Post by davidhr on Oct 14, 2014 8:46:16 GMT -5
An active time for Lara on two fronts in particular this past week, Germany and France. We’ll start with Lara’s three concerts in Germany. The setlist was the same as that given for Munich in last week’s Update. Below are links to most of the videos that were made readily available for the different venues:
Berlin (10/7) [thanks in particular to Jerome Gunt]
Extracts of many songs: www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyfdZqbbtXg
Adagio: www.youtube.com/watch?v=maMqHHNS4B8
: (combined): app.box.com/s/x07ag4mhvukm43l0z12u
Calling You: www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTT5W93M3_U
I Will Love Again: www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4x9el9LB8c
Il est lune: www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yPMhbJM9ew
Je suis malade: www.youtube.com/watch?v=7l8uCSONRg8
Mademoiselle Hyde: www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRvVaj3tKjI
Make Me Yours Tonight: www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Q4Tq1mZQOQ
Yelliel My Angel: www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFcOLLmtEcA
Offenbach (10/8)
Yelliel My Angel (inc): www.youtube.com/watch?v=2v6FYXFyTys
Je suis malade (inc): www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElgWP89eZ2I
Dusseldorf (10/9)
Caruso: www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMUw13GbbB8
Il est lune: www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRvmK9nxxy0
Make Me Yours Tonight (inc): www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1GdNUFqEKo
Yelliel: www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwrdYS5dphc
Adagio+Pas sans toi+I Guess I Loved You: www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQzeGkiIMZQ&list=PLSHm80Um3QPSXGaJVdo0CSupCHME_Qmn7
Hannover (10/10)
Adagio: www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNS6zdK3ypk
Je t’aime (inc): www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6rEHOzK6WE
Make Me Yours Tonight (inc): www.youtube.com/watch?v=6le6hY-Sl2c
A video from the various concerts, was put together by Nath D'alsace. It was “mounted from personal videos and intended to keep track of these magnificent concerts by Lara through Germany...designed to share with those who have not had the opportunity to attend a small part of this recital”. It can be seen at:
www.facebook.com/video.php?v=587356368053459&set=vb.100003373026641&type=2&theater
As can be readily ascertained, Lara was in excellent voice throughout, as good as we’ve heard her in recent years. Whatever she’s doing with her voice exercises, it certainly is working. The videos we have of ‘Yelliel My Angel’ are the first we’ve gotten since the ‘From Lara With Love’ show and the ‘Baden Baden’ concert more than a decade ago. At that time Lara indicated she wasn’t really referring to ‘Angels’ but rather real-world helpers; now, from her comments preceding the song, she seems to have ‘opened up’, and has a more esoteric point of view
. ‘Je t’aime’ is the old-fashioned powerful version, and ‘Adagio’ is sung with its usual strength – at least outside of France, no reticence from this ‘singer of voice’. It’s also good to hear Lara’s version of ‘Make Me Yours Tonight’ – it seems to have more heart and sincerity than the duet, perhaps because she has more freedom to express herself. In the same vein, the acoustic version of ‘I Will Love Again’ humanizes that song. All-in-all, wonderful performances, which one presumes will be duplicated at the other seven concerts on this tour.
As usual, the Lara Fabian Brazil site has numerous photos for each of the shows:
Munich: www.larafabianbrasil.com.br/2014/10/show-em-munique-alemanha-05102014.html
Berlin: www.larafabianbrasil.com.br/2014/10/show-em-offenbach-am-main-alemanha.html
Offenbach: www.larafabianbrasil.com.br/2014/10/show-em-offenbach-am-main-alemanha.html
Dusseldorf: www.larafabianbrasil.com.br/2014/10/show-emdusseldorf-alemanha-09102014.html
Hannover: www.larafabianbrasil.com.br/2014/10/show-em-hanover-alemanha-10102014.html
The site ‘Lara Fabian est ton autre’ also has some nice photos, at www.facebook.com/166959643357708/photos/ms.c.eJw9y9sNgEAMA8GOUF62L~;03BiGCz5F2lcqULPoQzEtrZ3qfxro7xlR9zumz7HWJ~;hhQ~;H7607Y~;DBzTt0eEjat4A4kSGgU~-.bps.a.735194486534218/737352206318446/?type=1&theater
One can see that Lara wore the same/similar black dress each evening, in front of the same stage décor, each of the background instrumentalists enclosed in a large picture frame. Clearly she was letting her singing occupy all the attention (as one promo noted). And the audience gets plenty of that, since the show lasts for 1 hour 45 minutes.
