Post by davidhr on Dec 16, 2014 10:31:29 GMT -5
Another week in which Lara’s international career dominated her news, starting with appearances in the ‘countries to the east’.
First up, at least in terms of the quality of the videos (although not by that much): the last two of Lara’s performances on the show celebrating Igor Krutoi’s 60th birthday, from 11/22, were shown on Russian TV. The videos are available:
"Lubov ustavshikh lebedey" (Love of Tired Swans)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7dFwPCuz7U
or www.youtube.com/watch?v=xs9wa-gK8O8
Toccami
www.youtube.com/watch?v=GX8n0C-L8ws
Lara also shows up in the background, clapping, of the closing song (e.g., at 3:50):
www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZldkUAsay4#t=171
Not much to say, given the lip-synching, except that the images are beautiful, and can only serve to enhance Lara’s appeal in Russia.
In terms of live action, Lara’s concert in Moldova took place, and it was a typical ‘Best of’ set list. We are fortunate to have wonderful videos of the songs. For convenience, links to the best versions are shown below, in alphabetical order.
Adagio: www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqa7Ejm4t1o
Alfonsina y el mar: www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDB_wHgP0J4
Angel: www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oybpl5bPms
Caruso: www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgzslkTNqaI
I Guess I Loved You: www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPhSELQ_UqY
I Will Love Again: www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogWFrrFMlKU
Il est lune: www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvmU51G7T64
J’y crois encore: www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcQB4wqcNtk
Je t’aime: www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDhY_NXpFmk
Je suis malade: www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1U9SCyt7Ek
Mademoiselle Hyde: www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5Qx3ofAXk4
Make Me Yours Tonight: www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKXQd68OIDg (first part)
Pas sans toi: www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCXBfjcdk6c
Yelliel: www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKXQd68OIDg (second part)
Drum solo: www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFb6zFcEm9o (first part)
And the ending: www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1auMytj_c4, with well-deserved flowers. Then Lara leaving (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEYEGBpbeRY).
Lara also gave an interview for CTC TV (although largely in Russian, there are some nice images), available at www.youtube.com/watch?v=btjfpJHlE8k.
As evident on the videos, Lara was in great voice, continuing the vocal quality and strength she has shown since her return. She has to be very happy with how she sounds, at the age of 44 soon to be 45!
Lara is slowly continuing to add dates and venues to her late winter/spring concert series. With some fanfare, her FB site noted the listing of a concert in Montreal on March 25th, at the ‘Place des Arts’, where she has appeared a number of times. Tickets can be ordered at:
billetterie.placedesarts.com/evTarifs.aspx?language=EN&owner=123&event=14204
With no explicit acknowledgement, her appearance in Atlantic City, two days earlier on the 21st, was also added to the official schedule. Her FB site stated that ‘the concert dates arrive little by little’, so we can probably expect more in the coming days.
Another appearance of an entirely different nature also got some publicity, both on Lara’s site and others. Lara will be present at the ‘Festival San Remo” in Italy, from February 10-14. Lara’s announcement of it can be seen at: (https://www.facebook.com/larafabianofficial/photos/a.215378125170359.50343.201065806601591/820955824612583/?type=1&theater). A discussion of it in the Italian press (http://www.soundsblog.it/post/322956/sanremo-2015-lara-fabian-voce-testo-video) included the following information (in translation):
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There was talk of the opening of the San Remo Festival in 2015 and also to foreigners this year. Carlo Conti has entered Lara Fabian to the singing competition, in his first experience as a conductor of the music festival. A large international voice that in the past has already sung in our language and with excellent results. Lara will bring the new song ‘Voce’… The singer was born in Etterbeek, Belgium, January 9, 1970. She has always been considered one of the most powerful and intense singers on the international scene and has performed on stage bringing songs in different languages: Italian, English, Spanish, Portuguese, German and Neapolitan. She lived a good part of her childhood in Sicily, Catania and Italian is the first language she learned. On the stage of the San Remo Festival she had been a guest on 2 March 2007, singing Adagio (in English) and Un Cuore Malato paired with Gigi D'Alessio.
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Another nice article (http://progettoparnassos.blogspot.it/2014/12/la-voce-di-lara-fabian-sul-palco-di.html) included the following:
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Yesterday afternoon were unveiled the names of the singers present at the San Remo Festival in 2015, among which is that of an artist respected and appreciated all over the world: Lara Fabian.
