Post by davidhr on Aug 11, 2015 8:19:38 GMT -5
Once again this past week, the majority of the activity occurred on Lara’s FB site (quite a change from the norm, historically). Lara had some fun with the name ‘Barbara’ (or variants of it). She started it off with several homages, the first to Barbra Streisand, and the second to the French singer ‘Barbara’.
**With respect to Streisand, Lara showed the photo she took with her (I believe) at a restaurant in NYC (one of the few perks she got from signing with Columbia/Sony). It can be seen at:
www.facebook.com/larafabianofficial/photos/a.215378125170359.50343.201065806601591/957361040972060/?type=1&theater
It included Lara’s comment, “We all have people, close or far, who inspire us deeply and sometimes influence the choices that define our paths.. For me, it is she ...A voice, "the" Voice... An inspiration that has never left me and that continues to illuminate my path... Mrs. Barbra Streisand...[and then a link to Streisand singing the song, “Somewhere”, www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAu3a7CMA84&feature=youtu.be].
Lara’s infatuation with Streisand has many roots, but she has said in the past she admired her for being her own woman, and appearing in movies as well as on records – in addition to her vocal prowess, of course.
The fans’ response was, as expected, that they too loved Streisand and the picture; they also recognize the vocal kinship between the two. Some also noted that for them, Lara played the same role in their life as Streisand did in hers.
**This was followed by Lara’s link to her own singing of the song ‘Gottingen’, her homage to the French singer known simply as Barbara on the program of Charles Aznavour, ‘Hier Encore’, at:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=8dt-4a3goNI&feature=youtu.be
Lara included the comment, “Around two years ago, on the scene of the Parisian "Olympia" theatre, at the invitation of Mr. Charles Aznavour... "Göttingen", by Barbara...”[Note, it was the year of the 50th anniversary of the post-war Élysée Treaty signed between Germany and France, although whether that influenced the choice of the song is not clear].
For those unfamiliar with the history of this song, here’s an article from the BBC in Berlin (http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-21126353):
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Goettingen: The song that made history
By Stephen Evans
The post-war reconciliation between France and Germany was enshrined in a treaty signed 50 years ago. But many believe a song recorded the following year [1964] did as much to thaw relations.
Can there be many songs that really did change the world?
There have certainly been records which have been immensely popular - and some of those have had a message. But did they really change the hearts and minds of ordinary people? Did they alter politics?
There is one which did, and it's barely known now.
Fifty years ago, Germany and France were neighbours where the scars of war were still raw.
Germany had invaded France and been repulsed, inch by bloody inch and town by town. Germans were trying to come to terms not just with total defeat, but with how what they thought was their civilised country had perpetrated one of the great crimes of history.
Into this minefield of potential resentment and painful rancour, stepped a slight, soft-voiced chanteuse.
Barbara was her stage name - she had been born Monique Serf in Paris in 1930. She was Jewish and so a target for the Nazis. But, two decades after the end of the war, she travelled to the German city Goettingen, as near to the heart of Germany as you can get.
She fell in love with the city and its people and recorded a paean of praise, first in French and then in German, the language of the former oppressor. She sang of "Herman, Peter, Helga et Hans". Who had they been, the listener wonders. Her friends? Her lovers?
It captured the hearts of her German audience at the Goettingen theatre. It became a hit.
A street was named after her. The city bestowed its Medal of Honour on her. The citation talks of the song and its "quiet, emphatic plea for understanding". The song's popularity, the citation says, "made an important contribution to Franco-German reconciliation".
As the song says:
"Of course, we have la Seine
And our Vincennes' wood,
But God, the roses are beautiful
In Goettingen, in Goettingen."
And then:
"But children are the same,
In Paris or in Goettingen.
May the time of blood and hatred
Never come back
Because there are people I love
In Goettingen, in Goettingen".
One of the people in the audience was a student by the name of Gerhard Schroeder.
He would later become Chancellor of Germany and use the words of the ballad in a speech marking the 40th anniversary of the Elysee Treaty of reconciliation between France and Germany, a speech made exactly 10 years ago. [Note this article is from 2013].
He said: "I was a doctoral student in Goettingen when she came to sing. It went to our hearts, the start of a wonderful friendship between our countries."
Listening to the song today, it's easy to understand its appeal then. It remains hauntingly beautiful, a wistful paean of love with a tinge of sadness.
