition, the order listed for the songs is the same as that of the CD, and not that presented on the TV show. There’s some question as to whether this is an official product, or something just pirated and re-arranged from the TV production, which seems more likely.
Now, back in France…
A number of nice photos are available of the AICOM finals competition, including Lara (often seemingly cold, in a jacket). They can be found at:
www.facebook.com/pages/Concours-International-de-Com%C3%A9die-Musicale-CICM/184342231585651
It is reported that Lara will be one of the artists participating in a program to be broadcast on France 2 on April 2 in support of research concerning AIDS. As usual, we will see if Lara is really there, although it is a cause she has helped promote in the past.
And moving on to the new world ☺:
Lara’s ‘best of’ will be released in Canada next month. Fans are wondering whether it will be the same as the version in France. It is renamed ‘Je me souviens’, though that in itself does not require a new setlist, since the song was on the original version (disc 2). The advertisement for it can be seen at:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_zQGS9bfGU
Finally, with respect to Lara’s appearance on ‘The Hitman Returns’, a number of fans have commented on how ‘cold’ Michael Bolton appeared toward Lara in their duo. It’s hard to know what to make of that, given his very complimentary comments about her on his website. Some suspected he was nervous due to the lack of rehearsal.
And now for the next installment of the biography of Lara, pp. 61-66. This section was about Lara and Celine Dion, their apparent rivalry and Lara’s true feelings for her. Only a small portion of the material is new to us…
**When accepting the Felixes at the Adisq gala awards in 1997 in Quebec, Lara inadvertently fed the media appetite for the ‘rivalry’ between them by starting out with “No, I am not going to cry this evening, I am not Dion, I am Fabian”. Later, Lara tried to explain that she was speaking of Lise Dion, the Quebec humorist, not of Celine, but the press had already jumped on the story.
**The Quebec press also found it not a coincidence that Lara’s first English album was released at just the same time that Celine was taking a break in her career.
**Celine, for her part, didn’t help matters by replying to a question during a Frequenstar TV show of what she would think if a journalist confused her with Lara, by saying, “So much the worse for me”. Lara refused to be fully drawn into it, saying she just thought Celine had been unprepared for the question, and didn’t have the presence of mind to attack the journalist’s motives. She also apparently wrote to Celine at that time, noting her continued admiration for her.
**This admiration has been expressed in various ways, including singing some of the same songs (e.g., the Starmania medley, ‘Pour que tu m’aimes encore’, ‘L’amour existe encore’, ‘Calling you’, etc.), paying homage to her in press interviews, and of course the letter to her that accompanied TLFM. [Note the book fails to mention that Lara also wrote an introduction to a book on Celine.]
**As we know, the one song on which they appear together (although it was recorded separately) was the multi-artist rendition of ‘Je reviendrai a Montreal’. Lara has continually suggested that she would love to do a duet with her.
**While Lara has said she thinks of Celine as her inspiration, and like her older sister (she’s two years older), perhaps what she did most for Lara was make ‘Singers of Voice’ fashionable again, and help give French songs a worldwide stage.
This coming week, Lara will be in Armenia on the 18th for their local ‘French Day’. It is interesting to note that the official site is now routinely including at least some of her activities outside of France/Belgium on her ‘Concerts’ calendar, so, like Lara, even the website is expanding its horizons.
David
Lara’s continued reliance on lip-synching got renewed scrutiny by fans on her official website, not only for this latest show but for the songs she sang in Grozny. Some fans wondered why anyone would go to a concert to hear songs not being sung live. Others again emphasized that the sound systems in these countries are not up to live performances, and everybody does it, not only on TV but in concerts.
However, that wasn’t the only question being raised with respect to her Chechen appearance. It is, after all, not exactly a bastion of democracy, and many in the country are not happy being under Russian domain. To see Lara standing on stage with a Russian flag, helping to boost the credibility of the regime, struck some as inappropriate, especially when the president of the country stated that he had personally invited her (as reported last week). The press immediately hypothesized that Lara must have received a healthy payment to go, a precedent that was already under attack with respect to the singing stars that Omar Khadafi had ‘imported’ for his events (Mariah Carey, Beyonce, Lionel Richie, etc). Lara’s people for once responded to the press (in translation, from http://reflets-mag.blogspot.com):
“Alain Dierckx, manager of Lara Fabian, clarified that the Belgian-Quebec singer had not been paid above normal for the mini-concert given for 40 minutes Tuesday in Grozny, Chechnia: "No, Lara was not invited by President Ramzan Kadyrov”, he tried to clarify, “even if he was in the room. It was the Chechen women who invited her as part of the Women's Day. There were almost only women in the room moreover. Be aware that for five, six years, Lara is a true star in all the republics of Russia. She released an album composed by the Russian equivalent of Elton John. She has performed a lot all over Russia. She was in Moscow two days earlier, which is the reason why, agreeing to sing for women the majority of whom are Muslim, she accepted a lower fee than that normally required for an international star. "
Even without this explanation, fans defended Lara’s right to accept high fees, in part since she obviously has a right to make a living, but also because it would help fund her albums. In that respect, Candydo on the official site forum responded to the question of whether it is Lara’s money that is going into producing her albums with the following ‘lecture’. It seems worthwhile to repeat it here (in translation):