In Italy the singer is famous for writing and starring in both English and Italian, the song " Adagio”, a reconstruction of the famous Adagio by Albinoni. Despite the success of this song (it is the first place in Italy iTuness top 100 song downloads easy listening after more than 15 years after its release) it would be ridiculous to enclose her career in a single song. In fact, the talent and the humanity of Lara Fabian has led to more than 40 nominations important in the music world, winning countless awards including " Best Female Performer of the year "…[Followed by a retrospective of interesting milestones of her career].
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The ‘Lara Fabian Türkiye site had a complete discussion of this, which for convenience is copied below:
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Lara will be participating in the 2015 San Remo Italian Music Festival, competing with other big names of Italian music with an original song entitled "VOCE". The arrangement of this song has been realized by Mustafa Ceceli. Traditionally, the Festival includes two parallel competitions. In what is called “Campioni”, the established and succesful Italian artists compete among themselves for the coveted 1st Prize, while a second parallel competition designates a winner among the “giovanni”, young emerging artists. Lara will be of course competing with other major names among the “Campioni”. A Belgian [corrected] and Canadian citizen, Lara’s presence is justified by her origins from Sicily. During its existence since 1951, the festival has brought to international fame names such as Laura Pausini, Andrea Bocelli, Eros Ramazotti, Ricchi et Poveri, Elisa, Mata Bazar, Adriano Celentano , Umerto Tozzi and many more. Songs which have become Italian hymns such as “Volare”, but also “Adesso tu”, “Luce” or “La Solitudine” originated from this festival. The concept of the festival, whose first edition was held in 1951, has inspired the creation of the EUROVISION SONG CONTEST in 1956.
The cooperation of Lara with Mustafa was initiated through the song “Make Me Yours Tonight”. But it has evolved to a personal friendship and artistic cooperation. The fact that the Italian song, which Lara will perform as her entry at the San Remo Festival was handed over to Mustafa for developing an arrangement is a result of the trust between the two artists, and also due to the international relevance of Mustafa’s musical talents. We are very confident that Lara’s song, with Mustafa’s contribution, will have a great success at the San Remo Festival. As Lara Fabian’s Turkish fans, we are proud of this cooperation. Our, Mustafa’s and all of Turkey’s heart will be with Lara when she will be performing "VOCE" on the stage of the Ariston Theatre in San Remo.
The 65th edition San Remo Italian Music Festival will take place from 10th to 14th February 2015 and can be watched on RAI 1 , or online through RAI 1’s internet site.
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This is obviously being considered by everyone, including Lara, to be a really big deal! The song ‘Voce’ presumably is different from ‘Ascolta la voce’, also known as ‘Vocalize’ from the Mme. Zhivago album.
On the surface, it would seem this is a new effort by Lara to enter the Italian market. As indicated above, she has appeared at San Remo previously, although not in a competitive mode, i.e., singing Adagio, and with Gigi D’Alessio for ‘Un cuore malato’ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Zg1Y9mYlEg). [Note – as she said in the second video, she was five months pregnant at the time…] In fact, throughout the month of February 2007, she appeared with him at various venues in Italy for the performance of their duet.
It is one of the great ironies of Lara’s career (of which, admittedly, there are many), that Italy, the country where Lara spent part of her life growing up, the country she calls her true ‘home’, whose language she speaks like the native she is, and which is located adjacent to France, is a country where to our knowledge she has never given a full public concert, and where she has never released an Italian record.
Occasionally Lara has had plans. Here’s a discussion from lara--fabian.blogspot.com/2009/04/official-information-from-wiki.html:
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According to messages left by Lara Fabian on her official site in 2006, her next studio album was to be her first Italian-language project. Few details have been released except that she has been working with Neapolitan singer and songwriter Gigi D'Alessio, who appeared once at one of her shows, and whose performance is included as a bonus on Fabian's recent live DVD, Un regard 9 Live. The two artists recorded a song called "Un Cuore Malato" (Ill heart), which they performed live during the fourth night of the 2007 San Remo festival on Rai Uno, the main Italian public channel. There is also a French/Italian version of this duet "Un Coeur Blessé" and this was released to French radio in Summer 2007.
In June 2007, Fabian worked in Rome and Los Angeles to record sessions for her Italian album. In the meantime, the single "Un Cuore Malato" (with Gigi D'Alessio) reached the top of the Italian charts and #16 in France.
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Throughout those two years she occasionally discussed the Italian album, but obviously it never came to fruition. To show how far the rumors had gotten, they included: "Celso Valli is producing it (he also produced songs for Eros and Laura Pausini"); "Album will be called 'Festa' it's a very melodic album"; "There will be a possible duet with either Eros or Laura Pausini". And it was supposed to be debuted at San Remo in 2007 [where, as noted above, only Adagio and the duet with D’Alessio were sung].
