Post by davidhr on Aug 13, 2013 9:32:19 GMT -5
The next episode of ‘The Best’ took place last week. The show can be seen at:
www.larafabianbrasil.com.br/2013/08/the-best-le-meilleur-artiste-assista-ao_12.html
The program has maintained its audience, last week having 4.1 million viewers (22% of the market). This was actually slightly better than the week before. These are not great numbers, but it is still summer. The negative comments written in about the show concerned Lara’s outfit (or that her comments are too complicated, or that her philosophy is too far ‘out there’ - there is always something people find); but in addition the more general view is that the jury is not really adding much ‘pizazz’, since they appear to like everything (although there is some arguing). Lara had said they would be more ‘cheerleaders’ than judges, and that appears to be the case, regardless of whether it makes for good television. Another problem is that the format of the show has very different disciplines being compared, which gives an ‘apples versus oranges’ aspect to it.
For those who have missed any of these ‘not available outside this country’ shows, (TF1 discovered partway through last week that they had accidentally allowed that for the second episode), Larafabianweb.com has offered an alternate way to see them if you have a ‘Windows’ operating system. See their instructions at: www.facebook.com/notes/larafabianweb/astuce-revoir-v-emissions-pr%C3%A9f%C3%A9r%C3%A9es/690143687667836
As to whether Lara’s appearance is helping album sales, ‘Le Secret’ rebounded a bit to 194th place in France (still at #37 in Belgium). Over the past four weeks it has therefore been pretty stable in both countries. The show will be on for several more weeks, then the final, being taped on August 23rd, will appear on September 13th.
In other news, Lara was actually in Russia for a private concert. A radiant photo with Emmanual Moire and also with Gerald Willeman (Lara’s hairdresser and makeup artist) can be seen at:
Lara posted an image of herself preparing for the coming show, at:
and here's the actual outfit:
www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10201701735326768&set=p.10201701735326768&type=1&theater
a show in which she says ‘this evening we dance, we sing’…
There are some short (poor) videos of her singing, what else, ‘Je t’aime’, as well as the Russian song (Love Like a Dream):
Continuing with this theme, Lara has just ‘called out’ her additional tour dates in Russia on her FB page, and indeed, she has two concerts planned for St. Petersburg at the end of October, and then two more at the Kremlin in the beginning of November. It’s appropriate that this covers the time period of Halloween, for these venues pose a ‘trick or treat’ scenario. As has been well-publicized, Russia has passed a law making it illegal to propagandize about ‘alternate sexual practices’, meaning in particular homosexuality. As we also know, Lara jumped into the fray in France doing just that, with ‘Deux ils, deux elles’, following her long-term advocacy with ‘La Difference’. How does Lara avoid saying what she fervently believes so as not to risk jeopardizing her Russian career, while at the same time not appearing to be sacrificing her principles? [This of course is the problem with setting up shop in a country that does violate some of your principles]. Some fans writing into her site have suggested she come out strongly and disobey the new law; others feel she should stay out of politics. As a compromise, Lara could simply perform her latest song, or perhaps both songs, without any commentary, perhaps combined with ‘meaningful looks to the audience’
. However, she handles it, she will have to walk the line (perhaps she could perform the Johnny Cash song about that… ). Despite these attempts at humor, it is not a laughing matter, and she must be seriously considering how to handle it.
While that is a controversy in the making, Lara had a controversy about the past blow up last week, coincidentally also involving Russia, when the Lara Fabian Romanian website translated an interview that Walter Afanasieff gave in Russian. Here are his comments (thanks to Daina):
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source: "OK Magazine" (Russia, April 5, 2013)
www.ok-magazine.ru/stars/interview/item25864.php
Journalist: You have worked with international stars. Which of these encounters have been the most important for you?
Walter Afanasieff: In fact there have been a lot of such encounters... It was a great pleasure and honour for me to work with Michael Jackson... People like him – that's one in a million. Actually that's impossible to mention everyone... Whitney Houston, Darren Hayes, my close friend saxophonist Kenny G, Celine Dion, Lara Fabian. For Lara Fabian I wrote a very beautiful song “Broken Vow”. Do you know such a singer, Lara Fabian?
Journalist: Yes, of course.
