Post by davidhr on Dec 29, 2009 15:55:48 GMT -5
News concerning the numerous television shows that Lara has been recording dominated the proceedings this past week, which otherwise Lara spent in Quebec for the holidays (see below). Her performance on "les petits chanteurs a la croix de bois" aired on RTBF in Belgium on the 26th (it will be shown on France 3 the 29th). She sang Mamy Bleu and looked resplendent. A small article with accompanying photo is available at:
www.tv8.ch/web/DetailEmission.aspx?IdDiff=32743089
and hopefully the video will be available after the show airs in France.
Lara's appearance on the show "Les enfants de la tele" also aired on the 26th, on France 1. Lara was very pretty, though some found her laugh a bit exaggerated. Consistent with its name, the humor is pretty sophomoric. It is available on NABBOX.
There was a small note in the publication telestar concerning the recording of the game show "N'oubliez pas les paroles". It described Lara as being very funny, with the participants laughing a lot. The program is scheduled to be shown on January 1st. Similarly, Lara was described as quite funny on the program 'l'ecole des fans' - recorded on October 26, it is still to be shown. You may remember that Lara has done this program in the past; one fan pointed out two cute videos from the program (the whole show is actually available):
www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1Q8bGdOZJM
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PY__rkX3PI
And fans yesterday received their invitations to the January 11 taping of 'Panique dans l'oreillette', to be shown on the 13th. There was considerable speculation as to who would appear as Lara's friends/co-workers on this interview show; the wildest speculation was Rick Allison (I wouldn't be on it…).
In response to the questions concerning the state of Lara's concert tour, Nathalie put the following (translated) notice on the official site forum
--------------------
"Contrary to rumors circulating on the Net, no date of Lara's has been canceled. Some have indeed been postponed because technical unknowns prevented us from playing in the theaters originally planned. As Lara is still wishing to present a show in the cities concerned, we opted for a transfer to another place that can accommodate us and allow Lara to provide TLFM but also EWIM."
The Producer
---------------------
Needless to say, fans did not believe a word of this. It was pointed out that concerts have been cancelled (e.g., Lorient, while Fontenay has been moved to La Rochelle), and that to imply that some of the big Zeniths were no longer being used because they were not able to accommodate the show was laughable. It was also noted that the comment about presenting EWIM as well as TLFM - short-hand notation for the acoustic concert rather than the big extravaganza - should have been advertised when the tickets were sold, rather than sprung on the audience as a surprise. Presumably, this was an unexpected, fall back position that Lara had to adopt.
Perhaps making lemonade out of lemons, Lara told a fan backstage at the concert in Montpellier (following the acoustic concert in Colfontaine) that because of the success of the acoustic show, she would do 50 such concerts in small rooms at the end of next year. By that time presumably she will be promoting "Mademoiselle Zhivago". People have wondered whether there will be another concert tour to promote this album; perhaps this is their answer. However, as both Lara and Igor Krutoi have indicated that the album will have a symphony orchestra for accompaniment, one wonders how well it can be promoted in 'piano-voice'.
Some concert pictures of Lara from the recent shows in Nice and Marseille can be found at :
picture.belga.be/belgapicture/editorial/all/quick-search.html?page=1
(You may need to do a search for Lara's name; thanks to MyDream on Hezia's site.)
Lara was on Mistral FM on the 18th. The video of her appearance, and some nice photos can be seen at (thanks to Wendy on the official site):http://www.mistralfm.fr/
The December 'Platine' magazine published a notice concerning the release of EWIM, basically just listing the songs and their originators. They also provided a review of the TLFM concert in Paris in early October - and despite their negative review of the album, the concert review was as glowing as one could wish for (perhaps they are now regretting their earlier harsh and condescending tone to the album). The actual review and an accompanying picture is available at (thanks to valou 712):
farm5.static.flickr.com/4042/4225131884_a46a2a9f03_b.jpg
Valou 712 also provided scans of two other recent articles, 'Bebe Zen' and 'Ici Paris', both referred to in previous updates; see the appropriate topics on the official site for the URLs. In the latter publication, the article called 'le noel de stars', Lara says she is spending Christmas in Montreal with her fiancé - both interesting comments! Hopefully she has enjoyed herself.
This holiday week update closes with the usual 'year-in-review'.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Year In Review 2009
At the close of last year, in that year-end-review, it was noted that there were reasons to be optimistic about 2009: her new album was scheduled, with the possibility of English and Italian versions, and her public career was likely to be reignited. Most of that actually did come to pass, so in comparison with 2008, 2009 did mark Lara's return to the public consciousness. If it was a glass not completely full, at least it contained enough nourishment to keep her fans involved.
On the other hand, it was also noted in last year's review, that Lara's great talent and personality have generally allowed her to overcome her habitual public relations debacles. If her talents were on greater display this past year, so were her management shortcomings, and the tension between the two continued to agitate the fans and media alike. Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.