It was reported that Lara had asked Rick Allison to allow her to rewrite some of their past songs in Italian for the album. He refused, and Lara then said the album would have all new titles. On his website, Rick provided a response to the highly negative publicity he received for his sarcastic reply to Lara's request to remake some of their songs in other languages. He said it didn't constitute the whole reply, and was the result of his being offended because (1) Lara didn't ask him personally, she had her management company ask; and (2) he wasn't asked to work on them or even comment on the finished product, that they were his songs too, and it would have been only polite to ask his opinion. She then took him to court, and although it was subsequently settled relatively amicably, perhaps its time had passed. Also, late in 2007 Lara gave birth to her child, disrupting any other activities.
Then at times from late 2007 to 2008, when Lara was discussing the developing ‘Tout les femmes en moi’ (TLFM) album, she indicated to reporters that it existed in three languages, the English language version being ‘Every Women in Me’, and there being an Italian version as well. The English disc appeared in 2009; the Italian one has not been seen.
Lara later discussed what was perhaps the overlying issue that kept her Italian albums from being released. In July of 2009, she gave an extensive interview for the magazine ‘Platine’, and the following exchange took place (in translation):
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PLATINE: Where are you in your international career? "Cuore Malato", your duo with Gigi d'Alessio, succeeded in Italy but not at all in France…
LARA: No, the radios didn't carry it, what is it that you want me to do?
PLATINE: Is it that it allowed you to become better known in Italy?
LARA: Yes but I remain "the singer of Adagio", the singer of Adagio, then there is nothing to do. Gigi d'Alessio, that one has been a window, thanks to San Remo [the Festival]. Unfortunately, it is a country where it is politically very difficult to make music. It is not an easy country, where there is truly a protectionist culture, indeed mysterious, for song. What prevents me until now from doing music in Italian, it isn't the music, it is the people who make it…
PLATINE: You mean the professionals?
LARA: Yes, when you enter into a team down there, that you sign a contract, you abandon a form of liberty that I don't have the desire to lose. I have already been the property of an environment and I don't what it anymore. I've worked too hard.
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Clearly Lara is talking about her previous relationship with Sony, hence not wanting to become the property of an Italian record company in order to release an album there. Remember, she had to go to great lengths (and money) to buy her songs back from Sony. She also became the unhappy subject of the preferences of Universal regarding the release of TLFM. Unless the situation has changed, it’s hard to see how Lara’s current initiative in Italy will lead to a greater penetration of that market from an album release perspective. Perhaps Odacity can play a role!
However, Lara could at least have given concerts there. You may remember the answer Lara gave with respect to the concerts in Germany, for the Russian weekly newspaper “Arguments and Facts; perhaps it could apply to Italy even more so…
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A&F: And here in Germany you go to give concerts for the first time. Although it would seem, it's around the corner from Belgium, where you live…
Lara: - My hero Paulo Coelho had to go around the world to meet his fate near his home. But for some reason he took this trip ... a Life tour - a very strange and unpredictable thing. It turned out that my first professional success despite having Italian mother and Belgian father, came ... in Canada! Then fate circled me well to different cities and countries, but the feeling of home, the roots, I was always there.
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Lara has demonstrated a reluctance to sing in the native language of a country (outside of France/Belgium/Quebec) despite her fluency in it. She had to be talked into including the Spanish language songs on the international release of her first English album; she gave a completely French concert when singing in Toronto last year; and, weirdly, the version of Adagio she sung at San Remo was in English, not Italian. In last week’s News Update, there was a quote from Lara about how she either did something completely correct or not at all – this was with respect to singing in the Azerbaijani language in Baku, but it presumably would apply to these other countries as well. She has already overcome that reluctance in some countries e.g., Russia, Israel, and (in duet) in Turkey, although these were not languages in which she professes fluency; perhaps if Lara does well in this ‘contest’, it might give her the incentive to ‘return home’ to Italy, professionally.
According to the festival’s website (http://eurofestivalit.altervista.org/2014/12/14/sanremo-2015-i-20-campioni/), “To choose the winners of the sixty-fourth edition of the Festival, there will be a mix of televoting, jury of the press room, the jury of experts and the jury opinion poll, the latter composed of 300 people with a minimum age of 16 years, selected from among regular users of music, who will express their vote from home using an electronic voting system… Recall that the winner of the Champions will have the opportunity to represent the ' Italian to ' Eurovision Song Contest 2015 . In the event that the winner of the Champions decides not to participate in the ' ESC , the RAI will have the right to choose our representative criteria own.” It would be strange for Lara to return to the Eurovision contest some 17 years after her first appearance...but maybe she'd feel she could find vindication after finishing fourth!