She had much to be sad about. She had suffered sexual abuse from her father, and she had spent the war in flight from the Nazis, leaving Paris for the south and then dodging to hide from collaborators who would have handed her over to her murderers.
With the war over, she returned to Paris and took up singing and piano lessons at the Paris Conservatoire. But it was cabaret to which she was drawn, and the world of Edith Piaf and then Jacques Brel. Her big breakthrough came in the early 60s with "Barbara chante Barbara".
And Goettingen. In Germany, she was loved for the love she had extended to them. In France, she was a star. Streets were named after her there too. A stamp had her face on it. When she died in 1997, a quarter of a million mourners went to the funeral.
But all that is just the ephemera of show business - the hits and the publicity and the pictures in the paper of her smoldering in dark glasses.
The part that still matters is that song. After all, which other singer could claim to have changed the world and for the better?
"Goettingen" was recorded just after one of the big political speeches of the century. President Charles de Gaulle of France went to the German city of Ludwigsburg and addressed the "youth of Germany", again in their own language.
"To you all I extend my congratulations," he said. "I congratulate you for being young."
He had spent much of the war in London as the exiled leader of the Free French and returned to France as the German enemy was forced out - so his speech in German was important. The historians mark it as significant.
But which is more important - the speech of the General or the song of the girl?
-------------------------------------------------------------
This has to be Lara’s most sensitive performance of the song, which of course was also included on Lara’s album ‘Toutes les femmes en moi’. She is not singing it here as a vocal exercise; instead she seemed to get completely into the lyrics and sentiment, as then did the audience. If one reads the comments on youtube, that was true of people who saw it there, too; in fact, some people, both there and on Lara’s site, felt they liked her rendition better than the original. If you want to view Barbara’s own presentation, it is visible at:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9b6E4MnCWk
**And for the final 'Barbara': Lara included her official video for ‘Deux ils, deux elles’ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D47lVYOSNwo&feature=youtu.be) with the caption, “A beautiful memory, a music video with beautiful people...A fight, for what should be self-evident: the freedom to love… " and "Twin souls are immortal Well beyond him or her”. She then followed this with the link to the remix version of the song by the ‘Electro’ Canadian artist Mistress Barbara, at:
www.musicordisques.ca/sites/default/files/fichiers/10_deux_ils_deux_elles_remis_par_mistress_barbara.mp3?utm_source=All&utm_campaign=Lara%20Fabian%20%20-%20Le%20Secret&utm_medium=email
Some fans stated they liked this version better than the original, while another viewpoint is that it reduces the impact of the lyrics - but at the very least, it is an interesting alternative.
We have to realize that this ‘interactivity’ is new to Lara, and she’s still finding her way, looking for things to say and offer up to the fans. The humor of the different ‘Barbaras’ shows she’s starting to loosen up about it, though it is still a challenge. The other, diverse, contributions (covered below) she provided are part of that search…
**Lara had several wishes for her fans, the first showing a video with colors and the caption, “I wish you a week-end full of colors, wherever you are and whatever you'll be doing.❤”,visible at
video-lga1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hvideo-xtp1/v/t42.1790-2/11818857_957997424241755_1820779602_n.mp4?efg=eyJybHIiOjY4NSwicmxhIjo1MTJ9&rl=685&vabr=381&oh=225198ca2f4f949a9af3c6dffa994944&oe=55C914AB
Lara thanked Cristina Munteanu for the "Butterflies" in the video, while the snippet of song was the piano introduction from ‘Make Me Yours Tonight’, Lara’s duet with Mustafa Ceceli.
In that regard, last week Lara had entered on her FB site the message “Today, a year ago, an encounter, a friendship…Mustafa Ceceli…and a beautiful adventure, “Make Me Yours Tonight”… Subsequently, he responded with “Always an honor for me and my magnificent experience in my life…thanks to your big heart
.
**With her second wish for the fans, she presented the link to the audio of her song ‘Aime’,
www.youtube.com/watch?v=qICCxZV9TvA&feature=youtu.be
including the lyrics:
" Love,
Life is so beautiful
As soon as you become her or him who loves
The certainty that the other is essential
It is a rendezvous like a sign from heaven "
And a picture of Lara with a big heart behind her, at:
www.facebook.com/larafabianofficial/photos/a.215378125170359.50343.201065806601591/959800124061485/?type=1&theater
All of this comes with the caption, “Hello my angels, a small tour on Facebook, to wish you a wonderful week. ♥ Kisses to all my angels across the world. ♥ “
Lara’s team further explained that the picture was from Istanbul, in August of 2014.