The year began in somewhat frustrating fashion for Lara. After the delay of her new album "Toutes les femmes en moi" from its planned October release, events had been put in motion to celebrate a March unveiling. This was to be in conjunction with a program Lara and Gerard were attempting to create for network distribution celebrating the Rights of Women (whose day is March 8th). It would be a perfect match, in that Lara's album celebrates women's contributions to her own life. However, January 2009 brought news that the album was to be pushed back further to April (and eventually it was released in late May), so all those plans had to be cancelled.
The year's beginning also marked the official opening of the new official site at www.larafabian.com. It marked the end of the "lara-fabian.fr" URL that had been put in place in response to her album 'Neuf' several years earlier. Speculation about whether the change meant anything substantive abounded, but the year proved otherwise; outside of a few improvements during the course of the year, it was plagued with much the same disfunctionality as the old site - unanswered questions, lack of attention by Lara's people (although Nathalie was a step-up over previous stewards), minimal 'extras' (though now bootleg videos are apparently allowed to be linked), and, above all, minimal contribution from Lara herself. In her favor, Nathalie did allow a bit more freedom for people to complain - which they did with abandon, although there were also many positive comments about Lara's singing and warm personal interactions during the course of the year.
As far as music was concerned, during the first month of the new year Lara's duets with Mario Frangoulis from the previous summer/fall became more readily available, both officially on a CD and via fans on youtube. Of particular note was their performance of 'All Alone Am I', in Greek and English. Lara also participated in an event with children singers ("Les Petits Chanteurs) dedicated to a charity helping children go to school ("Toutes à l'école"). Her outfit, featuring a somewhat extreme décolletage, precipitated some comment given the occasion.
The next two months were dominated by rumors concerning the release date for the new album. Lara cancelled several events during that time period, including one in Italy, in what appears to have been a stretch drive to get a new version of the album finished The first single "Soleil, Soleil" appeared in mid-March; ultimately it (and other songs) were played primarily on the 'France Bleu' stations throughout France, for whom Lara ended up doing many promotions. The reaction to the single was indicative of reviews the whole album would, in general, receive - Lara's singing was celebrated (and welcomed back), but the music wasn't deemed original enough to warrant great interest. Eventually a cute video for the song was released, with both Justine Henin (the tennis player/Lara's friend), and Nana Mouskouri (the song's original singer) appearing.
At the same time, the first glimmers of the fall tour appeared, scheduled to begin in September in Belgium and booking big houses (the Zeniths) throughout France. This choice ended up proving problematic for Lara - a case where a glass (or house) half empty was deemed not sufficient.
And in another on-going thread, Lara announced that she would appear in a production of "Victor Victoria" in Paris beginning in the Fall of 2010. As the year advanced, that possibility faded due to the emergence of a new album of original songs created with Igor Krutoi, scheduled to be released at just that time.
Lara returned to the public airways and the press in support of the album at the end of March and especially in the months of April and May. The airing of these shows from late April onward re-emphasized what people see in Lara - a great singer with a palpable 'joie de vivre'. And in what may be viewed as combined promotion/charity work, Lara participated in a show in which she appeared as a homeless person, and was filmed being ignored by passersby. The novelty of this event gave it great airplay throughout France.
In early May (prior to the album's official release) the first major review came in, from 'Platine'. It was a disaster (giving it just 2 stars), calling the album's reprises sub-par in comparison with the originals; the reviewer was even offended that Lara dared to remake these songs. It set the stage for a cascade of negative reviews mimicking these comments, and adding the feeling that the new arrangements, created by Simon Climie, amounted to little more than karaoke. The opinion was not unanimous; those who could see past the originals - or non-French speakers who weren't familiar with them - thought it a beautiful album, highly melodic with great singing. Nevertheless, Lara had to fight through the negative publicity for the next six months.
When the album was finally released May 27th, it contained a special addition. Lara had written letters to each of the singers whose songs she was reprising, explaining how their work had influenced her growing up and career. The letters were heartfelt, revealing and poignant, and served to put the songs in perspective. (Lara later said that most of them have actually been answered.) All in all, the package was a first class production, regardless of what one thought of the idea of presenting reprises as a come-back album. Sales went relatively well, and the album by the end of the year had become platinum in sales, staying on the charts for six months. Lara's fans were as mixed in their response as the media was, but the importance of her work is not to be denied.
With the album's release, Lara was now officially 'back', and through the months of May and June, she threw herself even more into its promotion with numerous TV and radio appearances, as well as press interviews. Of particular interest was the Belgian program "Quelque chose en nous de", filmed in late March for a May airing. It was a retrospective of Lara's career, with numerous guests and old video clips, as well as some live performances. It will likely remain as one of the best shows about Lara available.
The itinerary for the fall/winter tour continued to expand (eventually to reach some 60 dates), and its name was announced: "Toutes les femmes en moi font leur show" (All the women in me do their show). The magnitude of the event began to emerge - it would include holograms, with technology not seen before on the French stage, all produced by Lara's companion Gerard Pullicino.