“In fact, to be quite accurate it is Lara and Universal who fund her albums. Lara is in a "licensing agreement" with Universal. I am very familiar with all this because I record my own records. There are 3 types of contracts between an artist and a label: the "artist contract" - the record company fully funds the disc (registration, payment of musicians and technicians, trade distribution and communication). There is a "distribution contract" - the artist finances entirely the recording of the album, pays musicians and technicians involved in the promotion and communication, the record company finances only putting it on the shelves. With regard to the "license agreement", which involves many artists, like Lara Fabian but also Calogero (who has an independent producer in license with Universal) and Gregoire (who is produced by MyMajorCompany and distributed by Warner) it is between the two other types. Under a licensing agreement, the artist or her producer finances the recording of the album, pays the musicians and technicians. The record company then finances the manufacturing, shelving and communication. In the case of Lara, 9 Productions allows her to finance the recording of her albums. That's why she knows very well that to have a string ensemble for a song, it costs 100 000 €. These 100,000 €, it is she who pays via 9 prod. For MZ I confess that I do not know how the funding took place, but for all other (French) albums (for the English albums that were produced entirely by Sony, well there one speaks of an artist contract that Lara moreover bought back after the fiasco of the second album in English), it is still Lara who produced them either with Rick Allison, from 1990 to 2004 with Clandestine Production, or alone, with 9 Prod since Neuf. 9 prod had also produced the 9 tour and co-produced the TLFM tour. Pascal Negre wrote a book in which he speaks precisely about the various contracts he signs with his artists. He evidently prefers the artist contracts for then the record company decides everything and still owns the master tapes. That's why when Johnny left Universal, he sued Negre to recover the master tapes of his albums produced by Universal. In the case of a license agreement, like the one that connects Lara to Universal, Lara still owns the master tapes.”
Continuing with Lara’s activities in this region, as noted first by Isa on the official site forum, one can now order the DVD of Lara’s Moscow concert on-line, at:
www.russiandvd.com/store/product.asp?sku=56743&genreid=&genresubid=
It is a region 5 PAL disc, and costs $19. It does not actually contain the whole show, only those songs from the Mlle. Zhivago album (so, basically, they have cut the additional live songs from Lara’s other albums, which were shown on TV). In addition, the order listed for the songs is the same as that of the CD, and not that presented on the TV show. There’s some question as to whether this is an official product, or something just pirated and re-arranged from the TV production, which seems more likely.
Now, back in France…
A number of nice photos are available of the AICOM finals competition, including Lara (often seemingly cold, in a jacket). They can be found at:
www.facebook.com/pages/Concours-International-de-Com%C3%A9die-Musicale-CICM/184342231585651
It is reported that Lara will be one of the artists participating in a program to be broadcast on France 2 on April 2 in support of research concerning AIDS. As usual, we will see if Lara is really there, although it is a cause she has helped promote in the past.
And moving on to the new world ☺:
Lara’s ‘best of’ will be released in Canada next month. Fans are wondering whether it will be the same as the version in France. It is renamed ‘Je me souviens’, though that in itself does not require a new setlist, since the song was on the original version (disc 2). The advertisement for it can be seen at:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_zQGS9bfGU
Finally, with respect to Lara’s appearance on ‘The Hitman Returns’, a number of fans have commented on how ‘cold’ Michael Bolton appeared toward Lara in their duo. It’s hard to know what to make of that, given his very complimentary comments about her on his website. Some suspected he was nervous due to the lack of rehearsal.
And now for the next installment of the biography of Lara, pp. 61-66. This section was about Lara and Celine Dion, their apparent rivalry and Lara’s true feelings for her. Only a small portion of the material is new to us…
**When accepting the Felixes at the Adisq gala awards in 1997 in Quebec, Lara inadvertently fed the media appetite for the ‘rivalry’ between them by starting out with “No, I am not going to cry this evening, I am not Dion, I am Fabian”. Later, Lara tried to explain that she was speaking of Lise Dion, the Quebec humorist, not of Celine, but the press had already jumped on the story.
**The Quebec press also found it not a coincidence that Lara’s first English album was released at just the same time that Celine was taking a break in her career.
**Celine, for her part, didn’t help matters by replying to a question during a Frequenstar TV show of what she would think if a journalist confused her with Lara, by saying, “So much the worse for me”. Lara refused to be fully drawn into it, saying she just thought Celine had been unprepared for the question, and didn’t have the presence of mind to attack the journalist’s motives. She also apparently wrote to Celine at that time, noting her continued admiration for her.
**This admiration has been expressed in various ways, including singing some of the same songs (e.g., the Starmania medley, ‘Pour que tu m’aimes encore’, ‘L’amour existe encore’, ‘Calling you’, etc.), paying homage to her in press interviews, and of course the letter to her that accompanied TLFM. [Note the book fails to mention that Lara also wrote an introduction to a book on Celine.]
**As we know, the one song on which they appear together (although it was recorded separately) was the multi-artist rendition of ‘Je reviendrai a Montreal’. Lara has continually suggested that she would love to do a duet with her.
**While Lara has said she thinks of Celine as her inspiration, and like her older sister (she’s two years older), perhaps what she did most for Lara was make ‘Singers of Voice’ fashionable again, and help give French songs a worldwide stage.
This coming week, Lara will be in Armenia on the 18th for their local ‘French Day’. It is interesting to note that the official site is now routinely including at least some of her activities outside of France/Belgium on her ‘Concerts’ calendar, so, like Lara, even the website is expanding its horizons.
David