**For an update on her current activities, she provided a picture of her visit to a local market, at:
www.facebook.com/larafabianofficial/photos/a.622966977744803.1073741829.201065806601591/959197137455117/?type=1&theater
with a caption “Grocery shopping” [and showing some fruit emoticons]. Fans hoped she had good meals from them.
**Finally, a picture with the caption, “A piece of heaven… a bit of sun…I hope…”
www.facebook.com/larafabianofficial/photos/a.215378125170359.50343.201065806601591/956810861027078/?type=1&theater
along with a link to her song ‘J’ai zappe’ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrQ6KoJz3n0&feature=youtu.be).
The song can be seen to be relevant in various ways. Several of those caption lines are lyrics in it; in addition, the relevance to the picture is that the song’s lyrics recounting disasters occurring on this ‘small planet’ (being reported on the TV news) contrasts with the perfection of the sky and sunshine. Also Lara is apparently using technology (i.e., a remote control device for her TV) to change channels in the hope that all negativity will be ‘zapped’ away. She is also using technology here (Facebook) with perhaps the same hope…
This song is from the album ‘Pure’, and Lara’s team took several opportunities in responding to fans to remind them of Lara’s comment that the new album would be like ‘Pure’ and ‘Nue’. That may mean anything from being more personal, to the strength of the singing, and/or to the concentration on ‘hits’. Certainly they hope it is true commercially!
All of Lara’s FB interactions (and other publicity ventures) are paying off in one respect. You may have noticed how rapidly the ‘likes’ are accumulating on her FB page – at the time of this writing they are up to 948 thousand (948K), and have been increasing at the rate of what seems like almost 10,000/week. Occasionally we have surveyed how Lara places in FB ‘likes’ relative to some other French female singers; here is a current standing (obviously not all inclusive):
Singer (date of birth) FB Likes (in thousands – K)
Shy’m (1985) 1,699K
Jenifer (1982) 1,131K
Zaz (1980) 1,121K
Alizee (1984) 972K
Lara (1970) 948K
Mylene Farmer (1961) 813K
Dalida (1933) 585K
Helene Segara (1971) 390K
Zazie (1964) 389K
Vanessa Paradis (1972) 385K
Nolwenn Leroy (1982) 377K
Chimene Badi (1982) 248K
Isabelle Boulay (1972) 222K
Francoise Hardy (1944) 181K
Patricia Kass (1966) 170K
Julie Zenatti (1981) 122K
Lara is currently fifth on this list, and in a position to move up if she keeps advancing at recent rates. There are several influences to note. The four singers in front of Lara are all about a decade younger than she is, emphasizing not only current popularity but the relative weighting of their youthful audience on social media. It is also important not to confuse FB ‘likes’ with sales potential as FB is not necessarily a ‘French thing’ (witness the very popular French language singers with less than 400K likes). So Lara likely gains here from her international audience, and whether that will really translate commercially depends upon whether discs – or digital versions- are available in those countries. [It must certainly hurt CD sales for fans to have to order from a foreign country, e.g., via amazon.fr, regardless of how reliable they are. But as we’ve seen with the release of ‘Selection’, the distribution regulations are byzantine indeed…]. Digital distribution is therefore of paramount importance, and, at least as far as the previous albums are concerned, things are now much better for Lara, with her albums readily available in many countries. Hopefully that will be true for ‘Ma vie dans la tienne’, as well.
In other news, the site ‘Operation Fan Club Lara Fabian’ has provided the picture from a recent news blurb, visible at:
www.facebook.com/OperationFanClubLaraFabian/photos/a.674006339373232.1073741828.673991206041412/818595818247616/?type=1&theater
It reads (in translation):
-----------------------------------------------
The Singers of Voice Back in Service
The golden voices Lara Fabian, Helene Segara and Chimene Badi had all three had their careers interrupted for reasons of health. The first had lost her hearing, the second her sight and the third her voice. Finally, after having taken the time to rest, the three singers are preparing to return to the front of the stage. Lara has just published a single, her new album will be released November 6th, Helene has in turn to begin a tour and is about to join the jury of ‘La France a un incroyable talent' while Chimene will present her new opus, ‘Au-dela des maux’, next August 21st. All’s well that ends well…
--------------------------------------------------
In about the same spirit, is this article on the mfmradio site (http://mfmradio.fr/musique/people/11595/ils-ont-fait-lanne-2015-lara-fabian), translated below:
----------------------------------------------------
They made the year 2015: Lara Fabian
Transformed and armed with her best voice, Lara Fabian has returned to the race!