Lara posted several messages on her official site relating to these concerts. After the first two shows, she wrote (in translation), “Thanks for these first two shows, between Munich and Berlin my heart went back to beating very strongly... Thank you for coming to encourage me from everywhere, Paris, Milan, Moscow, Geneva, Cairo, Catania, New York City, Kiev... merciiiiii Danke schön!”. And it was accompanied by the following picture:
www.facebook.com/larafabianofficial/photos/a.215378125170359.50343.201065806601591/783717411669758/?type=1&theater
Then before the last show, she indicated that she was undergoing a ‘retouching’ with a photo available at:
www.facebook.com/larafabianofficial/photos/a.622966977744803.1073741829.201065806601591/785501944824638/?type=1&theater
She ended it by writing (in translation), “Your presence, your open arms…Thanks!"
And after the final concert ended, she posted a photo at:
www.facebook.com/larafabianofficial/photos/a.215378125170359.50343.201065806601591/783717411669758/?type=1&theater
with the comment, “Merci danke schöne ... See you soon Germany”
indicating that a quick return to Germany is in the offing. We shall see…Lara said the same thing at her concerts in Brazil, and more than a decade has passed…Of course, Germany is a lot closer to her than Brazil, but she hadn’t been back to that country in more than a decade either, so distance is not the issue. It depends on her state of mind – if she has truly decided to embrace her international career ‘with open arms’, than anything is possible.
The other major story this past week, now back in France, was the release of the album "Les enfants du Top 50", featuring Lara on two different cuts. The actual cuts can be heard at the following links:
"On se retrouvera" (duo with Yoann Freget. Original version by Francis Lalanne).
www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3RiZOk33r8
"Une femme avec une femme" (Original version by Mécano)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=sf9WZr3YjQ8
or
www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ynabtEc95s
(two different links are provided, because who knows how long these are going to stay on youtube… ).
Lara sings strongly in both, and in particular, her performance of ‘Une femme avec une femme’ ranks up with her best vocals. This is a cut that really should go on a ‘best of’ CD.
A review of the album including Lara’s contribution can be found at:
leplus.nouvelobs.com/contribution/1249466-les-enfants-du-top-50-avec-zaz-gregoire-et-joyce-jonathan-de-bien-mauvaises-reprises.html
Below is the translation. While the article is mostly not about Lara – references to her are confined to one paragraph early on – the whole article is included because it puts in perspective the comments about Lara. In short, the reviewer absolutely hated the album – all except for Lara’s songs. [The review is actually quite humorous, though one suspects the album’s producers wouldn’t agree…].
-----------------------------------------------------------
"Les enfants du Top 50": some very bad reprises
By Charles Gautier
Man with a glib ear
In 2014, the Top 50 is celebrating its 30th anniversary. Released in 1984 on Canal Plus, then afterwards on France, MCM and TF6 notably, the broadcast came back on weekly sales of single, as an opportunity to show clips of the songs. This Oct. 13 they release a covers album to celebrate this anniversary. Charles Gautier listened to it, and many details are problematic.
I have seen pass some questionable projects, some smoking projects, but this one is on the top of the pile. All sounds false! Starting with the artists present here. Critique.
Kitsch, unimaginative, nothing stands out
As one would expect from a cover album, it's not exciting. Far from it even. I'll start with the good ... Lara Fabian. The two titles that she takes, "Une femme avec une femme" (alone) and "On se retrouvera (with Yoann Fréget equally good) are the best of the album. Restraint, emotion, nuance, interpretation, I felt that the song was lived. And that's what I expect.
For the rest, I'll put aside the banal. The same words recited by a primary school child would have made for me the same effect. The void, nothingness. Nothing more.
And I lead you to the worst. Warning to the ears (and eyes too). There is "Le coup de soleil" [Sunburn] et "Ouragan" [Hurricane]. Both suffer from the same problem: the flatness. How can anyone be so smooth when singing "Sunburn"? The man is upset. He is not really about to give weather forecasts, he suffers from love! "I sleep more at night, I make trips on boats that are wrecked," that is not nothing. For Grégoire, it seems easier to find some friends ("You + Me") than to sing love.
I could make the same criticism for Maude and "Hurricane." That it’s boring ...
Worse still, Joyce Jonathan. Yet it is she who has been highlighted, since she is present in the first two singles. In "T’en va pas" [Do Not Go], distressing words, she is so banal that I thought she was handicapped of feeling. Also awkward when she dances ("gesticulates" would be more appropriate) with the stars.
Finally, the first single, "Désir, désir" is a disaster. The song passes again, it's not the worst of the album. But the clip, what a horror! I let you judge before giving my opinion. [The video is then linked to, at www.youtube.com/watch?v=nX7mzWpngiA]
So? For me, more kitsch was not possible. From the beginning, it sounds false. These games of light with the sun, the plains in the fields of flowers, on a bridge, etc. This is not all.
Forced smiles when they all four sing at the microphone, this genre that they are best friends since kindergarten. It is not credible at all. It borders on the ridiculous. If the aim was also to pay tribute to the worst clips of the 80s, I can understand. Otherwise, no excuse is to be tolerated.