WA: Me and her, we had a very sad story. We had a “romance”; I almost got married to this woman. But we broke up. I broke her heart a little bit, and she stopped mentioning my name. Today, when she talks about the song “Broken Vow”, she says that she wrote it [on her own]. That's it! (/Voilà!) I have had a few high-profile stories like this one. Let's not go there. (Gets lost in his thoughts.) But you know what's interesting – when I had a love story with Fabian, Celine Dion simply hated her, but Lara wanted to sing like Dion. Not an easy situation. I happened to be between both of them. Eventually both women stopped communicating with me. Celine thought that I wrote the best songs for Fabian, that only with her I shared the musical secrets... By the way, around the same time Mariah Carey left me.
---------------------------------------
Lara then took the fairly unprecedented (for her) step of writing into that site, in response:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear All,
I’d like to respond to something that has been written on the Romanian Facebook page where they translate Mr. Afanasieff interview. I'd like to say a few words and in all humility reestablish some truth.
I hold Walter in the higher respect, musically, I never stopped mentioning him.
It is honor having worked with such talent.
It is true I have always said "Broken Vow" is my song... Because it is based on my personal story with him.
Here is the story of how we wrote BROKEN VOW. Maybe Walter will be humble enough to remember it....
The day we wrote that song we got into Wally world studios in San Francisco (his own studios) and sat at his beautiful Bosendorfer piano, virgin of any music.... as usual our nights had been complicated and full of heart felt complex torturing conversations... That's mostly where I drew my inspiration from..... To write the record...
I was totally convinced something was wrong, and when We sat at the piano I felt in my heart a great song was going to come out of that particular moment.
Before I wrote every bit of the lyric, which sadly became prophetic. The harmonies in the melody were created...
Walter is totally responsible for the foundation of that music, he wrote all the harmonies and MOST of the melody...
We both sat at the piano that day, and as he was unfolding the harmonies we BOTH created the notes. Yet the bridge is my responsibility...
When Walter hit that part of the harmony at that very second came out of my heart the melody you hear in one piece...
The truth is that when I asked to be quoted as a composer for that part of the Song, he refused it... and I did not have power to make him go for what was right and fair to me... At that time...
So yes in time, I specified to whoever asked me, that some of the song was not just his melodically, as he claimed, but also mine. Because I felt it was right to correct and say the truth...
I wanted to respond to that interview. Even if I was not asked anything, because despite the pain which made me grow… I can say that thanks to this story I became a better songwriter, working with such a genius.
Even through despair sometimes, the most extraordinary experiences happen in life...
I am sorry he felt Our story destroyed his relationships with other women singer.... yet I think it does not depend on that... I guess I will have to write the rest in my biography....
As for his quote about me wanting to sing like my pair Celine... it is so stupid...
Indeed we are part of the same family of singers and mostly hold the same range
That being said...
I never wanted to be anything but me and learn to become the best I could.
Yet, as I said and repeated... but let me say it again....
She's been a great guide and inspiration along with Barbra Streisand, Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston... Kate Bush or Annie Lennox…
The rest is history...
Sincerely yours,
Lara
--------------------------------------------------------
Having heard both sides of the story, my tendency is to back Lara’s position. We have seen many times that Lara works with music composers to improve their songs (a video exists, for example, of her doing this with ‘Bambina’ and we know she did it for ‘La Lettre’) – it is her normal approach. Sometimes the changes are not large, but they are crucial to maintaining the flow of the music, which Lara does exceptionally well while singing it. Her adding a bridge, and of course the lyrics, would be sufficient to give her ‘credit’ for enabling the song’s impact. Walter Afanasieff seems, on the basis of his comments, to be pretty ‘full of himself’, so it would not be surprising that he would excise such help from his memory.
On the other side of the scale, Rick Allison gave an interview on France Bleu (in French, at soundcloud.com/rick-allison/rick-allison-france-bleu-cr-1?utm_source=soundcloud&utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=facebook) in which both he and Lara spoke glowingly about the importance of their song ‘Tout’ for her career. It got some fans thinking a reconciliation down the road might still be possible. With Walter Afanasieff? Not so likely…
There are a number of new photos that have surfaced this week. First, some nice shots presumably from the New Wave festival several weeks ago:
www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=4779945911353&set=gm.615013258542790&type=1&theater
www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=4779944511318&set=gm.615013101876139&type=1&theater
A wonderful picture of Lara with her husband at the ‘Global Gift Gala’ is available at:
www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151779500232417&set=a.398533517416.164839.382393522416&type=1&theater
See also the previous version of that photo on that site.