Apparently there is a website where one can vote for one’s preferred ’San Remo’ singer (thanks to the LaraFabian web site): musiconlineofficial.altervista.org/votazioni-cantanti-sanremo-2015/ Lara currently has 10% of the vote. Note this is not an ‘official vote’ – the contest actually has to occur first!
In other news, still in the international vein but of relevance to all, the ‘Lara Fabian est ton autre’ (LFETA) FB site reported that Lara will be recording a live DVD at a (previously unannounced) show in Prague on June 5th, 2015 (https://www.pragueeventscalendar.cz/ru-ru/events/detail/221139/lara-fabian-special-show-dvd-recording). As the LFETA site notes, it is unclear whether this is for an official DVD release or for a later television broadcast, although use of the word ‘DVD’ would seem to imply the former. Presumably it will be of the ‘Best of’ tour…and hopefully available to fans world-wide. She will actually be in for Prague for concerts on June 5th and 7th. Tickets are available at: www.ticketstream.cz/czts/site.frame.jsp?thread (just put in the dates); the DVD recording will only be on the 5th, and the performance on the 7th will be as a guest of Bobby McFerrin.
Meanwhile, for those who want to see high quality video of Lara’s last performance in Prague (10/16/14), they are available at:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=OHc-DaQj93s
www.youtube.com/watch?v=edjaICy27So
And in one final international note, ‘Carmela Anolik’ on the ‘Lara Fabian connection people’ site noted that the concert in Israel has been moved one week later, to 2/28/15 (Lara’s official site has not –yet- changed it).
As one might expect, all of this international news is not exactly enthralling Lara’s Francophone fans, who pop up on the various sites to express their dissatisfaction that the cancelled concerts in France were never re-scheduled. The MZ FB site wondered if the DVD would even be sold in France, whose inhabitants have not generally seen a ‘Best of’ show. Despite this, the LFETA site is running several promotions for Lara. Here is their notice:
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For the fans all over the world:
Here is the draft including the page LARA FABIAN EST TON AUTRE wanted to share with you.As you know, the end-of-the-year & holiday festivities are coming soon & fast. This time of year is expected & exciting for many of you. This will be the opportunity to climb the tree to decorate, prepare good cupcakes shortbread, thinking of one's family but also of the poorest.
First, the LARA FABIAN EST TON AUTRE's page will allow you to leave a VIDEO MESSAGE to Lara via a small video where you can wish her happy holidays at the end of the year or wish her a very happy birthday taking place soon after. I will remind you her birthday is January 9, 2015. I give you free reign to your imagination. For example, you can make a shoot of you and your Christmas tree alone or with your children or Christmas shopping with friends...
The video should be sent to the following address; lfeta0970@gmail.com before the 20th of December 2014!
And the video must be saved in .avi format and must not exceed 30 seconds (Yes, because understand that should put the most possible tribute on a single video that is not too heavy to handle).
This video will be given to Lara. So, your imagination...
And second, be aware that a petition has been launched to the reseating of a wax STATUE of Lara at the Musée Grévin in Paris. Yes, Let's admit that the statue of 1998 being not too similar to what is now Lara, the Museum has pulled it and it would be nice to have a new effigy so fans from around the world can enjoy during their visit in the city of lights.
Yes but what of the various authorities then? There is not an easy approach to this!
And they know that the request was made at the Museum a moment ago and they responded to me that there should be a petition and that they would see what they could possibly do next. In addition, LFETA has recently met with Lara and she is aware of the petition and has even agreed to make us happy.
She deserves this statue at the same rank as any of the other artists, because she is active in several charity annual associations (Foundation Papillon, Children of the Stars, the Global Gift Gala,...) and in addition, is a citizen of the world. I am well aware of the difficulty of this approach and it is for this that I will need your help dear fans. How? Simply by going to the link secure.avaaz.org/fr/petition/Musee_Grevin_de_Paris_Une_nouvelle_statue_de_cire_a_Paris_pour_Lara_Fabian/?cRKALib, fill the fields on the right and finally sign it please.
NOTE to fans: I know aptly that some of you will be very resistant to the 2014 project and I do not blame them, I would not. On the other hand, I know the frustration of some regarding the cancellation of the previous tour in France and I know their absolute disappointment. However, it is time to turn the page, I think, and leave the poorly heard out and let in the magic of Christmas. Spillage on this page will be warned and the disrespectful fan will be banned if it persists. Thank you for your entire understanding.
Here, can I count on you?
Lara Fabian est ton autre
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Good luck to them, and to any of you who want to submit videos…
As the holidays approach, Lara is presumably back in Belgium with her family. No appearances are listed for the coming weeks, although additional tour dates may show up at any time.