In short, it misses, fails. Call it what you like, I can not find words strong enough.
In the beginning was the error
But how to explain this failure? In fact, when the genesis is deviant, the whole conception is scoliatic and the result goes into a tailspin. Elementary.
Not for everyone, apparently. Return to the beginning to better understand. The purpose of this album is to celebrate 30 years of Top 50, created in 1984 on Canal Plus. So be it.
Only the album retains only songs dating to a maximum of 1991. More than twenty years of existence have been hidden to keep only the first seven years, the period of Toesca Marc (I will return to this gentleman a little later). Should we expect a volume 2 and 3 in case of success? Bizarre.
Then, even more delusional, the choice of songs. In principle, by celebrating the Top 50, one could expect songs that have marked it, a slew of No. 1, the longest running, etc. Nothing like that. Among the 15 songs that comprise the album, only 4 had a chance to reach the top spot in the rankings. That is "T’en va pas", "Une femme avec une femme", "On se retrouvera" et "Ouragan"." That's it.
(an angel passes)
Worse, the designers of the album have found a way to insert songs released before the creation of the Top 50 (I told you, it's of a high level!). Sure, in 30 years, not easy to find about fifteen notable titles! So we are entitled to "Le coup de soleil", "La groupie du pianiste", "Petite Marie" et "Il est libre Max".. All these titles were released between 1977 and 1981.
(a flock of angels pass)
As you can see, none of the remaining songs have really marked the Top 50, "Desire Desire" and "Tandem" not having even exceeded twentieth place.
So question: Should we call an album "Children of the Top 50" when nothing really evokes it? "Children of the 80s" wouldn’t it have been more legitimate? True, but surely much less of a seller. Thanks to its name, the album was supported by France 2 and Michel Drucker last Sunday and will be again on M6 in an evening special. Marketing.
And yet, with a little effort ...
Yet the topic was interesting. Badly exploited, it does not come out as anything. Yet there were things to do. I did a little research in the same period, between 1984 and 1991 for the French songs that reached the top spot.
On could have had "Besoin de rien, envie de toi", the first song to reach the top spot in the creation of the Top 50 but also "En rouge et noir", "T’en va pas", "Les valses de Vienne" and "Bo le lavabo" in honor of Jeanne Mas, Elsa, François Feldman and Jon Stewart who have placed two songs on top in 7 years, a great achivement. "L’Aziza" also unique number one song of Daniel Balavoine dead too young. Without forgetting Mylène Farmer – who is today the record holding woman for singles placed in the Top 50 – with "Pourvu qu'elles soient douces", for example.
I could go on for a long time but the list would be too long.
In place of this, we are left with this musical gruel, without taste or spice. And to think that Marc Toesca guaranteed this album on September 21 on his Facebook page, the same one who on France Bleu, more recently tackled (rightly) the megamix, these reprises of outdated songs redecorated for the taste of the day.
Times are changing and yet Marc Toesca, this album you have arranged, it is the same nullity you denigrate before and even now. Disappointing from end to end.
-------------------------------------------------------------
It does sound like this was a mismanaged project. However, the website for the album (https://www.facebook.com/LesEnfantsDuTop50) notes that the album was second on iTunes France. As the article indicated, Michel Drucker and the program ‘Vivement Dimanche’ had a special broadcast publicizing it (Lara did not appear, probably because of her German tour), but she will be on the pre-recorded show about it to air on October 28th (we've already seen fan videos of her performances).
Another article concerning the show appears in the issue Télé 7 Jours N° 2838, at:
www.facebook.com/246805652001644/photos/a.247913198557556.83420.246805652001644/947003928648476/?type=1&theater
They interview a number of the performers. Lara talks about her remembrance of Goldman in 1987 having an album that stayed in first place for 18 weeks, during the time when she left Belgium to go live in Quebec.
Because of this album, and Lara’s 'return-to-action' tour, she is being interviewed by a number of French periodicals. Here is a translation of her interview with gala.fr
(http://www.gala.fr/l_actu/news_de_stars/lara_fabian_j_ai_enormement_de_gratitude_vis-a-vis_du_public_327292).
----------------------------------------------------
Lara Fabian: "I have enormous appreciation vis-à-vis the public"
return
It takes more than "deafness flat and deep" to push Lara Fabian away from recording studios. Interviewed by Telestar, the singer gave good news about her health - even while she is back in the bins with the project ‘Les Enfants du top 50’.
In August, Lara Fabian released ‘Make Me Yours Tonight’, a duet with singer Mustafa Ceceli released as a single. A first exclusively Turkish return for the singer, who had remained away from the microphones since January, when the announcement of major concern to the inner ear had pushed her to cancel her tour.