During June, Lara also announced what she had hinted at previously - that TLFM would have an English-counterpart, called "Every Woman in Me", an homage to English-speaking singers who had influenced her. Furthermore, the album would soon be released. The reality of this became more apparent during a concert tour in Moscow during June, when Lara sang some of the songs from this album.
Her five concert dates in Moscow were a sign of a major push that Lara had been planning for that market, one which is likely to become even more apparent in 2010. (When TLFM was released in Russia, it opened #5 on their charts). During these concerts she also sang two songs from the album anticipated for next year with Igor Krutoi, one in French ("Demaine n'existe pas"), and one in Italian ("Lou"). We have since learned that the album is to be in four languages, and 'Demaine n'existe pas' has already been released as a single in Russia. It sounds like it could be an international hit. Subsequently Lara cancelled several July performances in France (including at the 'Tour de France') to add additional concerts in Russia or countries of the ex-Soviet Union (such as the "New Wave" show in Latvia in August). Going forward, she has used some free time in her upcoming schedule next February to add more concerts in the same locales.
During the summer doldrums in France, a topic that rose to the surface was whether there was a media 'cabal' against Lara in that country. Lara in effect endorsed that idea, complaining that the criticisms against her were personal rather than professional. While we have heard this topic before, the seemingly undeserved (to me, at least) criticisms of TLFM provided some justification for the assertion, and some of the comments about her were reprehensible. Clearly, Lara continues to inspire strong opinions, on both sides of the spectrum.
While the possibility of Lara's theatre career seemed to dim, at least for the next year, by the end of the summer a future film career was enlivened with two separate projects being discussed. In one, a movie entitled 'Charlie', Lara would play the role of the wife of one of the main characters. It was set to be filmed in northern Italy during her February 2010 concert break. Subsequently, the filming was pushed back to the summer of 2010 by personnel and finance issues, but it is still active, and Lara has indicated she is anxious to do it. In addition, Igor Krutoi announced that Lara will be part of a film to be released in association with their new album. Entitled 'Madame Zhivago' (the same name now given the new album), it will involve 11 vignettes of love and death, with stories matching in some way the cuts on the album. It too has been delayed; originally scheduled to be filmed in the Ukraine during Lara's concert break from mid-November to mid-December, it had to be cancelled due to the fear of swine flu infection. It is now scheduled to be filmed next spring. Both the movie and album are currently slated for a release next fall (though we know that can change, and various dates have been proposed).
The French return from vacation in September (for Lara, the vacation was apparently in Sicily) brought numerous new developments. "Toutes les femmes en moi" was released as the next single, and given that it is an original song, it was played on some additional radio stations in France (e.g., Cherie FM). Lara's 'TLFM font leur show' tour started in Belgium, with the holograms of the various singers accompanying Lara. In one nice touch, photos sent in by fans of themselves with Lara were shown behind her, while she sang 'Wind Beneath My Wings'. This was symbolic: throughout the year, whenever possible, Lara has emphasized that her career is supported emotionally by her fans, and a main aim of hers now is to please them. By showing their photos she was honoring them in the same way that she is honoring the singers who have helped her become who she is. The concert included songs from TLFM, a couple from EWIM, and a medley of past hits. Most controversial, however, was that the set list included a medley of theme songs associated with children's cartoon characters ("Dessins animé"). Critics ridiculed Lara for including this playful component, an indication that while Lara can see herself as a comedian, others have typecast her more stringently. One wonders what they will think of Lara as an actress.
And in association with the concerts, EWIM was released, initially as merchandise to be purchased at the individual shows, and later through first her website, and now commercial stores (e.g., FNAC). A 'piano-voice' recording, with Pierre Grimaud accompanying Lara's vocals, it did what TLFM could not do - get great reviews from fans (and the few on-line sites that thought to review it). Part of its lure is that the songs are not as familiar to French listeners, so there is less chance of comparison with the originals. As with TLFM it consists of clear and prominent vocals (much more so than Lara's last several French albums). It is not a 'Universal' album release, but a product of Lara's '9 Productions'. While this may be a one-time thing (unless Lara does decide to release an Italian equivalent), it raises the question of what Lara's relationship with Universal is at this point, and whether her album next year will be with that record company.
During October, the concert tour moved to France, and as people became more familiar with the extravaganza, a more sober evaluation began to emerge. Yes, the spectacle was amazing, and for some, that, and Lara's great singing, was sufficient. Others, however, complained that the intricate timing needed for her to appear with the (computer-driven) holograms at exactly the right time added an impersonal element to the show. Lara rarely spoke to the audience, wasn't often close to it, and couldn't improvise - an example of technology dehumanizing, as if sometimes does in movies. Nevertheless, as noted in this week's news update, Platine gave it a sparkling review (despite not liking TLFM itself).
In contrast to previous concert tours, non-flash photos and videos were now allowed, and started to appear on youtube and dailymotion, among other sites. Perhaps bowing to the inevitable, the official site allowed them to be acknowledged in its forum. Those who have not been able to attend are now able to get at least a glimpse of what Lara and Gerard have planned. People also reported that Lara herself had engaged people to film at these concerts, which raises hope that a live DVD may eventually be released.