And several nice photos without her husband from the same event:
www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=4769984982336&set=gm.613836271993822&type=1&theater
Eva Longoria responded to Lara’s ‘tweet’ of thanks to her, by saying thank you for always supporting us:
/photo/1
Lara did put a few other vacation pictures on her site, speculation being that it was from Mirabella, e.g.
On the other end of this scale, there is a photo of Lara as a child in school, at:
www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=535237419863260&set=a.391760444210959.87885.166959643357708&type=1&theater
And finally, concerning appearances: when Lara posted her video to fans last week on her youtube channel suggesting they go to the beach:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlM3XLupWBQ
she was appearing naturally, without makeup. Never expect the French press to let that pass, as indicated on:
conciergerie.jeremstar.fr/alerte-goret-lara-fabian-a-oubli-son-maquillage--n959.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
where she was called to task for it in a most insulting way (‘pig-face’). One certainly needs a thick skin in the entertainment business, something Lara doesn't really have. However, as we may have mentioned before, there’s a famous story of a baseball manager in the United States who, recognizing the commercial and egotistical value of controversy, said when he was booed ferociously, “Let them boo me or cheer me, just never ignore me!”. If she can have that attitude, Lara will recognize she is 'hitting home runs' every week.
There was a replay on Europe 1 of Lara’s interview by Isabelle Morizet (originally aired May 26). Lara repeated that the problem with her first English album is that there was a disagreement in the hierarchy of Sony/Columbia of which song she should push, ‘I Will Love Again’ or ‘Adagio’, and she would do promo for one song and then go on TV and sing the other. Undoubtedly that mixed message didn’t help, but Lara’s leaving the country in the middle of the promotion was probably the more egregious error.
One more month before Lara’s fall tour starts. Until then, some more appearances as a judge on ‘The Best’ where once again we shall see whether the majority of the tweets into the show are about the acts, or about her .
David
www.larafabianbrasil.com.br/2013/08/the-best-le-meilleur-artiste-assista-ao_12.html
The program has maintained its audience, last week having 4.1 million viewers (22% of the market). This was actually slightly better than the week before. These are not great numbers, but it is still summer. The negative comments written in about the show concerned Lara’s outfit (or that her comments are too complicated, or that her philosophy is too far ‘out there’ - there is always something people find); but in addition the more general view is that the jury is not really adding much ‘pizazz’, since they appear to like everything (although there is some arguing). Lara had said they would be more ‘cheerleaders’ than judges, and that appears to be the case, regardless of whether it makes for good television. Another problem is that the format of the show has very different disciplines being compared, which gives an ‘apples versus oranges’ aspect to it.
For those who have missed any of these ‘not available outside this country’ shows, (TF1 discovered partway through last week that they had accidentally allowed that for the second episode), Larafabianweb.com has offered an alternate way to see them if you have a ‘Windows’ operating system. See their instructions at: www.facebook.com/notes/larafabianweb/astuce-revoir-v-emissions-pr%C3%A9f%C3%A9r%C3%A9es/690143687667836
As to whether Lara’s appearance is helping album sales, ‘Le Secret’ rebounded a bit to 194th place in France (still at #37 in Belgium). Over the past four weeks it has therefore been pretty stable in both countries. The show will be on for several more weeks, then the final, being taped on August 23rd, will appear on September 13th.