David
First up, at least in terms of the quality of the videos (although not by that much): the last two of Lara’s performances on the show celebrating Igor Krutoi’s 60th birthday, from 11/22, were shown on Russian TV. The videos are available:
"Lubov ustavshikh lebedey" (Love of Tired Swans)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7dFwPCuz7U
or www.youtube.com/watch?v=xs9wa-gK8O8
Toccami
www.youtube.com/watch?v=GX8n0C-L8ws
Lara also shows up in the background, clapping, of the closing song (e.g., at 3:50):
www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZldkUAsay4#t=171
Not much to say, given the lip-synching, except that the images are beautiful, and can only serve to enhance Lara’s appeal in Russia.
In terms of live action, Lara’s concert in Moldova took place, and it was a typical ‘Best of’ set list. We are fortunate to have wonderful videos of the songs. For convenience, links to the best versions are shown below, in alphabetical order.
Adagio: www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqa7Ejm4t1o
Alfonsina y el mar: www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDB_wHgP0J4
Angel: www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oybpl5bPms
Caruso: www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgzslkTNqaI
I Guess I Loved You: www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPhSELQ_UqY
I Will Love Again: www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogWFrrFMlKU
Il est lune: www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvmU51G7T64
J’y crois encore: www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcQB4wqcNtk
Je t’aime: www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDhY_NXpFmk
Je suis malade: www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1U9SCyt7Ek
Mademoiselle Hyde: www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5Qx3ofAXk4
Make Me Yours Tonight: www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKXQd68OIDg (first part)
Pas sans toi: www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCXBfjcdk6c
Yelliel: www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKXQd68OIDg (second part)
Drum solo: www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFb6zFcEm9o (first part)
And the ending: www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1auMytj_c4, with well-deserved flowers. Then Lara leaving (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEYEGBpbeRY).
Lara also gave an interview for CTC TV (although largely in Russian, there are some nice images), available at www.youtube.com/watch?v=btjfpJHlE8k.
As evident on the videos, Lara was in great voice, continuing the vocal quality and strength she has shown since her return. She has to be very happy with how she sounds, at the age of 44 soon to be 45!
Lara is slowly continuing to add dates and venues to her late winter/spring concert series. With some fanfare, her FB site noted the listing of a concert in Montreal on March 25th, at the ‘Place des Arts’, where she has appeared a number of times. Tickets can be ordered at:
billetterie.placedesarts.com/evTarifs.aspx?language=EN&owner=123&event=14204
With no explicit acknowledgement, her appearance in Atlantic City, two days earlier on the 21st, was also added to the official schedule. Her FB site stated that ‘the concert dates arrive little by little’, so we can probably expect more in the coming days.
Another appearance of an entirely different nature also got some publicity, both on Lara’s site and others. Lara will be present at the ‘Festival San Remo” in Italy, from February 10-14. Lara’s announcement of it can be seen at: (https://www.facebook.com/larafabianofficial/photos/a.215378125170359.50343.201065806601591/820955824612583/?type=1&theater). A discussion of it in the Italian press (http://www.soundsblog.it/post/322956/sanremo-2015-lara-fabian-voce-testo-video) included the following information (in translation):
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There was talk of the opening of the San Remo Festival in 2015 and also to foreigners this year. Carlo Conti has entered Lara Fabian to the singing competition, in his first experience as a conductor of the music festival. A large international voice that in the past has already sung in our language and with excellent results. Lara will bring the new song ‘Voce’… The singer was born in Etterbeek, Belgium, January 9, 1970. She has always been considered one of the most powerful and intense singers on the international scene and has performed on stage bringing songs in different languages: Italian, English, Spanish, Portuguese, German and Neapolitan. She lived a good part of her childhood in Sicily, Catania and Italian is the first language she learned. On the stage of the San Remo Festival she had been a guest on 2 March 2007, singing Adagio (in English) and Un Cuore Malato paired with Gigi D'Alessio.
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Another nice article (http://progettoparnassos.blogspot.it/2014/12/la-voce-di-lara-fabian-sul-palco-di.html) included the following:
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Yesterday afternoon were unveiled the names of the singers present at the San Remo Festival in 2015, among which is that of an artist respected and appreciated all over the world: Lara Fabian.
In Italy the singer is famous for writing and starring in both English and Italian, the song " Adagio”, a reconstruction of the famous Adagio by Albinoni. Despite the success of this song (it is the first place in Italy iTuness top 100 song downloads easy listening after more than 15 years after its release) it would be ridiculous to enclose her career in a single song. In fact, the talent and the humanity of Lara Fabian has led to more than 40 nominations important in the music world, winning countless awards including " Best Female Performer of the year "…[Followed by a retrospective of interesting milestones of her career].