Throughout the fall, Lara continued to appear on TV shows and at local signing events (at stores and France Bleu studios). Of particular note was a private concert that she gave. [Although it was filmed by fans and made available on youtube, Lara did not allow France Bleu to show the official video of it, for some strange reason.] She also continued to contribute to charity affairs, including the Belgian Telethon (called CAP48). However, she backed out of the French Telethon to appear at Justine Henin's return to tennis, on the day Justine won her comeback event. One novelty was Lara's appearance at a charity event in the 'Salon du Chocolat', where entertainers appeared dressed in chocolate. Again, due to its uniqueness, this received wide publicity and many pictures of Lara and the other participants were made available in the press. Lara also gave away one of the gold discs she received for TLFM (she ended up getting more than one) at a charity event, '5 jours pour changer la vie d'une famille', to a family of one of her fans whose lives had been wrecked by a tornado. She added her voice to an album called "Message" whose proceeds are to be used to fight against AIDS; the single from the album, 'If', including Lara, is already available. Each year Lara's charity efforts are noteworthy.
When the concert tour resumed in November, it was apparent that problems had arisen (and not just the technical problems, such as her not being able to hear through her headphones, that had plagued the earlier performances). A few of the concerts were only half-filled, and some four concerts were cancelled/re-scheduled to smaller venues. As several of these happened at the last moment, with little warning on the official site, fans became agitated, and made their feelings known on the official site forum. Given Lara's stated declaration of love for her fans, they wondered how she (or her people) could act so insensitively. It was not only a question of telling fans about the cancellations in time for them to act accordingly, it was a lack of communication about Lara's public activities in general. Often the fans were the ones who found out that Lara was going to be at some event, or was on TV or in the press. Fans also worried that the cancellations themselves, and her various unrealized plans over the least few years, meant Lara was not being properly managed.
The cancellations were presumably not her fault (though booking of the big Zeniths may have been overly optimistic), however an apology -in advance - to the fans would have been the proper courteous act. Also, it now became apparent that in the smaller venues, the full TLFM show was not being presented; Lara, instead, sang more intimately with a guitar and piano accompaniment. While this was a mixed blessing - those who had already seen the extravaganza definitely appreciated this more humane setting - the fact that it was a surprise to the audience seemed unprofessional.
The official site has not been up-to-date on Lara's activities ever since it opened. Given that it is 'official', it has misled people into thinking it would be. No videos are provided by the site, the biography (and even discography) are not updated, public events often go unlisted, etc. Nevertheless, one would have to say there has been some improvement. The on-line store opened this fall, and one can now buy items associated with Lara that were unavailable previously. Nathalie does occasionally answer questions (although not nearly often enough); and, expanding the topic to Lara's dealings with fans in general, her quarterly magazine "Farfallina" has improved, with the last issue particularly impressive. Yet with Lara's continual proclamations about the importance of her fans, one would imagine she would do more; she put very few messages to the fans on the site this past year (and while she was indeed busy, how long does it really take to do that…). And even fewer of them were translated into English (and none into Italian - the Italian version of the site has never opened). There wasn't even any Christmas message.
As has been the case in the past, much of the information about Lara comes from the fans themselves. Several new websites opened, effectively replacing those that closed out of frustration in the past two years. Of particular note is Lara Fabian news (http://www.larafabiannews.blogger.com.br/index.html) in which tmaj00 (Tarcisio) does a great job in providing up-to-date info on Lara's important activities and available videos/audios; and (in addition to her Greek website) restck1989 (Christina) supplies a lot of information in English to this site. Recently, elliot67 re-opened the ex website larafabianworld renamed www.larafabian.st.tc. The laradom French website seems to have had its energy largely transferred to a Lara facebook site www.facebook.com/p...depuis-1998/84874629715; and other facebook sites for Lara (all unofficial) exist. Good luck to all of them. If we derive pleasure from Lara's activities, it's worth our while to make the efforts required to keep ourselves informed, regardless of the effectiveness of her own website.
In summary, after several years out of the limelight, Lara jumped back in with the usual results: great singing (her concert tour and new albums featured a return to the 'singer of voice'); wonderful personality, with warm, loving interaction with fans and the hosts of the shows she was on; contentious relationships with some members of the media; and poorly managed interactions with her fans and occasionally the media as well. As is also normal, various projects were proposed with great enthusiasm and then abandoned or postponed: e,g,'Victor Victoria'; an album with an Israeli composer that Lara indicated in Platine would be her next release; the filming of 'Madame Zhivago'. Hopefully, some of these may be taken up in the coming year(s), or maybe not: Lara has often said, she does not look back. What we can hope for in the coming year is the international release of the new album with Igor Krutoi and its advertised concert tour throughout Europe and America, along perhaps with the associated film. In addition, one hopes that Lara's role as an actress in "Charlie" (to be released in 2011) comes to fruition. And, given good health on the part of all involved, we may expect continued appreciation of Lara on TV, in concerts, in disputes, and forever making her (and our) life interesting. Happy New Year, Lara, and to all of you.
