Post by lapayin on Feb 25, 2007 18:26:17 GMT -5
Lara finished her whirlwind tour of the Canadian media this week and on Saturday flew back to Europe. In her wake she left a highly positive impression covering some 20 media opportunities, some of which have yet to appear.
This good impression was left at least partly because she was so overwhelmingly positive: positive about being back in Quebec, about her new home, about the people and their spirit of generosity, about how her problems of the past few years had made her a better person, about her recent albums and coming projects. She even refused to say anything negative about Rick Allison or Sony. This approach, which has been seen in Europe now for the past year with equally positive effect, was new to the Canadian media who remembered her for her intensity. Now she was much lighter and laughed a lot - and even, as in the 'Bambina" intro clip shown on TV, appeared as a clown (which she said she has always been, it just hadn't become known). In effect, what they saw was someone who, from their perspective, had changed. While that concept appeared to surprise her a little, she did say that 'we project our lives, and if we're not happy about how they're going, it is up to us to walk out of the theatre' and change them. One could say that in the 3 and half years she has been gone (professionally) from Quebec, she has grown up, and when you haven't seen someone for that time, the growth is magnified.
What we learned specifically was:
-Lara felt she had been sick for four years, with one very bad part (i.e., 2004). Hard to know what she defines as 'sickness' here - it could be just a negative mental state, except for the adenoma she has mentioned previously. She helped cure herself with the aide of people from Quebec, in particular a woman who teaches "total biology" - that includes mentally accepting the state that you're in.
- She would like to redo some of her old songs in her four different languages, but can't yet because of 'rights issues'.
-With respect to that, if she and Rick Allison "had been honest with each other, they wouldn't be in their current situation" - but despite that, she really wouldn't change anything, their relationship was the most important part of her professional career, and has allowed her to move on to new horizons.
-With respect to "A Wonderful Life", Sony dropped her, along with a number of other musical acts, because they were losing money (she didn't mention that in response to their treatment, she bought out her contract from Sony and took back the rights to the songs). She feels that AWL rests where it is, she made valuable contacts in doing it, and is focused on going forward with a multi-lingual album (perhaps by the end of the year).
-In contrast, the album to be released this spring, of all new songs (for her), will be all Italian.
-When shown the video of "Dancing Cheek to Cheek" she noted how much she loved working with Marc Labreche on the song and following skit (showing them as old people still doing that number) , and that they had spent many hours preparing it. She said that she didn't have a copy of it - and was quite happy when the host (Michel Jasmin) said they would make one for her. (Funny that Lara doesn't have what many of her fans do….). She said in the video she looked like her grandmother - and at the time when she showed the video to her father, he thought it WAS his mother. She feels this sort of material is what she'd like to do more of - in addition to continue her singing career - because after all, she is "really an entertainer".
- In response to Sonia Benezra's comment that Lara has many fans in Israel and should visit there, we found out that she can sing in Hebrew - and in fact feels herself to be Jewish (even though she isn't). Her boyfriend, Gerard Pullicino is, and that may contribute to her comments - we know that Lara, like all of us to some extent, takes on the coloring of her surroundings (illustrated further by her speaking with a French Canadian accent in these interviews).
-When asked what nationality she considers herself, she noted that she has both Canadian and Belgian citizenship, and because of her mother, could have Italian citizenship if she wanted it, but that, all clichés aside, she considers herself a "citizen of the world".
-The Montreal concerts in April will be a replay of the 'Un Regard Neuf' tour, to be directed by Gerard Pullicino. It will be the reopening of the Olympia Theatre in Montreal (which as noted previously, was the venue for her first public appearance in Canada).
-The theatre production she will be doing starting September has not actually been written yet, and the hope for a subsequent movie was, at this stage, just that, a hope. [This makes one wonder how solid the theatre engagement really is…]
-She is still intent on having a child (although she didn't repeat this as often as she did last fall).