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The ‘Lara Fabian Türkiye site had a complete discussion of this, which for convenience is copied below:
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Lara will be participating in the 2015 San Remo Italian Music Festival, competing with other big names of Italian music with an original song entitled "VOCE". The arrangement of this song has been realized by Mustafa Ceceli. Traditionally, the Festival includes two parallel competitions. In what is called “Campioni”, the established and succesful Italian artists compete among themselves for the coveted 1st Prize, while a second parallel competition designates a winner among the “giovanni”, young emerging artists. Lara will be of course competing with other major names among the “Campioni”. A Belgian [corrected] and Canadian citizen, Lara’s presence is justified by her origins from Sicily. During its existence since 1951, the festival has brought to international fame names such as Laura Pausini, Andrea Bocelli, Eros Ramazotti, Ricchi et Poveri, Elisa, Mata Bazar, Adriano Celentano , Umerto Tozzi and many more. Songs which have become Italian hymns such as “Volare”, but also “Adesso tu”, “Luce” or “La Solitudine” originated from this festival. The concept of the festival, whose first edition was held in 1951, has inspired the creation of the EUROVISION SONG CONTEST in 1956.
The cooperation of Lara with Mustafa was initiated through the song “Make Me Yours Tonight”. But it has evolved to a personal friendship and artistic cooperation. The fact that the Italian song, which Lara will perform as her entry at the San Remo Festival was handed over to Mustafa for developing an arrangement is a result of the trust between the two artists, and also due to the international relevance of Mustafa’s musical talents. We are very confident that Lara’s song, with Mustafa’s contribution, will have a great success at the San Remo Festival. As Lara Fabian’s Turkish fans, we are proud of this cooperation. Our, Mustafa’s and all of Turkey’s heart will be with Lara when she will be performing "VOCE" on the stage of the Ariston Theatre in San Remo.
The 65th edition San Remo Italian Music Festival will take place from 10th to 14th February 2015 and can be watched on RAI 1 , or online through RAI 1’s internet site.
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This is obviously being considered by everyone, including Lara, to be a really big deal! The song ‘Voce’ presumably is different from ‘Ascolta la voce’, also known as ‘Vocalize’ from the Mme. Zhivago album.
On the surface, it would seem this is a new effort by Lara to enter the Italian market. As indicated above, she has appeared at San Remo previously, although not in a competitive mode, i.e., singing Adagio, and with Gigi D’Alessio for ‘Un cuore malato’ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Zg1Y9mYlEg). [Note – as she said in the second video, she was five months pregnant at the time…] In fact, throughout the month of February 2007, she appeared with him at various venues in Italy for the performance of their duet.
It is one of the great ironies of Lara’s career (of which, admittedly, there are many), that Italy, the country where Lara spent part of her life growing up, the country she calls her true ‘home’, whose language she speaks like the native she is, and which is located adjacent to France, is a country where to our knowledge she has never given a full public concert, and where she has never released an Italian record.
Occasionally Lara has had plans. Here’s a discussion from lara--fabian.blogspot.com/2009/04/official-information-from-wiki.html:
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According to messages left by Lara Fabian on her official site in 2006, her next studio album was to be her first Italian-language project. Few details have been released except that she has been working with Neapolitan singer and songwriter Gigi D'Alessio, who appeared once at one of her shows, and whose performance is included as a bonus on Fabian's recent live DVD, Un regard 9 Live. The two artists recorded a song called "Un Cuore Malato" (Ill heart), which they performed live during the fourth night of the 2007 San Remo festival on Rai Uno, the main Italian public channel. There is also a French/Italian version of this duet "Un Coeur Blessé" and this was released to French radio in Summer 2007.
In June 2007, Fabian worked in Rome and Los Angeles to record sessions for her Italian album. In the meantime, the single "Un Cuore Malato" (with Gigi D'Alessio) reached the top of the Italian charts and #16 in France.
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Throughout those two years she occasionally discussed the Italian album, but obviously it never came to fruition. To show how far the rumors had gotten, they included: "Celso Valli is producing it (he also produced songs for Eros and Laura Pausini"); "Album will be called 'Festa' it's a very melodic album"; "There will be a possible duet with either Eros or Laura Pausini". And it was supposed to be debuted at San Remo in 2007 [where, as noted above, only Adagio and the duet with D’Alessio were sung].