David
www.tv8.ch/web/DetailEmission.aspx?IdDiff=32743089
and hopefully the video will be available after the show airs in France.
Lara's appearance on the show "Les enfants de la tele" also aired on the 26th, on France 1. Lara was very pretty, though some found her laugh a bit exaggerated. Consistent with its name, the humor is pretty sophomoric. It is available on NABBOX.
There was a small note in the publication telestar concerning the recording of the game show "N'oubliez pas les paroles". It described Lara as being very funny, with the participants laughing a lot. The program is scheduled to be shown on January 1st. Similarly, Lara was described as quite funny on the program 'l'ecole des fans' - recorded on October 26, it is still to be shown. You may remember that Lara has done this program in the past; one fan pointed out two cute videos from the program (the whole show is actually available):
www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1Q8bGdOZJM
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PY__rkX3PI
And fans yesterday received their invitations to the January 11 taping of 'Panique dans l'oreillette', to be shown on the 13th. There was considerable speculation as to who would appear as Lara's friends/co-workers on this interview show; the wildest speculation was Rick Allison (I wouldn't be on it…).
In response to the questions concerning the state of Lara's concert tour, Nathalie put the following (translated) notice on the official site forum
--------------------
"Contrary to rumors circulating on the Net, no date of Lara's has been canceled. Some have indeed been postponed because technical unknowns prevented us from playing in the theaters originally planned. As Lara is still wishing to present a show in the cities concerned, we opted for a transfer to another place that can accommodate us and allow Lara to provide TLFM but also EWIM."
The Producer
---------------------
Needless to say, fans did not believe a word of this. It was pointed out that concerts have been cancelled (e.g., Lorient, while Fontenay has been moved to La Rochelle), and that to imply that some of the big Zeniths were no longer being used because they were not able to accommodate the show was laughable. It was also noted that the comment about presenting EWIM as well as TLFM - short-hand notation for the acoustic concert rather than the big extravaganza - should have been advertised when the tickets were sold, rather than sprung on the audience as a surprise. Presumably, this was an unexpected, fall back position that Lara had to adopt.
Perhaps making lemonade out of lemons, Lara told a fan backstage at the concert in Montpellier (following the acoustic concert in Colfontaine) that because of the success of the acoustic show, she would do 50 such concerts in small rooms at the end of next year. By that time presumably she will be promoting "Mademoiselle Zhivago". People have wondered whether there will be another concert tour to promote this album; perhaps this is their answer. However, as both Lara and Igor Krutoi have indicated that the album will have a symphony orchestra for accompaniment, one wonders how well it can be promoted in 'piano-voice'.
Some concert pictures of Lara from the recent shows in Nice and Marseille can be found at :
picture.belga.be/belgapicture/editorial/all/quick-search.html?page=1
(You may need to do a search for Lara's name; thanks to MyDream on Hezia's site.)
Lara was on Mistral FM on the 18th. The video of her appearance, and some nice photos can be seen at (thanks to Wendy on the official site):http://www.mistralfm.fr/
The December 'Platine' magazine published a notice concerning the release of EWIM, basically just listing the songs and their originators. They also provided a review of the TLFM concert in Paris in early October - and despite their negative review of the album, the concert review was as glowing as one could wish for (perhaps they are now regretting their earlier harsh and condescending tone to the album). The actual review and an accompanying picture is available at (thanks to valou 712):
farm5.static.flickr.com/4042/4225131884_a46a2a9f03_b.jpg
Valou 712 also provided scans of two other recent articles, 'Bebe Zen' and 'Ici Paris', both referred to in previous updates; see the appropriate topics on the official site for the URLs. In the latter publication, the article called 'le noel de stars', Lara says she is spending Christmas in Montreal with her fiancé - both interesting comments! Hopefully she has enjoyed herself.
This holiday week update closes with the usual 'year-in-review'.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Year In Review 2009
At the close of last year, in that year-end-review, it was noted that there were reasons to be optimistic about 2009: her new album was scheduled, with the possibility of English and Italian versions, and her public career was likely to be reignited. Most of that actually did come to pass, so in comparison with 2008, 2009 did mark Lara's return to the public consciousness. If it was a glass not completely full, at least it contained enough nourishment to keep her fans involved.
On the other hand, it was also noted in last year's review, that Lara's great talent and personality have generally allowed her to overcome her habitual public relations debacles. If her talents were on greater display this past year, so were her management shortcomings, and the tension between the two continued to agitate the fans and media alike. Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.
The year began in somewhat frustrating fashion for Lara. After the delay of her new album "Toutes les femmes en moi" from its planned October release, events had been put in motion to celebrate a March unveiling. This was to be in conjunction with a program Lara and Gerard were attempting to create for network distribution celebrating the Rights of Women (whose day is March 8th). It would be a perfect match, in that Lara's album celebrates women's contributions to her own life. However, January 2009 brought news that the album was to be pushed back further to April (and eventually it was released in late May), so all those plans had to be cancelled.