The response of the media in Quebec was in its own way quite surprising. Lara's concert last spring was basically ignored by most of the media outlets, especially ahead of time, though they were forced to take note when the audience reaction was so extreme. Even the VIP seats were sold to the audience because they weren't being used. If you remember, she was told on a radio show that she was no longer considered a 'Quebec artist'. This past November, the response became more positive, but nothing like it was this time. Perhaps it was her new attitude, but probably equally important was her buying a home and indicating that she had, in effect, moved back and now considered herself a Quebec denizen. Also, the hosts indicated that they had been paying attention to all that she had been doing in Europe and around the world, were impressed, and in a way seemed grateful that someone with that resumé was returning. All in all, the promotion could not have been more rewarding for everyone concerned.
Of course, her 'return' now faces the reality of her responsibilities across the ocean. With that in mind, she now heads to Italy for the San Remo festival. On March 1 and 2, Lara will appear with Gigi D'alessio at the Ariston theatre in San Remo. The show on March 2 will be live on Italian TV Channel 1. It has been said that she will spend a good part of March in Italy promoting their duet "Un Cuore Malato" and preparing the country for her upcoming album, but even that can't really be true, since from the 16-27 of March she will be performing in France with the "Night of the Proms" tour. The problem with being a 'citizen of the world' is that everybody expects you to have the greatest loyalty to them - and become disappointed when you spend time with someone else. Lara's enthusiasm and intense promotion in Quebec has left some of her European fans feeling somewhat uneasy; it will take a lot of work on her part to persuade all these different nationalities that they can share in her work and life, but that they don't own her.
Meanwhile, the single of "Un Cuore Malato" was released this past week, being the third single from Gigi D'alessio's album "Made in Italy", and is currently being played on some 57 Italian radio stations.
Back in France, there was a short segment on Lara concerning 'caprices of the stars', which featured Lara's penchant for always eating some pastries (for energy) before going on-stage. On the web it was noted that a more compelling 'caprice' was her desire to be only photographed from the left side.
As you are probably aware, Lara's appearances in Quebec were made readily available on the web, due to the generosity of the Canadian fans and the availability of some of the media outlets on the internet. It will be interesting to see whether her Italian appearances are equally as obtainable - in a sense, we're moving into new territory here. This coming week will be a good test.
David
Grazie David.
This good impression was left at least partly because she was so overwhelmingly positive: positive about being back in Quebec, about her new home, about the people and their spirit of generosity, about how her problems of the past few years had made her a better person, about her recent albums and coming projects. She even refused to say anything negative about Rick Allison or Sony. This approach, which has been seen in Europe now for the past year with equally positive effect, was new to the Canadian media who remembered her for her intensity. Now she was much lighter and laughed a lot - and even, as in the 'Bambina" intro clip shown on TV, appeared as a clown (which she said she has always been, it just hadn't become known). In effect, what they saw was someone who, from their perspective, had changed. While that concept appeared to surprise her a little, she did say that 'we project our lives, and if we're not happy about how they're going, it is up to us to walk out of the theatre' and change them. One could say that in the 3 and half years she has been gone (professionally) from Quebec, she has grown up, and when you haven't seen someone for that time, the growth is magnified.
What we learned specifically was:
-Lara felt she had been sick for four years, with one very bad part (i.e., 2004). Hard to know what she defines as 'sickness' here - it could be just a negative mental state, except for the adenoma she has mentioned previously. She helped cure herself with the aide of people from Quebec, in particular a woman who teaches "total biology" - that includes mentally accepting the state that you're in.
- She would like to redo some of her old songs in her four different languages, but can't yet because of 'rights issues'.
-With respect to that, if she and Rick Allison "had been honest with each other, they wouldn't be in their current situation" - but despite that, she really wouldn't change anything, their relationship was the most important part of her professional career, and has allowed her to move on to new horizons.
-With respect to "A Wonderful Life", Sony dropped her, along with a number of other musical acts, because they were losing money (she didn't mention that in response to their treatment, she bought out her contract from Sony and took back the rights to the songs). She feels that AWL rests where it is, she made valuable contacts in doing it, and is focused on going forward with a multi-lingual album (perhaps by the end of the year).