Today, Lara Fabian is "much better". Thanks to her fans: "I have enormous appreciation vis-à-vis the public who really supported me," she says in Telestar. Less than a year after being removed from the scene, the singer returns to the French shelves with the project ‘Les Enfants du top 50’, an album released today. She sang two songs, including a duet with the winner of Season 2 of The Voice, Yoann Fréget: "It was I who asked to sing with him, she says. This is the voice of God, he is touched by grace. "
Lara Fabian has otherwise failed to participate in the program TF1 to replace Garou - a place finally recovered by Zazie: "There have been plenty of indirect appeals, but nothing official." A small failure without consequence: "Anyway, this year I would not have had time. But next time, I would love that! "
---------------------------------------------------
Additional articles of the same nature appeared in ‘Closer’ (http://www.closermag.fr/people/people-francais/lara-fabian-donne-des-nouvelles-rassurantes-je-vais-beaucoup-mieux-413496) and also in ‘Voici’ (http://www.voici.fr/news-people/actu-people/lara-fabian-va-beaucoup-mieux-et-remercie-ses-fans-pour-leur-immense-soutien-544298).
It would appear as if Lara is managing to maintain her French profile while at the same time pursuing these international venues. "Les enfants du Top 50", however one views its overall quality, may turn out to be a Godsend for her.
Germany and France are not the only countries providing news this past week. The Lara Fabian Turkey site reported that nine weeks after its release, ‘Make Me Yours Tonight’ is in 7th place on the Turkish charts (source Kral Pop), and fifth position in physical CD sales. The Lara Fabian Mexico FB site shared a link for the ‘Hits Chart’, “the OFFICIAL channel of "La Lista De Exitos" which “tries to show you the best songs of the moment in all the world”. It lists the song at number 1 (!) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qSNhr_bot8&feature=youtu.be); however it is not listed in the top 10 in Billboard’s World Music chart. Nicolas Boucaud (on the MZ FB site) quotes the fan site at "https://www.facebook.com/lara.fabian.5836" as saying that the promo CD of this song has finally been sent to French radio stations, and that it will be promoted in various countries (Russia, England, Portugal, Quebec). The thought expressed on the MZ site was that maybe this was in preparation for ‘best of’ concerts in these other countries, including perhaps France in December, although that has not been officially announced.
You may remember that a documentary on Lara was being prepared in Bulgaria, to be shown prior to her concert appearances there (scheduled for October 22 and 23). That video has now appeared, and can be seen at:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=736ajSI79N8
It looks beautifully done. While the audio of Lara responding in English is largely overridden by the Bulgarian translator, it does include many clips and other visuals (most of them not necessarily new to us, but good to see nonetheless). An article briefly describing the video (http://www.btv.bg/video/shows/nepoznatite/videos/nepoznatite-lara-fabian-lichno-1-chast.html) indicates that Lara invited the team of ‘Strangers’ [the name of the program] to the famous Belgian café “Vitamer” where she treated the program’s hosts, Toshev and Rumen Vasilev to ‘sweets’. It also notes that Lara says, “I’m not perfect”, and that “I think my daughter Lou well understood this, I think Lou chose me”.
The site ‘Lara Fabian est ton autre’ pointed out an article in the Lithuanian press concerning Lara’s upcoming appearance there (http://www.balsas.lt/m/naujiena/811037/si-treciadieni-kaune-ypatingas-laros-fabian-koncertas). It noted that she travels “with a team of 16 people - musicians, managers, technical staff and two personal stylists”. That certainly makes this an expensive proposition! In a ‘non-French’ mode, they also go into personal details about what hotel she is staying in, the temperature the room was asked to be set to, method of transportation requested, and even what Lara ate for dinner (“dined alone served juicy chicken breast, spaghetti al dente and steamed vegetables”) . A beautiful picture of the poster for the concert in Lithuania can be found on the Lara Fabian –PHQ site, at www11.pic-upload.de/13.10.14/34i549csfn.jpg (though we know she is not dressed like that in the concert).
And one more country: Rozeen Roz (on the MZ FB site) reported that Lara will be on a Christmas album to be released in Quebec on November 4th. The album will be sold to benefit the operation “Enfant Soleil”, which, as defined on their website (http://www.operationenfantsoleil.ca/),”raises funds to support the development of quality pediatric care and contribute to projects of social intervention for all children in Quebec”. The report, at hollywoodpq.com/2014/10/13/joel-legendre-lance-un-album-de-noel-au-profit-doperation-enfant-soleil/ indicates that Joel Legendre will collaborate with Lara on a French adaptation of ‘Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas’, that will become ‘Douces nuits de Noël’ (‘Silent Nights of Christmas). [Joel Legendre is “an actor, director, animator, author of cookbooks and a singer in Quebec. He lends his voice to Leonardo DiCaprio for the Quebec version of his films”].
