Post by davidhr on Jan 9, 2018 9:06:29 GMT -5
This first full week of the new year contained a pattern we expect to see for the next few months: promotion for Lara’s upcoming tour in the affected countries; and Lara’s personal involvement being primarily with the media in Quebec. Beginning first with Quebec, which is more immediately entertaining, Lara was on the show “Ca commence bien l’annee” promoting, of course, “La Voix”. At least a portion of her participation can be seen at:
m.youtube.com/watch?v=rzfmuAmLxeo
Apparently the theme song for the show will be a medley associated with each of the judges, and in Lara’s case, it was (not surprisingly) “Je t’aime” (which is done sincerely by all involved). It is shown beginning at 1:50 into the video, and is truly spectacular. If nothing else, this should impress the audience – and possibly depress the candidates . Otherwise, Lara’s spirit, humor and determination come across in this interview; she is certainly a shining light for the program, and they are wise to use her as often as possible in advertisement. “La Voix” returns to the air for its sixth season on February 11th, channel TVA. A video they’ve releasing introducing the coaches/judges can be seen at:
www.facebook.com/lavoixtva/videos/1541509375944565/
There appears to be some benefit for the album from all this publicity – it is currently #50 on iTunes in Canada (and that’s primarily from the French portion of the country), but it is obviously minimal for the tour, with nothing (yet) scheduled there. Chameleon, which may have just been released as the new single there, is #97 on iTunes in Canada. It’s highly unlikely that Lara ever considered that Quebec would be the preferred destination for her new English album (!) – the value of publicity.
In that regard, Lara’s people said the US promotion would start in January, and we are now seeing some evidence of it. On the ‘newswire’ (thanks to Marco Duplessis on LFIAG Select) comes this communique (https://www.newswire.com/news/lara-fabian-kicks-off-camouflage-world-tour-in-usa-on-february-2-20130094):
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Lara Fabian Kicks Off Camouflage World Tour in USA on February 2
U.S. Tour Dates Set for Miami, NYC, Washington D.C., Chicago and Los Angeles
PRESS RELEASE UPDATED: JAN 2, 2018
Lara Fabian Camouflage World Tour
NEW YORK, January 2, 2018 (Newswire.com) - Get ready for more LARA FABIAN! Her highly-anticipated world tour kicks off in North America beginning February 2018. After selling more than 20 million albums worldwide, Fabian is returning to the international scene with her 13th studio album, CAMOUFLAGE, consisting of 12 songs, written and composed by Fabian together with Sharon Vaughn (USA) and Moh Denebi (Sweden). THE CAMOUFLAGE WORLD TOUR launches in the USA on Feb. 2 in Miami, Florida, and spans 40 dates worldwide, culminating in a Paris show in June of 2018.
THE CAMOUFLAGE WORLD TOUR is Lara Fabian’s first tour based on her English-language repertoire, which started with the release of her self-titled U.S. album in 1999. The album, written and produced by some of the most respected figures in the music industry including Glen Ballard and Walter Afanasieff, featured several titles that topped the Billboard charts, such as the #1 Billboard dance/pop hit I Will Love Again.
Other titles, such as Adagio, Love by Grace, and Broken Vow were global hits covered by many artists. Following her initial success, she released a second English album in 2004 titled, A Wonderful Life featuring Review my Kisses, written by Desmond Child, I Guess I Loved You and No Big Deal. The dance/pop song I Am Who I Am, remixed by Hex Hector quickly became an underground club hit.
The highly anticipated Camouflage was released on Oct. 6, 2017, as Fabian’s first original English album in more than a decade. Co-written and co-composed by Fabian — together with Moh Denebi and Sharon Vaughn, and produced by Moh Denebi (Stockholm/Los Angeles) — Camouflage revisits Fabian’s vocal-pop roots combined with a contemporary progressive pop sound that is Moh Denebi’s signature. The first single from the album, Growing Wings, was released on Aug. 4, 2017.
The Camouflage World Tour is visually stunning and innovative. The set list is based on the new album, as well as music from Lara’s previous English albums, and her international hits.
CAMOUFLAGE US TOUR 2018 ITINERARY
February 2 - Miami - Fillmore Theatre
February 5 - New York City - Beacon Theatre
February 7 - Washington D.C. - Warner Theater
February 9 - Chicago - Copernicus Center
February 11 - Los Angeles - Pasadena Civic Auditorium
Tickets are available online at www.larafabian.com/shows. Those ordering tickets online for the U.S. Tour will receive their choice of a digital or physical copy of the Camouflage album with every ticket purchased.