-In contrast, the album to be released this spring, of all new songs (for her), will be all Italian.
-When shown the video of "Dancing Cheek to Cheek" she noted how much she loved working with Marc Labreche on the song and following skit (showing them as old people still doing that number) , and that they had spent many hours preparing it. She said that she didn't have a copy of it - and was quite happy when the host (Michel Jasmin) said they would make one for her. (Funny that Lara doesn't have what many of her fans do….). She said in the video she looked like her grandmother - and at the time when she showed the video to her father, he thought it WAS his mother. She feels this sort of material is what she'd like to do more of - in addition to continue her singing career - because after all, she is "really an entertainer".
- In response to Sonia Benezra's comment that Lara has many fans in Israel and should visit there, we found out that she can sing in Hebrew - and in fact feels herself to be Jewish (even though she isn't). Her boyfriend, Gerard Pullicino is, and that may contribute to her comments - we know that Lara, like all of us to some extent, takes on the coloring of her surroundings (illustrated further by her speaking with a French Canadian accent in these interviews).
-When asked what nationality she considers herself, she noted that she has both Canadian and Belgian citizenship, and because of her mother, could have Italian citizenship if she wanted it, but that, all clichés aside, she considers herself a "citizen of the world".
-The Montreal concerts in April will be a replay of the 'Un Regard Neuf' tour, to be directed by Gerard Pullicino. It will be the reopening of the Olympia Theatre in Montreal (which as noted previously, was the venue for her first public appearance in Canada).
-The theatre production she will be doing starting September has not actually been written yet, and the hope for a subsequent movie was, at this stage, just that, a hope. [This makes one wonder how solid the theatre engagement really is…]
-She is still intent on having a child (although she didn't repeat this as often as she did last fall).
The response of the media in Quebec was in its own way quite surprising. Lara's concert last spring was basically ignored by most of the media outlets, especially ahead of time, though they were forced to take note when the audience reaction was so extreme. Even the VIP seats were sold to the audience because they weren't being used. If you remember, she was told on a radio show that she was no longer considered a 'Quebec artist'. This past November, the response became more positive, but nothing like it was this time. Perhaps it was her new attitude, but probably equally important was her buying a home and indicating that she had, in effect, moved back and now considered herself a Quebec denizen. Also, the hosts indicated that they had been paying attention to all that she had been doing in Europe and around the world, were impressed, and in a way seemed grateful that someone with that resumé was returning. All in all, the promotion could not have been more rewarding for everyone concerned.
Of course, her 'return' now faces the reality of her responsibilities across the ocean. With that in mind, she now heads to Italy for the San Remo festival. On March 1 and 2, Lara will appear with Gigi D'alessio at the Ariston theatre in San Remo. The show on March 2 will be live on Italian TV Channel 1. It has been said that she will spend a good part of March in Italy promoting their duet "Un Cuore Malato" and preparing the country for her upcoming album, but even that can't really be true, since from the 16-27 of March she will be performing in France with the "Night of the Proms" tour. The problem with being a 'citizen of the world' is that everybody expects you to have the greatest loyalty to them - and become disappointed when you spend time with someone else. Lara's enthusiasm and intense promotion in Quebec has left some of her European fans feeling somewhat uneasy; it will take a lot of work on her part to persuade all these different nationalities that they can share in her work and life, but that they don't own her.
Meanwhile, the single of "Un Cuore Malato" was released this past week, being the third single from Gigi D'alessio's album "Made in Italy", and is currently being played on some 57 Italian radio stations.
Back in France, there was a short segment on Lara concerning 'caprices of the stars', which featured Lara's penchant for always eating some pastries (for energy) before going on-stage. On the web it was noted that a more compelling 'caprice' was her desire to be only photographed from the left side.
As you are probably aware, Lara's appearances in Quebec were made readily available on the web, due to the generosity of the Canadian fans and the availability of some of the media outlets on the internet. It will be interesting to see whether her Italian appearances are equally as obtainable - in a sense, we're moving into new territory here. This coming week will be a good test.
David
Grazie David.