The year's beginning also marked the official opening of the new official site at www.larafabian.com. It marked the end of the "lara-fabian.fr" URL that had been put in place in response to her album 'Neuf' several years earlier. Speculation about whether the change meant anything substantive abounded, but the year proved otherwise; outside of a few improvements during the course of the year, it was plagued with much the same disfunctionality as the old site - unanswered questions, lack of attention by Lara's people (although Nathalie was a step-up over previous stewards), minimal 'extras' (though now bootleg videos are apparently allowed to be linked), and, above all, minimal contribution from Lara herself. In her favor, Nathalie did allow a bit more freedom for people to complain - which they did with abandon, although there were also many positive comments about Lara's singing and warm personal interactions during the course of the year.
As far as music was concerned, during the first month of the new year Lara's duets with Mario Frangoulis from the previous summer/fall became more readily available, both officially on a CD and via fans on youtube. Of particular note was their performance of 'All Alone Am I', in Greek and English. Lara also participated in an event with children singers ("Les Petits Chanteurs) dedicated to a charity helping children go to school ("Toutes à l'école"). Her outfit, featuring a somewhat extreme décolletage, precipitated some comment given the occasion.
The next two months were dominated by rumors concerning the release date for the new album. Lara cancelled several events during that time period, including one in Italy, in what appears to have been a stretch drive to get a new version of the album finished The first single "Soleil, Soleil" appeared in mid-March; ultimately it (and other songs) were played primarily on the 'France Bleu' stations throughout France, for whom Lara ended up doing many promotions. The reaction to the single was indicative of reviews the whole album would, in general, receive - Lara's singing was celebrated (and welcomed back), but the music wasn't deemed original enough to warrant great interest. Eventually a cute video for the song was released, with both Justine Henin (the tennis player/Lara's friend), and Nana Mouskouri (the song's original singer) appearing.
At the same time, the first glimmers of the fall tour appeared, scheduled to begin in September in Belgium and booking big houses (the Zeniths) throughout France. This choice ended up proving problematic for Lara - a case where a glass (or house) half empty was deemed not sufficient.
And in another on-going thread, Lara announced that she would appear in a production of "Victor Victoria" in Paris beginning in the Fall of 2010. As the year advanced, that possibility faded due to the emergence of a new album of original songs created with Igor Krutoi, scheduled to be released at just that time.
Lara returned to the public airways and the press in support of the album at the end of March and especially in the months of April and May. The airing of these shows from late April onward re-emphasized what people see in Lara - a great singer with a palpable 'joie de vivre'. And in what may be viewed as combined promotion/charity work, Lara participated in a show in which she appeared as a homeless person, and was filmed being ignored by passersby. The novelty of this event gave it great airplay throughout France.
In early May (prior to the album's official release) the first major review came in, from 'Platine'. It was a disaster (giving it just 2 stars), calling the album's reprises sub-par in comparison with the originals; the reviewer was even offended that Lara dared to remake these songs. It set the stage for a cascade of negative reviews mimicking these comments, and adding the feeling that the new arrangements, created by Simon Climie, amounted to little more than karaoke. The opinion was not unanimous; those who could see past the originals - or non-French speakers who weren't familiar with them - thought it a beautiful album, highly melodic with great singing. Nevertheless, Lara had to fight through the negative publicity for the next six months.
When the album was finally released May 27th, it contained a special addition. Lara had written letters to each of the singers whose songs she was reprising, explaining how their work had influenced her growing up and career. The letters were heartfelt, revealing and poignant, and served to put the songs in perspective. (Lara later said that most of them have actually been answered.) All in all, the package was a first class production, regardless of what one thought of the idea of presenting reprises as a come-back album. Sales went relatively well, and the album by the end of the year had become platinum in sales, staying on the charts for six months. Lara's fans were as mixed in their response as the media was, but the importance of her work is not to be denied.
With the album's release, Lara was now officially 'back', and through the months of May and June, she threw herself even more into its promotion with numerous TV and radio appearances, as well as press interviews. Of particular interest was the Belgian program "Quelque chose en nous de", filmed in late March for a May airing. It was a retrospective of Lara's career, with numerous guests and old video clips, as well as some live performances. It will likely remain as one of the best shows about Lara available.
The itinerary for the fall/winter tour continued to expand (eventually to reach some 60 dates), and its name was announced: "Toutes les femmes en moi font leur show" (All the women in me do their show). The magnitude of the event began to emerge - it would include holograms, with technology not seen before on the French stage, all produced by Lara's companion Gerard Pullicino.
During June, Lara also announced what she had hinted at previously - that TLFM would have an English-counterpart, called "Every Woman in Me", an homage to English-speaking singers who had influenced her. Furthermore, the album would soon be released. The reality of this became more apparent during a concert tour in Moscow during June, when Lara sang some of the songs from this album.