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As further emphasis, Lara has changed the title picture on her FB site to emphasize the world tour, especially the U.S. component,
www.facebook.com/larafabianofficial/photos/a.338665829508254.73574.201065806601591/1874546165920205/?type=1&theater
and on her Instagram site, a picture with the caption “Setting up for the Stockholm band rehearsal.. D-25.. tickets at larafabian.com/shows”, visible at
http://instagram.com/p/BdsW4VDhxLD
In addition, the promotion can even be seen on taxis in New York City, at
www.facebook.com/lara.fabian.us2018/photos/pcb.1924722780935165/1924722740935169/?type=3&theater
with the caption “Let’s go for a ride. New York tickets here: bit.ly/FabianNY”
You may notice the address of that site (https://www.facebook.com/lara.fabian.us2018/) – apparently it is an official site dedicated to Lara’s US 2018 tour. One may think it has just opened, but, no, it’s been around since the beginning of August [although this is the first I’ve heard of it]. Why hasn’t Lara’s own FB site publicized it? It does carry some material not on her personal FB site, including for example, this picture:
www.facebook.com/lara.fabian.us2018/photos/a.1712100498864062.1073741828.1712095368864575/1924952017578908/?type=3&theater
with the caption “The weather in the U.S. has been freezing recently. Lara Fabian will soon warm your hearts during her U.S. tour.”
[Another entry will be included in the interesting photo(s) below]. So if one is interested in the U.S. and other promotion that is being generated, this site seems to be a good place to look.
In news more directly related to the album, there are some occasional reviews still appearing for Camouflage, perhaps as people discover how good it is. One such (in French) can be found at (http://fp.nightfall.fr/index_10970_lara-fabian-camouflage.html). Here’s the translation:
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Lara FABIAN - Camouflage (2017)
By BAKER on January 4 2018
Losing one’s gift / one’s material / one’s abilities / one’s talent / one’s desire / one’s checking account (yes) to make music is one of the worst things that can happen to an artist. I'm not talking about JUL and other BB BRUNES who have never had the stuff from the start, well, but people who had qualities but have had to stop everything. Their return is generally conducive to albums or concepts particularly interesting, because they know what they almost lost, what they would never have been able to achieve. Having suffered severe acoustic trauma after her album "Le Secret" (note: we also give thanks to the mastering of the said Secret), that is to say, right after one of the worst moments of her career, Lara was back on tiptoe with a new album nice but very uneven [NB: TLFM]. We were far from suspecting that she was going to try again the experience of an English-language album, she who seemed to have definitely turned her back on her American career years ago.
Nor did we suspect that the result would be so unexpected.
Because whether one loves this album or not, it is impossible to deny one ... no, two obvious things. The first is that it does not sound like Lara FABIAN. At all. It does not sound, or very little ("I'm breakable", "Choose"), like the screamer formerly mocked by the Guignols (the time when this program was funny. Some of you were not born.), but beyond that it does not sound either like "Le Secret", nor like "Nue", nor, more interesting, like any of the [previous] English albums of the lady. The second obvious thing is that once one has forgotten that it was Lara at the microphone, but also for the composition (for there too she has reinvented herself), we are in the presence of a ‘typical’ record of international variety, but in the top of the basket. The overall quality is estimable, and the prod, my god, the prod, she has ABSOLUTELY nothing to envy to SIA, Katy PERRY and others LADY GAGA. Classy, highly eye-catching certainly, but perfectly in line with the style, with synths and voice effects all simply beautiful. You have to love contemporary pop, obviously. But in its genre, it is a must. It just misses a detail, but it is important: where are the big meowing guitar solos and tear-jerkers that Lara’s fond of?
Otherwise, from the first title, a "Growing Wings" as heavy in meaning textually as light melodically, the metamorphosis is implemented: Lara takes her place where she left it, alongside Whitney, Céline and Mariah, this time with a record capable of competing in the same heavyweight category. Certainly, that is nothing to write home about, but on the one hand they have never asked anyone, these brave waterfowl, and on the other hand, that passes all alone, like water through the rocks. Small bonus: it's brick-walled, obviously, but the voice, oh miracle, does not saturate! So, see that it's possible! And suddenly, well your little album, it lets itself be listened to from one end to the other without any displeasure. Apart from "Keep The Animals Away", which goes nowhere, the titles follow each other and resemble each other; not in the melodies but in the quality. "If I Let You" and her frankly excellent intro (Lara remains a very effective composer), "We Are The Flyers" more acoustic and recalling Mariah CAREY period "Music Box", the cute ballad of (almost) end "Perfect".
The lady is also looking for the hit ... and sometimes touches it: "We Are The Storm" full of emphasis, "I'm Breakable" a little screamed but with an impossible-to-miss chorus, and then this "Choose What You Love Most" whose rather clever symphonic arrangements sublimate the transpose ... ah, the transpose of this song, but what fucking to the last degree! Even at Eurovision, it would be refused. And you know what ? Well, it works. As works (almost) "Chameleon" and "Communify", yet very close to Katy PERRY including the level of her hideous brass r'n'b 2010s. And when the melody is not enough, or not, Lara plays with her voice, as she has never done before; oh, not screaming, but whispering, whistling, echoing, reverb, filters, everything. Behind the know-how cold enough and Americanized, because that's what it's about, we feel the pleasure of creating in the studio, a pleasure that can be found in far too few records of its kind. Not extraordinary but very well done and rarely boring. "Camouflage" is it a good album of Lara FABIAN? One would be tempted to say no, so much the pretty lady (what a cover, my goodness!) is transfigured. Is it a good record of international variety? Without any hesitation, yes.
