Post by davidhr on Aug 31, 2008 11:06:26 GMT -5
As noted by Paula in the thread of the last update, Lara now has two upcoming concerts with Mario Frangoulis – one in London on Sept. 19th, and the other in Athens on the 24th. Together with the private concert for fan club members in mid-October, these mark a welcome return to her career, further verified by a new message Lara put on the official site. To save those who haven’t seen it the trouble of going there, here is the English translation they provided:
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My Angels,
A little message just to know how you are doing.
As far as I am concerned, I’m working on the next album, as you may probably know... I cannot tell you more about it for the moment, but I hope you will like it... I do it with my heart, with my voice and my Soul... It is so good to go back into the studio... I think of You and while I do the recording, ideas for the next tour occur to me: colors, scenery etc... Everything !!!... I feel so happy to meet you on the road again...
Time is pressing on me to come to the close, I must go back to work...
Lots of kisses...
Tenderly
Lara
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As with her previous message, this one seemed to be forced by events. It followed, of course, the false, detailed rumors concerning her next album, and the probably accurate discussion of the new album by Matt Herskowitz. However, the more immediate forerunner was a condemnation of the official web site and Lara’s lack of involvement that broke out on its own forum. Instigated by a particular fan, it nevertheless got plenty of support from others who wrote in. Their main points were the following:
1)The discussion of the false new album went on for five pages on the official site without any correction from Lara’s people.
2)The fans themselves had to act like journalists, call Universal, and get the correct information before Christian on the official site deigned to intervene.
3)Lara had (as of that time) not provided any new message in months – and some fans suggested it would take her no more than five minutes to write one. They also noted that artists on other sites are much more responsive (and I can attest to that, though it does depend on the artist). It was also felt to be inappropriate that news about her has to come from other artists (e.g., Matt Herskowitz, Mauranne).
4)There is so little information provided that the major discussions on Lara’s site occur in the category associated with “other artists” (i.e., much more discussion about Celine Dion on Lara’s site than of Lara herself). The most interesting (and contentious) discussions on the site are generally removed (the one course of action Lara’s people do take). Obviously part of this is due to her inactivity over the course of the last year, but Lara’s people do little to keep interest alive.
5)Information about the appearances Lara does make are sparse and incomplete – for example, there is no indication of how to get tickets for the concerts on Reunion Island. [In addition, the London concert was not officially confirmed until fans found out about it from Frangoulis, and the Athens concert has still not been discussed.]
As if to verify point #4, this whole thread was removed, but it would appear to have had the effect of prompting Lara’s message, uninformative as it was. The discussion did continue on Hezia’s site (which has grown much more lenient in allowing it) – and a surprising number of people doubted that Lara even wrote it, as they thought it didn’t sound like her. Regardless, it wouldn’t have appeared without her consent.
Lara did have her supporters, who chimed in mostly after her new message was posted. They felt it was wrong that Lara should be forced to respond just because fans demanded information, when she may not have been ready. It is a balancing act, but clearly Lara does not operate in a vacuum, and has to be sensitive to the needs of her fans (while they’re still there).
To some degree, the dissatisfaction arises primarily because Lara has been ‘off-stage’. But, as has been said ad infinitum, on a more important level it is indicative of Lara’s people’s poor public relations skills. When negativity starts to dominate an official site, which is usually home to nothing but paeans to artists, one can see how wrong things have gone.
The inactivity continues to take its toll on websites. Lara-fabian.net appears to be dead; larafabianweb.com seems to be equally listless, as it still gives the discredited December 1st release date for the new album; even the forum on Hezia’s site has often been closed recently (as you may know, Hezia is fighting breast cancer, and one hopes the closings are not related to that). On a positive note, however, the Russian site larafabian-rus.narod.ru is back up and up-to-date (it lists the Frangoulis concert in London). Rejuvenation of her career would hopefully extend to websites as well.
Lara’s appearance in London, even in a supporting role (as a special guest star) is a big deal for her. Mario Frangoulis, in introducing her to his English and Greek speaking audience, is effectively doing for her what Gigi d’Alessio did for her in Italy (and she did for him in France). Let’s hope this time it is more effective. She has said in the past that the Heads of record companies in England come to see her shows in France – now they won’t have so far to go, and perhaps it will encourage more English productions. A promo video is available on youtube at:
fr.youtube.com/watch?v=Ote15TkhmFw
David
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My Angels,
A little message just to know how you are doing.