In other news, Lara was actually in Russia for a private concert. A radiant photo with Emmanual Moire and also with Gerald Willeman (Lara’s hairdresser and makeup artist) can be seen at:
http://instagram.com/p/c4G2mBvmRn#
Lara posted an image of herself preparing for the coming show, at:
http://instagram.com/p/c4FHMch895#
and here's the actual outfit:
www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10201701735326768&set=p.10201701735326768&type=1&theater
a show in which she says ‘this evening we dance, we sing’…
There are some short (poor) videos of her singing, what else, ‘Je t’aime’, as well as the Russian song (Love Like a Dream):
http://instagram.com/p/c4SSw5g9mq
http://instagram.com/p/c4SNIovmVA
http://instagram.com/p/c4Sj5PvmVx
Continuing with this theme, Lara has just ‘called out’ her additional tour dates in Russia on her FB page, and indeed, she has two concerts planned for St. Petersburg at the end of October, and then two more at the Kremlin in the beginning of November. It’s appropriate that this covers the time period of Halloween, for these venues pose a ‘trick or treat’ scenario. As has been well-publicized, Russia has passed a law making it illegal to propagandize about ‘alternate sexual practices’, meaning in particular homosexuality. As we also know, Lara jumped into the fray in France doing just that, with ‘Deux ils, deux elles’, following her long-term advocacy with ‘La Difference’. How does Lara avoid saying what she fervently believes so as not to risk jeopardizing her Russian career, while at the same time not appearing to be sacrificing her principles? [This of course is the problem with setting up shop in a country that does violate some of your principles]. Some fans writing into her site have suggested she come out strongly and disobey the new law; others feel she should stay out of politics. As a compromise, Lara could simply perform her latest song, or perhaps both songs, without any commentary, perhaps combined with ‘meaningful looks to the audience’
. However, she handles it, she will have to walk the line (perhaps she could perform the Johnny Cash song about that… ). Despite these attempts at humor, it is not a laughing matter, and she must be seriously considering how to handle it. While that is a controversy in the making, Lara had a controversy about the past blow up last week, coincidentally also involving Russia, when the Lara Fabian Romanian website translated an interview that Walter Afanasieff gave in Russian. Here are his comments (thanks to Daina):
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source: "OK Magazine" (Russia, April 5, 2013)
www.ok-magazine.ru/stars/interview/item25864.php
Journalist: You have worked with international stars. Which of these encounters have been the most important for you?
Walter Afanasieff: In fact there have been a lot of such encounters... It was a great pleasure and honour for me to work with Michael Jackson... People like him – that's one in a million. Actually that's impossible to mention everyone... Whitney Houston, Darren Hayes, my close friend saxophonist Kenny G, Celine Dion, Lara Fabian. For Lara Fabian I wrote a very beautiful song “Broken Vow”. Do you know such a singer, Lara Fabian?
Journalist: Yes, of course.
WA: Me and her, we had a very sad story. We had a “romance”; I almost got married to this woman. But we broke up. I broke her heart a little bit, and she stopped mentioning my name. Today, when she talks about the song “Broken Vow”, she says that she wrote it [on her own]. That's it! (/Voilà!) I have had a few high-profile stories like this one. Let's not go there. (Gets lost in his thoughts.) But you know what's interesting – when I had a love story with Fabian, Celine Dion simply hated her, but Lara wanted to sing like Dion. Not an easy situation. I happened to be between both of them. Eventually both women stopped communicating with me. Celine thought that I wrote the best songs for Fabian, that only with her I shared the musical secrets... By the way, around the same time Mariah Carey left me.
---------------------------------------
Lara then took the fairly unprecedented (for her) step of writing into that site, in response:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear All,
I’d like to respond to something that has been written on the Romanian Facebook page where they translate Mr. Afanasieff interview. I'd like to say a few words and in all humility reestablish some truth.
I hold Walter in the higher respect, musically, I never stopped mentioning him.
It is honor having worked with such talent.
It is true I have always said "Broken Vow" is my song... Because it is based on my personal story with him.
Here is the story of how we wrote BROKEN VOW. Maybe Walter will be humble enough to remember it....
The day we wrote that song we got into Wally world studios in San Francisco (his own studios) and sat at his beautiful Bosendorfer piano, virgin of any music.... as usual our nights had been complicated and full of heart felt complex torturing conversations... That's mostly where I drew my inspiration from..... To write the record...
I was totally convinced something was wrong, and when We sat at the piano I felt in my heart a great song was going to come out of that particular moment.
Before I wrote every bit of the lyric, which sadly became prophetic. The harmonies in the melody were created...
Walter is totally responsible for the foundation of that music, he wrote all the harmonies and MOST of the melody...
We both sat at the piano that day, and as he was unfolding the harmonies we BOTH created the notes. Yet the bridge is my responsibility...
When Walter hit that part of the harmony at that very second came out of my heart the melody you hear in one piece...
The truth is that when I asked to be quoted as a composer for that part of the Song, he refused it... and I did not have power to make him go for what was right and fair to me... At that time...