As we know, more countries are in store: in the next 12 days, starting tomorrow, Lara will perform in Lithuania, the Czech Republic, Romania, Bulgaria and Finland. It would seem as if they’re to receive wonderful concerts. There are apparently about 196 countries in the world today [although ‘Google translate’ only works for some 80 languages
] - Lara has her work cut out for her, as do we!
David
Berlin (10/7) [thanks in particular to Jerome Gunt]
Extracts of many songs: www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyfdZqbbtXg
Adagio: www.youtube.com/watch?v=maMqHHNS4B8
: (combined): app.box.com/s/x07ag4mhvukm43l0z12u
Calling You: www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTT5W93M3_U
I Will Love Again: www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4x9el9LB8c
Il est lune: www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yPMhbJM9ew
Je suis malade: www.youtube.com/watch?v=7l8uCSONRg8
Mademoiselle Hyde: www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRvVaj3tKjI
Make Me Yours Tonight: www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Q4Tq1mZQOQ
Yelliel My Angel: www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFcOLLmtEcA
Offenbach (10/8)
Yelliel My Angel (inc): www.youtube.com/watch?v=2v6FYXFyTys
Je suis malade (inc): www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElgWP89eZ2I
Dusseldorf (10/9)
Caruso: www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMUw13GbbB8
Il est lune: www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRvmK9nxxy0
Make Me Yours Tonight (inc): www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1GdNUFqEKo
Yelliel: www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwrdYS5dphc
Adagio+Pas sans toi+I Guess I Loved You: www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQzeGkiIMZQ&list=PLSHm80Um3QPSXGaJVdo0CSupCHME_Qmn7
Hannover (10/10)
Adagio: www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNS6zdK3ypk
Je t’aime (inc): www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6rEHOzK6WE
Make Me Yours Tonight (inc): www.youtube.com/watch?v=6le6hY-Sl2c
A video from the various concerts, was put together by Nath D'alsace. It was “mounted from personal videos and intended to keep track of these magnificent concerts by Lara through Germany...designed to share with those who have not had the opportunity to attend a small part of this recital”. It can be seen at:
www.facebook.com/video.php?v=587356368053459&set=vb.100003373026641&type=2&theater
As can be readily ascertained, Lara was in excellent voice throughout, as good as we’ve heard her in recent years. Whatever she’s doing with her voice exercises, it certainly is working. The videos we have of ‘Yelliel My Angel’ are the first we’ve gotten since the ‘From Lara With Love’ show and the ‘Baden Baden’ concert more than a decade ago. At that time Lara indicated she wasn’t really referring to ‘Angels’ but rather real-world helpers; now, from her comments preceding the song, she seems to have ‘opened up’, and has a more esoteric point of view
. ‘Je t’aime’ is the old-fashioned powerful version, and ‘Adagio’ is sung with its usual strength – at least outside of France, no reticence from this ‘singer of voice’. It’s also good to hear Lara’s version of ‘Make Me Yours Tonight’ – it seems to have more heart and sincerity than the duet, perhaps because she has more freedom to express herself. In the same vein, the acoustic version of ‘I Will Love Again’ humanizes that song. All-in-all, wonderful performances, which one presumes will be duplicated at the other seven concerts on this tour. As usual, the Lara Fabian Brazil site has numerous photos for each of the shows:
Munich: www.larafabianbrasil.com.br/2014/10/show-em-munique-alemanha-05102014.html
Berlin: www.larafabianbrasil.com.br/2014/10/show-em-offenbach-am-main-alemanha.html
Offenbach: www.larafabianbrasil.com.br/2014/10/show-em-offenbach-am-main-alemanha.html
Dusseldorf: www.larafabianbrasil.com.br/2014/10/show-emdusseldorf-alemanha-09102014.html
Hannover: www.larafabianbrasil.com.br/2014/10/show-em-hanover-alemanha-10102014.html
The site ‘Lara Fabian est ton autre’ also has some nice photos, at www.facebook.com/166959643357708/photos/ms.c.eJw9y9sNgEAMA8GOUF62L~;03BiGCz5F2lcqULPoQzEtrZ3qfxro7xlR9zumz7HWJ~;hhQ~;H7607Y~;DBzTt0eEjat4A4kSGgU~-.bps.a.735194486534218/737352206318446/?type=1&theater
One can see that Lara wore the same/similar black dress each evening, in front of the same stage décor, each of the background instrumentalists enclosed in a large picture frame. Clearly she was letting her singing occupy all the attention (as one promo noted). And the audience gets plenty of that, since the show lasts for 1 hour 45 minutes.