It was reported that Lara had asked Rick Allison to allow her to rewrite some of their past songs in Italian for the album. He refused, and Lara then said the album would have all new titles. On his website, Rick provided a response to the highly negative publicity he received for his sarcastic reply to Lara's request to remake some of their songs in other languages. He said it didn't constitute the whole reply, and was the result of his being offended because (1) Lara didn't ask him personally, she had her management company ask; and (2) he wasn't asked to work on them or even comment on the finished product, that they were his songs too, and it would have been only polite to ask his opinion. She then took him to court, and although it was subsequently settled relatively amicably, perhaps its time had passed. Also, late in 2007 Lara gave birth to her child, disrupting any other activities.
Then at times from late 2007 to 2008, when Lara was discussing the developing ‘Tout les femmes en moi’ (TLFM) album, she indicated to reporters that it existed in three languages, the English language version being ‘Every Women in Me’, and there being an Italian version as well. The English disc appeared in 2009; the Italian one has not been seen.
Lara later discussed what was perhaps the overlying issue that kept her Italian albums from being released. In July of 2009, she gave an extensive interview for the magazine ‘Platine’, and the following exchange took place (in translation):
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PLATINE: Where are you in your international career? "Cuore Malato", your duo with Gigi d'Alessio, succeeded in Italy but not at all in France…
LARA: No, the radios didn't carry it, what is it that you want me to do?
PLATINE: Is it that it allowed you to become better known in Italy?
LARA: Yes but I remain "the singer of Adagio", the singer of Adagio, then there is nothing to do. Gigi d'Alessio, that one has been a window, thanks to San Remo [the Festival]. Unfortunately, it is a country where it is politically very difficult to make music. It is not an easy country, where there is truly a protectionist culture, indeed mysterious, for song. What prevents me until now from doing music in Italian, it isn't the music, it is the people who make it…
PLATINE: You mean the professionals?
LARA: Yes, when you enter into a team down there, that you sign a contract, you abandon a form of liberty that I don't have the desire to lose. I have already been the property of an environment and I don't what it anymore. I've worked too hard.
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Clearly Lara is talking about her previous relationship with Sony, hence not wanting to become the property of an Italian record company in order to release an album there. Remember, she had to go to great lengths (and money) to buy her songs back from Sony. She also became the unhappy subject of the preferences of Universal regarding the release of TLFM. Unless the situation has changed, it’s hard to see how Lara’s current initiative in Italy will lead to a greater penetration of that market from an album release perspective. Perhaps Odacity can play a role!
However, Lara could at least have given concerts there. You may remember the answer Lara gave with respect to the concerts in Germany, for the Russian weekly newspaper “Arguments and Facts; perhaps it could apply to Italy even more so…
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A&F: And here in Germany you go to give concerts for the first time. Although it would seem, it's around the corner from Belgium, where you live…
Lara: - My hero Paulo Coelho had to go around the world to meet his fate near his home. But for some reason he took this trip ... a Life tour - a very strange and unpredictable thing. It turned out that my first professional success despite having Italian mother and Belgian father, came ... in Canada! Then fate circled me well to different cities and countries, but the feeling of home, the roots, I was always there.
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Lara has demonstrated a reluctance to sing in the native language of a country (outside of France/Belgium/Quebec) despite her fluency in it. She had to be talked into including the Spanish language songs on the international release of her first English album; she gave a completely French concert when singing in Toronto last year; and, weirdly, the version of Adagio she sung at San Remo was in English, not Italian. In last week’s News Update, there was a quote from Lara about how she either did something completely correct or not at all – this was with respect to singing in the Azerbaijani language in Baku, but it presumably would apply to these other countries as well. She has already overcome that reluctance in some countries e.g., Russia, Israel, and (in duet) in Turkey, although these were not languages in which she professes fluency; perhaps if Lara does well in this ‘contest’, it might give her the incentive to ‘return home’ to Italy, professionally.
According to the festival’s website (http://eurofestivalit.altervista.org/2014/12/14/sanremo-2015-i-20-campioni/), “To choose the winners of the sixty-fourth edition of the Festival, there will be a mix of televoting, jury of the press room, the jury of experts and the jury opinion poll, the latter composed of 300 people with a minimum age of 16 years, selected from among regular users of music, who will express their vote from home using an electronic voting system… Recall that the winner of the Champions will have the opportunity to represent the ' Italian to ' Eurovision Song Contest 2015 . In the event that the winner of the Champions decides not to participate in the ' ESC , the RAI will have the right to choose our representative criteria own.” It would be strange for Lara to return to the Eurovision contest some 17 years after her first appearance...but maybe she'd feel she could find vindication after finishing fourth!