Final score: 3.5 plus half point for redoubled efforts
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A great pleasure to read such an intelligent review. It covers all the points made by those who both love this album, and feel it is not truly ‘Lara’. Too bad there have not been a lot of reviews in the English language press…
In other news, once again, sad to say, Lara has had to comment on the death of a fellow singer. In this case it was France Gall, who passed away at the age of 70 from cancer. Lara wrote on her Twitter site () (in translation):
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She had this small
Additional soul
This indefinable charm
This little flame
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Lara’s comment, as well as others, were copied in an article in Charts-in-France (http://www.chartsinfrance.net/France-Gall/news-105877.html#XH0PiLMOuWcAi3z9.99). You may remember that Lara covered her song “Babacar” on her album “Toutes les femmes en moi” as a bonus selection (e.g., www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROaVwvUjDaU), indicating the importance Lara felt for her as a singer.
The Lara Fabian Bien Plus Qu’une Passion – Corse Reunion site produced a nice video of the two of them together, at
www.facebook.com/LaraFabianBienPlusQuunePassionCorseReunion/videos/767133596814152/
set to Lara’s singing of Évidemment", which was originally recorded by France Gall. [It was asingle from Gall’s album Babacar and was released on 7 March 1988, and became a top ten hit]. [Great videos of Lara singing it with Rick Allison can be seen at www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBk9HJibe3k, and of Lara singing it alone at www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_WRZ7LW1tw]. Lara also performed songs from 'Starmania' associated with France Gall.
In brighter news, the Lara Fabian Bien Plus Qu’une Passion – Corse Reunion site provided a link to the following information: there is to be the start of the exhibition-sale of the artist Santina Vaccalluzzo in Paris (Crowne Plaza Paris-Neuilly). She will present 6 works including the one of Lara Fabian we’ve seen previously, i.e.,
www.facebook.com/LaraFabianBienPlusQuunePassionCorseReunion/photos/pcb.765123410348504/765122963681882/?type=3&theater
The Expo will take place from 03 to 24/01/2018
Opening the 03/01/2018 from 19 pm to 21 pm
Open nonstop from Monday to Sunday
58 BOULEVARD VICTOR HUGO
92200 Neuilly-Sur-Seine
Tel. : 01 55 63 64 65
Exhibition-sale work Santina Vaccalluzzo-Musée Mola
The Lara Fabian Greece site provided photos from the video of the photoshoot by Laurence Labat (to be unveiled fully later this year),
www.facebook.com/pg/larafabiangreece/photos/?tab=album&album_id=835011823290579
[As covered previously, the video itself is at vimeo.com/248201261, and this past week Lara chose to link to it directly from her FB site].
Interesting photo(s) of the week: following that last item, the photo that Laurence Labat chose to put on his site from the photoshoot (that will be more fully revealed sometime this year),
www.facebook.com/LaurenceLabatPhotographe/photos/a.426673044047055.87400.420644654649894/1625207077526973/?type=3&ifg=1
while he also added some additional photos from the ‘making of’ photoshoot itself, at:
www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1976998432326796&set=pcb.1977018262324813&type=3&theater
The Lara Fabian – PHQ site picked out one of those photos for special emphasis – as can be seen from the original source:
www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1976998558993450&set=pcb.1977018262324813&type=3&theater
The complete caption for these photos reads: “I feel extremely pampered and grateful that Lara Fabian, this great artist has agreed to represent this tribute to women, timeless and magnified by her beauty a huge thank you Lara!
A team of passionate and professional professionals who would not have been able to see the day. Thank you all for your trust.
My friend and designer CLUC Couture created this dress for Lara, for this project.
Francois Dussault helped me choose all these natural flowers and set up this floral wall: a work of Titan!
The Beauty of Lara by Masters: Richard Bouthillier and Jonathan Lee
My Fire Assistants: Laurence Vallières, Dominic Gauthier and our intern margot
The Beautiful Graphic Paw of my friend Sophie Desjardins
Les Images Are from Yannick Garon-Mondoux, always faithful to my most insane projects :-)
Thanks to Junior Bombardier for your precious help
And a big thank you to Victor Hugo!!
This sentence that knows so well define my thinking and accompanies my image for the best.: "when everything becomes small, women you stay big"
And from the Lara Fabian World Tour 2018 site, a ‘GIF’
www.facebook.com/lara.fabian.us2018/videos/1928651877208922/
This coming week we may see the official release everywhere of ‘Chamelion’ as the third single from the album, and possibly even the remix that has been promised. Hopefully the official ramping up of the U.S. tour promotion will allow Lara to make an impact in the U.S. media, even if she is still in Quebec – where additional promotions organized by TVA for La Voix are always possible. For the sake of the album, it would be good if the promotional efforts included getting some of the many U.S. music publications to review it; they couldn’t help but be impressed.
David