As far as I am concerned, I’m working on the next album, as you may probably know... I cannot tell you more about it for the moment, but I hope you will like it... I do it with my heart, with my voice and my Soul... It is so good to go back into the studio... I think of You and while I do the recording, ideas for the next tour occur to me: colors, scenery etc... Everything !!!... I feel so happy to meet you on the road again...
Time is pressing on me to come to the close, I must go back to work...
Lots of kisses...
Tenderly
Lara
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As with her previous message, this one seemed to be forced by events. It followed, of course, the false, detailed rumors concerning her next album, and the probably accurate discussion of the new album by Matt Herskowitz. However, the more immediate forerunner was a condemnation of the official web site and Lara’s lack of involvement that broke out on its own forum. Instigated by a particular fan, it nevertheless got plenty of support from others who wrote in. Their main points were the following:
1)The discussion of the false new album went on for five pages on the official site without any correction from Lara’s people.
2)The fans themselves had to act like journalists, call Universal, and get the correct information before Christian on the official site deigned to intervene.
3)Lara had (as of that time) not provided any new message in months – and some fans suggested it would take her no more than five minutes to write one. They also noted that artists on other sites are much more responsive (and I can attest to that, though it does depend on the artist). It was also felt to be inappropriate that news about her has to come from other artists (e.g., Matt Herskowitz, Mauranne).
4)There is so little information provided that the major discussions on Lara’s site occur in the category associated with “other artists” (i.e., much more discussion about Celine Dion on Lara’s site than of Lara herself). The most interesting (and contentious) discussions on the site are generally removed (the one course of action Lara’s people do take). Obviously part of this is due to her inactivity over the course of the last year, but Lara’s people do little to keep interest alive.
5)Information about the appearances Lara does make are sparse and incomplete – for example, there is no indication of how to get tickets for the concerts on Reunion Island. [In addition, the London concert was not officially confirmed until fans found out about it from Frangoulis, and the Athens concert has still not been discussed.]
As if to verify point #4, this whole thread was removed, but it would appear to have had the effect of prompting Lara’s message, uninformative as it was. The discussion did continue on Hezia’s site (which has grown much more lenient in allowing it) – and a surprising number of people doubted that Lara even wrote it, as they thought it didn’t sound like her. Regardless, it wouldn’t have appeared without her consent.
Lara did have her supporters, who chimed in mostly after her new message was posted. They felt it was wrong that Lara should be forced to respond just because fans demanded information, when she may not have been ready. It is a balancing act, but clearly Lara does not operate in a vacuum, and has to be sensitive to the needs of her fans (while they’re still there).
To some degree, the dissatisfaction arises primarily because Lara has been ‘off-stage’. But, as has been said ad infinitum, on a more important level it is indicative of Lara’s people’s poor public relations skills. When negativity starts to dominate an official site, which is usually home to nothing but paeans to artists, one can see how wrong things have gone.
The inactivity continues to take its toll on websites. Lara-fabian.net appears to be dead; larafabianweb.com seems to be equally listless, as it still gives the discredited December 1st release date for the new album; even the forum on Hezia’s site has often been closed recently (as you may know, Hezia is fighting breast cancer, and one hopes the closings are not related to that). On a positive note, however, the Russian site larafabian-rus.narod.ru is back up and up-to-date (it lists the Frangoulis concert in London). Rejuvenation of her career would hopefully extend to websites as well.
Lara’s appearance in London, even in a supporting role (as a special guest star) is a big deal for her. Mario Frangoulis, in introducing her to his English and Greek speaking audience, is effectively doing for her what Gigi d’Alessio did for her in Italy (and she did for him in France). Let’s hope this time it is more effective. She has said in the past that the Heads of record companies in England come to see her shows in France – now they won’t have so far to go, and perhaps it will encourage more English productions. A promo video is available on youtube at:
fr.youtube.com/watch?v=Ote15TkhmFw
David