Lara posted several messages on her official site relating to these concerts. After the first two shows, she wrote (in translation), “Thanks for these first two shows, between Munich and Berlin my heart went back to beating very strongly... Thank you for coming to encourage me from everywhere, Paris, Milan, Moscow, Geneva, Cairo, Catania, New York City, Kiev... merciiiiii Danke schön!”. And it was accompanied by the following picture:
www.facebook.com/larafabianofficial/photos/a.215378125170359.50343.201065806601591/783717411669758/?type=1&theater
Then before the last show, she indicated that she was undergoing a ‘retouching’ with a photo available at:
www.facebook.com/larafabianofficial/photos/a.622966977744803.1073741829.201065806601591/785501944824638/?type=1&theater
She ended it by writing (in translation), “Your presence, your open arms…Thanks!"
And after the final concert ended, she posted a photo at:
www.facebook.com/larafabianofficial/photos/a.215378125170359.50343.201065806601591/783717411669758/?type=1&theater
with the comment, “Merci danke schöne ... See you soon Germany”
indicating that a quick return to Germany is in the offing. We shall see…Lara said the same thing at her concerts in Brazil, and more than a decade has passed…Of course, Germany is a lot closer to her than Brazil, but she hadn’t been back to that country in more than a decade either, so distance is not the issue. It depends on her state of mind – if she has truly decided to embrace her international career ‘with open arms’, than anything is possible.
The other major story this past week, now back in France, was the release of the album "Les enfants du Top 50", featuring Lara on two different cuts. The actual cuts can be heard at the following links:
"On se retrouvera" (duo with Yoann Freget. Original version by Francis Lalanne).
www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3RiZOk33r8
"Une femme avec une femme" (Original version by Mécano)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=sf9WZr3YjQ8
or
www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ynabtEc95s
(two different links are provided, because who knows how long these are going to stay on youtube…
).Lara sings strongly in both, and in particular, her performance of ‘Une femme avec une femme’ ranks up with her best vocals. This is a cut that really should go on a ‘best of’ CD.
A review of the album including Lara’s contribution can be found at:
leplus.nouvelobs.com/contribution/1249466-les-enfants-du-top-50-avec-zaz-gregoire-et-joyce-jonathan-de-bien-mauvaises-reprises.html
Below is the translation. While the article is mostly not about Lara – references to her are confined to one paragraph early on – the whole article is included because it puts in perspective the comments about Lara. In short, the reviewer absolutely hated the album – all except for Lara’s songs. [The review is actually quite humorous, though one suspects the album’s producers wouldn’t agree…].
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"Les enfants du Top 50": some very bad reprises
By Charles Gautier
Man with a glib ear
In 2014, the Top 50 is celebrating its 30th anniversary. Released in 1984 on Canal Plus, then afterwards on France, MCM and TF6 notably, the broadcast came back on weekly sales of single, as an opportunity to show clips of the songs. This Oct. 13 they release a covers album to celebrate this anniversary. Charles Gautier listened to it, and many details are problematic.
I have seen pass some questionable projects, some smoking projects, but this one is on the top of the pile. All sounds false! Starting with the artists present here. Critique.
Kitsch, unimaginative, nothing stands out
As one would expect from a cover album, it's not exciting. Far from it even. I'll start with the good ... Lara Fabian. The two titles that she takes, "Une femme avec une femme" (alone) and "On se retrouvera (with Yoann Fréget equally good) are the best of the album. Restraint, emotion, nuance, interpretation, I felt that the song was lived. And that's what I expect.
For the rest, I'll put aside the banal. The same words recited by a primary school child would have made for me the same effect. The void, nothingness. Nothing more.
And I lead you to the worst. Warning to the ears (and eyes too). There is "Le coup de soleil" [Sunburn] et "Ouragan" [Hurricane]. Both suffer from the same problem: the flatness. How can anyone be so smooth when singing "Sunburn"? The man is upset. He is not really about to give weather forecasts, he suffers from love! "I sleep more at night, I make trips on boats that are wrecked," that is not nothing. For Grégoire, it seems easier to find some friends ("You + Me") than to sing love.
I could make the same criticism for Maude and "Hurricane." That it’s boring ...
Worse still, Joyce Jonathan. Yet it is she who has been highlighted, since she is present in the first two singles. In "T’en va pas" [Do Not Go], distressing words, she is so banal that I thought she was handicapped of feeling. Also awkward when she dances ("gesticulates" would be more appropriate) with the stars.
Finally, the first single, "Désir, désir" is a disaster. The song passes again, it's not the worst of the album. But the clip, what a horror! I let you judge before giving my opinion. [The video is then linked to, at www.youtube.com/watch?v=nX7mzWpngiA]
So? For me, more kitsch was not possible. From the beginning, it sounds false. These games of light with the sun, the plains in the fields of flowers, on a bridge, etc. This is not all.
Forced smiles when they all four sing at the microphone, this genre that they are best friends since kindergarten. It is not credible at all. It borders on the ridiculous. If the aim was also to pay tribute to the worst clips of the 80s, I can understand. Otherwise, no excuse is to be tolerated.
In short, it misses, fails. Call it what you like, I can not find words strong enough.