Her five concert dates in Moscow were a sign of a major push that Lara had been planning for that market, one which is likely to become even more apparent in 2010. (When TLFM was released in Russia, it opened #5 on their charts). During these concerts she also sang two songs from the album anticipated for next year with Igor Krutoi, one in French ("Demaine n'existe pas"), and one in Italian ("Lou"). We have since learned that the album is to be in four languages, and 'Demaine n'existe pas' has already been released as a single in Russia. It sounds like it could be an international hit. Subsequently Lara cancelled several July performances in France (including at the 'Tour de France') to add additional concerts in Russia or countries of the ex-Soviet Union (such as the "New Wave" show in Latvia in August). Going forward, she has used some free time in her upcoming schedule next February to add more concerts in the same locales.
During the summer doldrums in France, a topic that rose to the surface was whether there was a media 'cabal' against Lara in that country. Lara in effect endorsed that idea, complaining that the criticisms against her were personal rather than professional. While we have heard this topic before, the seemingly undeserved (to me, at least) criticisms of TLFM provided some justification for the assertion, and some of the comments about her were reprehensible. Clearly, Lara continues to inspire strong opinions, on both sides of the spectrum.
While the possibility of Lara's theatre career seemed to dim, at least for the next year, by the end of the summer a future film career was enlivened with two separate projects being discussed. In one, a movie entitled 'Charlie', Lara would play the role of the wife of one of the main characters. It was set to be filmed in northern Italy during her February 2010 concert break. Subsequently, the filming was pushed back to the summer of 2010 by personnel and finance issues, but it is still active, and Lara has indicated she is anxious to do it. In addition, Igor Krutoi announced that Lara will be part of a film to be released in association with their new album. Entitled 'Madame Zhivago' (the same name now given the new album), it will involve 11 vignettes of love and death, with stories matching in some way the cuts on the album. It too has been delayed; originally scheduled to be filmed in the Ukraine during Lara's concert break from mid-November to mid-December, it had to be cancelled due to the fear of swine flu infection. It is now scheduled to be filmed next spring. Both the movie and album are currently slated for a release next fall (though we know that can change, and various dates have been proposed).
The French return from vacation in September (for Lara, the vacation was apparently in Sicily) brought numerous new developments. "Toutes les femmes en moi" was released as the next single, and given that it is an original song, it was played on some additional radio stations in France (e.g., Cherie FM). Lara's 'TLFM font leur show' tour started in Belgium, with the holograms of the various singers accompanying Lara. In one nice touch, photos sent in by fans of themselves with Lara were shown behind her, while she sang 'Wind Beneath My Wings'. This was symbolic: throughout the year, whenever possible, Lara has emphasized that her career is supported emotionally by her fans, and a main aim of hers now is to please them. By showing their photos she was honoring them in the same way that she is honoring the singers who have helped her become who she is. The concert included songs from TLFM, a couple from EWIM, and a medley of past hits. Most controversial, however, was that the set list included a medley of theme songs associated with children's cartoon characters ("Dessins animé"). Critics ridiculed Lara for including this playful component, an indication that while Lara can see herself as a comedian, others have typecast her more stringently. One wonders what they will think of Lara as an actress.
And in association with the concerts, EWIM was released, initially as merchandise to be purchased at the individual shows, and later through first her website, and now commercial stores (e.g., FNAC). A 'piano-voice' recording, with Pierre Grimaud accompanying Lara's vocals, it did what TLFM could not do - get great reviews from fans (and the few on-line sites that thought to review it). Part of its lure is that the songs are not as familiar to French listeners, so there is less chance of comparison with the originals. As with TLFM it consists of clear and prominent vocals (much more so than Lara's last several French albums). It is not a 'Universal' album release, but a product of Lara's '9 Productions'. While this may be a one-time thing (unless Lara does decide to release an Italian equivalent), it raises the question of what Lara's relationship with Universal is at this point, and whether her album next year will be with that record company.
During October, the concert tour moved to France, and as people became more familiar with the extravaganza, a more sober evaluation began to emerge. Yes, the spectacle was amazing, and for some, that, and Lara's great singing, was sufficient. Others, however, complained that the intricate timing needed for her to appear with the (computer-driven) holograms at exactly the right time added an impersonal element to the show. Lara rarely spoke to the audience, wasn't often close to it, and couldn't improvise - an example of technology dehumanizing, as if sometimes does in movies. Nevertheless, as noted in this week's news update, Platine gave it a sparkling review (despite not liking TLFM itself).
In contrast to previous concert tours, non-flash photos and videos were now allowed, and started to appear on youtube and dailymotion, among other sites. Perhaps bowing to the inevitable, the official site allowed them to be acknowledged in its forum. Those who have not been able to attend are now able to get at least a glimpse of what Lara and Gerard have planned. People also reported that Lara herself had engaged people to film at these concerts, which raises hope that a live DVD may eventually be released.