Apparently there is a website where one can vote for one’s preferred ’San Remo’ singer (thanks to the LaraFabian web site): musiconlineofficial.altervista.org/votazioni-cantanti-sanremo-2015/ Lara currently has 10% of the vote. Note this is not an ‘official vote’ – the contest actually has to occur first!
In other news, still in the international vein but of relevance to all, the ‘Lara Fabian est ton autre’ (LFETA) FB site reported that Lara will be recording a live DVD at a (previously unannounced) show in Prague on June 5th, 2015 (https://www.pragueeventscalendar.cz/ru-ru/events/detail/221139/lara-fabian-special-show-dvd-recording). As the LFETA site notes, it is unclear whether this is for an official DVD release or for a later television broadcast, although use of the word ‘DVD’ would seem to imply the former. Presumably it will be of the ‘Best of’ tour…and hopefully available to fans world-wide. She will actually be in for Prague for concerts on June 5th and 7th. Tickets are available at: www.ticketstream.cz/czts/site.frame.jsp?thread (just put in the dates); the DVD recording will only be on the 5th, and the performance on the 7th will be as a guest of Bobby McFerrin.
Meanwhile, for those who want to see high quality video of Lara’s last performance in Prague (10/16/14), they are available at:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=OHc-DaQj93s
www.youtube.com/watch?v=edjaICy27So
And in one final international note, ‘Carmela Anolik’ on the ‘Lara Fabian connection people’ site noted that the concert in Israel has been moved one week later, to 2/28/15 (Lara’s official site has not –yet- changed it).
As one might expect, all of this international news is not exactly enthralling Lara’s Francophone fans, who pop up on the various sites to express their dissatisfaction that the cancelled concerts in France were never re-scheduled. The MZ FB site wondered if the DVD would even be sold in France, whose inhabitants have not generally seen a ‘Best of’ show. Despite this, the LFETA site is running several promotions for Lara. Here is their notice:
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For the fans all over the world:
Here is the draft including the page LARA FABIAN EST TON AUTRE wanted to share with you.As you know, the end-of-the-year & holiday festivities are coming soon & fast. This time of year is expected & exciting for many of you. This will be the opportunity to climb the tree to decorate, prepare good cupcakes shortbread, thinking of one's family but also of the poorest.
First, the LARA FABIAN EST TON AUTRE's page will allow you to leave a VIDEO MESSAGE to Lara via a small video where you can wish her happy holidays at the end of the year or wish her a very happy birthday taking place soon after. I will remind you her birthday is January 9, 2015. I give you free reign to your imagination. For example, you can make a shoot of you and your Christmas tree alone or with your children or Christmas shopping with friends...
The video should be sent to the following address; lfeta0970@gmail.com before the 20th of December 2014!
And the video must be saved in .avi format and must not exceed 30 seconds (Yes, because understand that should put the most possible tribute on a single video that is not too heavy to handle).
This video will be given to Lara. So, your imagination...
And second, be aware that a petition has been launched to the reseating of a wax STATUE of Lara at the Musée Grévin in Paris. Yes, Let's admit that the statue of 1998 being not too similar to what is now Lara, the Museum has pulled it and it would be nice to have a new effigy so fans from around the world can enjoy during their visit in the city of lights.
Yes but what of the various authorities then? There is not an easy approach to this!
And they know that the request was made at the Museum a moment ago and they responded to me that there should be a petition and that they would see what they could possibly do next. In addition, LFETA has recently met with Lara and she is aware of the petition and has even agreed to make us happy.
She deserves this statue at the same rank as any of the other artists, because she is active in several charity annual associations (Foundation Papillon, Children of the Stars, the Global Gift Gala,...) and in addition, is a citizen of the world. I am well aware of the difficulty of this approach and it is for this that I will need your help dear fans. How? Simply by going to the link secure.avaaz.org/fr/petition/Musee_Grevin_de_Paris_Une_nouvelle_statue_de_cire_a_Paris_pour_Lara_Fabian/?cRKALib, fill the fields on the right and finally sign it please.
NOTE to fans: I know aptly that some of you will be very resistant to the 2014 project and I do not blame them, I would not. On the other hand, I know the frustration of some regarding the cancellation of the previous tour in France and I know their absolute disappointment. However, it is time to turn the page, I think, and leave the poorly heard out and let in the magic of Christmas. Spillage on this page will be warned and the disrespectful fan will be banned if it persists. Thank you for your entire understanding.
Here, can I count on you?
Lara Fabian est ton autre
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Good luck to them, and to any of you who want to submit videos…
As the holidays approach, Lara is presumably back in Belgium with her family. No appearances are listed for the coming weeks, although additional tour dates may show up at any time.
David