In the beginning was the error
But how to explain this failure? In fact, when the genesis is deviant, the whole conception is scoliatic and the result goes into a tailspin. Elementary.
Not for everyone, apparently. Return to the beginning to better understand. The purpose of this album is to celebrate 30 years of Top 50, created in 1984 on Canal Plus. So be it.
Only the album retains only songs dating to a maximum of 1991. More than twenty years of existence have been hidden to keep only the first seven years, the period of Toesca Marc (I will return to this gentleman a little later). Should we expect a volume 2 and 3 in case of success? Bizarre.
Then, even more delusional, the choice of songs. In principle, by celebrating the Top 50, one could expect songs that have marked it, a slew of No. 1, the longest running, etc. Nothing like that. Among the 15 songs that comprise the album, only 4 had a chance to reach the top spot in the rankings. That is "T’en va pas", "Une femme avec une femme", "On se retrouvera" et "Ouragan"." That's it.
(an angel passes)
Worse, the designers of the album have found a way to insert songs released before the creation of the Top 50 (I told you, it's of a high level!). Sure, in 30 years, not easy to find about fifteen notable titles! So we are entitled to "Le coup de soleil", "La groupie du pianiste", "Petite Marie" et "Il est libre Max".. All these titles were released between 1977 and 1981.
(a flock of angels pass)
As you can see, none of the remaining songs have really marked the Top 50, "Desire Desire" and "Tandem" not having even exceeded twentieth place.
So question: Should we call an album "Children of the Top 50" when nothing really evokes it? "Children of the 80s" wouldn’t it have been more legitimate? True, but surely much less of a seller. Thanks to its name, the album was supported by France 2 and Michel Drucker last Sunday and will be again on M6 in an evening special. Marketing.
And yet, with a little effort ...
Yet the topic was interesting. Badly exploited, it does not come out as anything. Yet there were things to do. I did a little research in the same period, between 1984 and 1991 for the French songs that reached the top spot.
On could have had "Besoin de rien, envie de toi", the first song to reach the top spot in the creation of the Top 50 but also "En rouge et noir", "T’en va pas", "Les valses de Vienne" and "Bo le lavabo" in honor of Jeanne Mas, Elsa, François Feldman and Jon Stewart who have placed two songs on top in 7 years, a great achivement. "L’Aziza" also unique number one song of Daniel Balavoine dead too young. Without forgetting Mylène Farmer – who is today the record holding woman for singles placed in the Top 50 – with "Pourvu qu'elles soient douces", for example.
I could go on for a long time but the list would be too long.
In place of this, we are left with this musical gruel, without taste or spice. And to think that Marc Toesca guaranteed this album on September 21 on his Facebook page, the same one who on France Bleu, more recently tackled (rightly) the megamix, these reprises of outdated songs redecorated for the taste of the day.
Times are changing and yet Marc Toesca, this album you have arranged, it is the same nullity you denigrate before and even now. Disappointing from end to end.
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It does sound like this was a mismanaged project. However, the website for the album (https://www.facebook.com/LesEnfantsDuTop50) notes that the album was second on iTunes France. As the article indicated, Michel Drucker and the program ‘Vivement Dimanche’ had a special broadcast publicizing it (Lara did not appear, probably because of her German tour), but she will be on the pre-recorded show about it to air on October 28th (we've already seen fan videos of her performances).
Another article concerning the show appears in the issue Télé 7 Jours N° 2838, at:
www.facebook.com/246805652001644/photos/a.247913198557556.83420.246805652001644/947003928648476/?type=1&theater
They interview a number of the performers. Lara talks about her remembrance of Goldman in 1987 having an album that stayed in first place for 18 weeks, during the time when she left Belgium to go live in Quebec.
Because of this album, and Lara’s 'return-to-action' tour, she is being interviewed by a number of French periodicals. Here is a translation of her interview with gala.fr
(http://www.gala.fr/l_actu/news_de_stars/lara_fabian_j_ai_enormement_de_gratitude_vis-a-vis_du_public_327292).
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Lara Fabian: "I have enormous appreciation vis-à-vis the public"
return
It takes more than "deafness flat and deep" to push Lara Fabian away from recording studios. Interviewed by Telestar, the singer gave good news about her health - even while she is back in the bins with the project ‘Les Enfants du top 50’.
In August, Lara Fabian released ‘Make Me Yours Tonight’, a duet with singer Mustafa Ceceli released as a single. A first exclusively Turkish return for the singer, who had remained away from the microphones since January, when the announcement of major concern to the inner ear had pushed her to cancel her tour.