So yes in time, I specified to whoever asked me, that some of the song was not just his melodically, as he claimed, but also mine. Because I felt it was right to correct and say the truth...
I wanted to respond to that interview. Even if I was not asked anything, because despite the pain which made me grow… I can say that thanks to this story I became a better songwriter, working with such a genius.
Even through despair sometimes, the most extraordinary experiences happen in life...
I am sorry he felt Our story destroyed his relationships with other women singer.... yet I think it does not depend on that... I guess I will have to write the rest in my biography....
As for his quote about me wanting to sing like my pair Celine... it is so stupid...
Indeed we are part of the same family of singers and mostly hold the same range
That being said...
I never wanted to be anything but me and learn to become the best I could.
Yet, as I said and repeated... but let me say it again....
She's been a great guide and inspiration along with Barbra Streisand, Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston... Kate Bush or Annie Lennox…
The rest is history...
Sincerely yours,
Lara
--------------------------------------------------------
Having heard both sides of the story, my tendency is to back Lara’s position. We have seen many times that Lara works with music composers to improve their songs (a video exists, for example, of her doing this with ‘Bambina’ and we know she did it for ‘La Lettre’) – it is her normal approach. Sometimes the changes are not large, but they are crucial to maintaining the flow of the music, which Lara does exceptionally well while singing it. Her adding a bridge, and of course the lyrics, would be sufficient to give her ‘credit’ for enabling the song’s impact. Walter Afanasieff seems, on the basis of his comments, to be pretty ‘full of himself’, so it would not be surprising that he would excise such help from his memory.
On the other side of the scale, Rick Allison gave an interview on France Bleu (in French, at soundcloud.com/rick-allison/rick-allison-france-bleu-cr-1?utm_source=soundcloud&utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=facebook) in which both he and Lara spoke glowingly about the importance of their song ‘Tout’ for her career. It got some fans thinking a reconciliation down the road might still be possible. With Walter Afanasieff? Not so likely…
There are a number of new photos that have surfaced this week. First, some nice shots presumably from the New Wave festival several weeks ago:
www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=4779945911353&set=gm.615013258542790&type=1&theater
www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=4779944511318&set=gm.615013101876139&type=1&theater
A wonderful picture of Lara with her husband at the ‘Global Gift Gala’ is available at:
www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151779500232417&set=a.398533517416.164839.382393522416&type=1&theater
See also the previous version of that photo on that site.
And several nice photos without her husband from the same event:
www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=4769984982336&set=gm.613836271993822&type=1&theater
Eva Longoria responded to Lara’s ‘tweet’ of thanks to her, by saying thank you for always supporting us:
/photo/1
Lara did put a few other vacation pictures on her site, speculation being that it was from Mirabella, e.g.
http://instagram.com/p/cuUjWXB82m
On the other end of this scale, there is a photo of Lara as a child in school, at:
www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=535237419863260&set=a.391760444210959.87885.166959643357708&type=1&theater
And finally, concerning appearances: when Lara posted her video to fans last week on her youtube channel suggesting they go to the beach:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlM3XLupWBQ
she was appearing naturally, without makeup. Never expect the French press to let that pass, as indicated on:
conciergerie.jeremstar.fr/alerte-goret-lara-fabian-a-oubli-son-maquillage--n959.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
where she was called to task for it in a most insulting way (‘pig-face’). One certainly needs a thick skin in the entertainment business, something Lara doesn't really have. However, as we may have mentioned before, there’s a famous story of a baseball manager in the United States who, recognizing the commercial and egotistical value of controversy, said when he was booed ferociously, “Let them boo me or cheer me, just never ignore me!”. If she can have that attitude, Lara will recognize she is 'hitting home runs' every week.
There was a replay on Europe 1 of Lara’s interview by Isabelle Morizet (originally aired May 26). Lara repeated that the problem with her first English album is that there was a disagreement in the hierarchy of Sony/Columbia of which song she should push, ‘I Will Love Again’ or ‘Adagio’, and she would do promo for one song and then go on TV and sing the other. Undoubtedly that mixed message didn’t help, but Lara’s leaving the country in the middle of the promotion was probably the more egregious error.
One more month before Lara’s fall tour starts. Until then, some more appearances as a judge on ‘The Best’ where once again we shall see whether the majority of the tweets into the show are about the acts, or about her
.David