Throughout the fall, Lara continued to appear on TV shows and at local signing events (at stores and France Bleu studios). Of particular note was a private concert that she gave. [Although it was filmed by fans and made available on youtube, Lara did not allow France Bleu to show the official video of it, for some strange reason.] She also continued to contribute to charity affairs, including the Belgian Telethon (called CAP48). However, she backed out of the French Telethon to appear at Justine Henin's return to tennis, on the day Justine won her comeback event. One novelty was Lara's appearance at a charity event in the 'Salon du Chocolat', where entertainers appeared dressed in chocolate. Again, due to its uniqueness, this received wide publicity and many pictures of Lara and the other participants were made available in the press. Lara also gave away one of the gold discs she received for TLFM (she ended up getting more than one) at a charity event, '5 jours pour changer la vie d'une famille', to a family of one of her fans whose lives had been wrecked by a tornado. She added her voice to an album called "Message" whose proceeds are to be used to fight against AIDS; the single from the album, 'If', including Lara, is already available. Each year Lara's charity efforts are noteworthy.
When the concert tour resumed in November, it was apparent that problems had arisen (and not just the technical problems, such as her not being able to hear through her headphones, that had plagued the earlier performances). A few of the concerts were only half-filled, and some four concerts were cancelled/re-scheduled to smaller venues. As several of these happened at the last moment, with little warning on the official site, fans became agitated, and made their feelings known on the official site forum. Given Lara's stated declaration of love for her fans, they wondered how she (or her people) could act so insensitively. It was not only a question of telling fans about the cancellations in time for them to act accordingly, it was a lack of communication about Lara's public activities in general. Often the fans were the ones who found out that Lara was going to be at some event, or was on TV or in the press. Fans also worried that the cancellations themselves, and her various unrealized plans over the least few years, meant Lara was not being properly managed.
The cancellations were presumably not her fault (though booking of the big Zeniths may have been overly optimistic), however an apology -in advance - to the fans would have been the proper courteous act. Also, it now became apparent that in the smaller venues, the full TLFM show was not being presented; Lara, instead, sang more intimately with a guitar and piano accompaniment. While this was a mixed blessing - those who had already seen the extravaganza definitely appreciated this more humane setting - the fact that it was a surprise to the audience seemed unprofessional.
The official site has not been up-to-date on Lara's activities ever since it opened. Given that it is 'official', it has misled people into thinking it would be. No videos are provided by the site, the biography (and even discography) are not updated, public events often go unlisted, etc. Nevertheless, one would have to say there has been some improvement. The on-line store opened this fall, and one can now buy items associated with Lara that were unavailable previously. Nathalie does occasionally answer questions (although not nearly often enough); and, expanding the topic to Lara's dealings with fans in general, her quarterly magazine "Farfallina" has improved, with the last issue particularly impressive. Yet with Lara's continual proclamations about the importance of her fans, one would imagine she would do more; she put very few messages to the fans on the site this past year (and while she was indeed busy, how long does it really take to do that…). And even fewer of them were translated into English (and none into Italian - the Italian version of the site has never opened). There wasn't even any Christmas message.
As has been the case in the past, much of the information about Lara comes from the fans themselves. Several new websites opened, effectively replacing those that closed out of frustration in the past two years. Of particular note is Lara Fabian news (http://www.larafabiannews.blogger.com.br/index.html) in which tmaj00 (Tarcisio) does a great job in providing up-to-date info on Lara's important activities and available videos/audios; and (in addition to her Greek website) restck1989 (Christina) supplies a lot of information in English to this site. Recently, elliot67 re-opened the ex website larafabianworld renamed www.larafabian.st.tc. The laradom French website seems to have had its energy largely transferred to a Lara facebook site www.facebook.com/p...depuis-1998/84874629715; and other facebook sites for Lara (all unofficial) exist. Good luck to all of them. If we derive pleasure from Lara's activities, it's worth our while to make the efforts required to keep ourselves informed, regardless of the effectiveness of her own website.
In summary, after several years out of the limelight, Lara jumped back in with the usual results: great singing (her concert tour and new albums featured a return to the 'singer of voice'); wonderful personality, with warm, loving interaction with fans and the hosts of the shows she was on; contentious relationships with some members of the media; and poorly managed interactions with her fans and occasionally the media as well. As is also normal, various projects were proposed with great enthusiasm and then abandoned or postponed: e,g,'Victor Victoria'; an album with an Israeli composer that Lara indicated in Platine would be her next release; the filming of 'Madame Zhivago'. Hopefully, some of these may be taken up in the coming year(s), or maybe not: Lara has often said, she does not look back. What we can hope for in the coming year is the international release of the new album with Igor Krutoi and its advertised concert tour throughout Europe and America, along perhaps with the associated film. In addition, one hopes that Lara's role as an actress in "Charlie" (to be released in 2011) comes to fruition. And, given good health on the part of all involved, we may expect continued appreciation of Lara on TV, in concerts, in disputes, and forever making her (and our) life interesting. Happy New Year, Lara, and to all of you.
David