Today, Lara Fabian is "much better". Thanks to her fans: "I have enormous appreciation vis-à-vis the public who really supported me," she says in Telestar. Less than a year after being removed from the scene, the singer returns to the French shelves with the project ‘Les Enfants du top 50’, an album released today. She sang two songs, including a duet with the winner of Season 2 of The Voice, Yoann Fréget: "It was I who asked to sing with him, she says. This is the voice of God, he is touched by grace. "
Lara Fabian has otherwise failed to participate in the program TF1 to replace Garou - a place finally recovered by Zazie: "There have been plenty of indirect appeals, but nothing official." A small failure without consequence: "Anyway, this year I would not have had time. But next time, I would love that! "
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Additional articles of the same nature appeared in ‘Closer’ (http://www.closermag.fr/people/people-francais/lara-fabian-donne-des-nouvelles-rassurantes-je-vais-beaucoup-mieux-413496) and also in ‘Voici’ (http://www.voici.fr/news-people/actu-people/lara-fabian-va-beaucoup-mieux-et-remercie-ses-fans-pour-leur-immense-soutien-544298).
It would appear as if Lara is managing to maintain her French profile while at the same time pursuing these international venues. "Les enfants du Top 50", however one views its overall quality, may turn out to be a Godsend for her.
Germany and France are not the only countries providing news this past week. The Lara Fabian Turkey site reported that nine weeks after its release, ‘Make Me Yours Tonight’ is in 7th place on the Turkish charts (source Kral Pop), and fifth position in physical CD sales. The Lara Fabian Mexico FB site shared a link for the ‘Hits Chart’, “the OFFICIAL channel of "La Lista De Exitos" which “tries to show you the best songs of the moment in all the world”. It lists the song at number 1 (!) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qSNhr_bot8&feature=youtu.be); however it is not listed in the top 10 in Billboard’s World Music chart. Nicolas Boucaud (on the MZ FB site) quotes the fan site at "https://www.facebook.com/lara.fabian.5836" as saying that the promo CD of this song has finally been sent to French radio stations, and that it will be promoted in various countries (Russia, England, Portugal, Quebec). The thought expressed on the MZ site was that maybe this was in preparation for ‘best of’ concerts in these other countries, including perhaps France in December, although that has not been officially announced.
You may remember that a documentary on Lara was being prepared in Bulgaria, to be shown prior to her concert appearances there (scheduled for October 22 and 23). That video has now appeared, and can be seen at:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=736ajSI79N8
It looks beautifully done. While the audio of Lara responding in English is largely overridden by the Bulgarian translator, it does include many clips and other visuals (most of them not necessarily new to us, but good to see nonetheless). An article briefly describing the video (http://www.btv.bg/video/shows/nepoznatite/videos/nepoznatite-lara-fabian-lichno-1-chast.html) indicates that Lara invited the team of ‘Strangers’ [the name of the program] to the famous Belgian café “Vitamer” where she treated the program’s hosts, Toshev and Rumen Vasilev to ‘sweets’. It also notes that Lara says, “I’m not perfect”, and that “I think my daughter Lou well understood this, I think Lou chose me”.
The site ‘Lara Fabian est ton autre’ pointed out an article in the Lithuanian press concerning Lara’s upcoming appearance there (http://www.balsas.lt/m/naujiena/811037/si-treciadieni-kaune-ypatingas-laros-fabian-koncertas). It noted that she travels “with a team of 16 people - musicians, managers, technical staff and two personal stylists”. That certainly makes this an expensive proposition! In a ‘non-French’ mode, they also go into personal details about what hotel she is staying in, the temperature the room was asked to be set to
, method of transportation requested, and even what Lara ate for dinner (“dined alone served juicy chicken breast, spaghetti al dente and steamed vegetables”) . A beautiful picture of the poster for the concert in Lithuania can be found on the Lara Fabian –PHQ site, at www11.pic-upload.de/13.10.14/34i549csfn.jpg (though we know she is not dressed like that in the concert).And one more country: Rozeen Roz (on the MZ FB site) reported that Lara will be on a Christmas album to be released in Quebec on November 4th. The album will be sold to benefit the operation “Enfant Soleil”, which, as defined on their website (http://www.operationenfantsoleil.ca/),”raises funds to support the development of quality pediatric care and contribute to projects of social intervention for all children in Quebec”. The report, at hollywoodpq.com/2014/10/13/joel-legendre-lance-un-album-de-noel-au-profit-doperation-enfant-soleil/ indicates that Joel Legendre will collaborate with Lara on a French adaptation of ‘Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas’, that will become ‘Douces nuits de Noël’ (‘Silent Nights of Christmas). [Joel Legendre is “an actor, director, animator, author of cookbooks and a singer in Quebec. He lends his voice to Leonardo DiCaprio for the Quebec version of his films”].
As we know, more countries are in store: in the next 12 days, starting tomorrow, Lara will perform in Lithuania, the Czech Republic, Romania, Bulgaria and Finland. It would seem as if they’re to receive wonderful concerts. There are apparently about 196 countries in the world today [although ‘Google translate’ only works for some 80 languages
] - Lara has her work cut out for her, as do we!David