Condemned to silence following health problems, she was missing from the French scene ...
"I had two hearing shocks, the first on a television set, the second on a concert stage (...) I had to relearn everything (...) I cried my race!"
For nearly 10 months, she had to struggle to regain her hearing. Now restored, it is a new Lara Fabian that we find, ready to relaunch her career!
At 45, she offers a fresh start with her 12th new album, in French! Entitled "Ma vie dans la tienne” it will be released next November 6th. Resolutely modern, it is the witness of her transformation and of her new life but will be "in the tradition of the albums" she did "in the past".
"This album is very personal for it has passed through something difficult".
The singer does not stop there! When the album comes out, she will also be at the movies! A film recounting the epic of her last European tour will be screened in more than 40 French theaters. A first that her public is not likely to miss!
That is not all! Another idea also echoes in her head: to become Coach in the talent show The Voice on TF1! For now, the talent show production has not yet proposed anything to her ... but the message is passed!
Meanwhile, it is on MFM Radio that you find her most beautiful songs like "Quand je ne chante pas" single from her upcoming album!
-----------------------------------------------------------
Lara also had several other promotional plugs. On the program ‘Demandez le programme “ on TV5Monde (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQlTwvGEu74) her new single was introduced with positive comments. And on the Italian site ‘Network in Progress’ the single was shown with the accompanying (translated) text:
------------------------------------------------------------
Strange fate of some huge celebrity in the world of international music. We speak of the excellent Lara Fabian, songwriter and composer Belgian naturalized Canadian of Italian descent. Hers is one of the most powerful and acute voices in the melodious world and this year she wanted to get involved by participating in the Festival of Sanremo, a bastion of Italian song, with the song "Voce"; unfortunately it was immediately eliminated from the race and then the song has not been as successful as in our opinion it rather deserved. But Lara, pop music star of world fame, did not blink and launched smiling in the production of a new album "Ma vie dans la tienne" whose release is scheduled for November 2015. In the meantime, the network launches the new single "Quand Je Ne Chante Pas" in French precisely, a rhythmic song, highly catchy, fresh and enhanced by the determination that only Lara knows how to put in her songs.
---------------------------------------------------------
Interesting pictures of the week: building on the one shown by Lara herself from her performance of ‘Gottingen’, the site ‘Anges du bout du monde’ put several others together, available at:
www.facebook.com/AngesDuBoutDuMonde/photos/pcb.485453518296788/485452974963509/?type=1&theater
Consistent with the song ‘Aime’, from CI Lins on the ‘Lara Fabian Voice of Passion’ site,
www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=622761764530362&set=p.622761764530362&type=1&theater
And from the Lara Fabian Mexico site,
www.facebook.com/LaraFabianfromMexico/photos/a.556366341084097.1073741825.556364357750962/881401475247247/?type=1&theater
We should note also the beautiful title page put together for Lara’s upcoming album (as well as another for the new single) by the Operation Fan Club Lara Fabian site, at
www.facebook.com/OperationFanClubLaraFabian/photos/a.677490525691480.1073741836.673991206041412/816276821812849/?type=1&theater
When asked whether there will be a second single for the album, Lara’s people said, in effect, stay tuned.
It will be interesting to see where Lara’s ‘interactivity’ on her FB site goes from here. Will she get hooked by it, and start reveling in her ability to share whatever comes to mind, or will she get bored, and gradually taper off – especially when the commercial reasons for ‘priming the pump’ diminish? Maybe she will start using it as an opportunity to be even more revealing….If so, it will really help fans (and perhaps Lara herself) get to know her better. Meanwhile, Lara’s team posted the following statement on the FB site: “Ready for a new quiz ? Meet us tomorrow, at 14h00 CET (Paris/Brussels), for a musical quiz. This time with a prize for the winner(s) Team Lara”. So for those of you interested, join them on Wednesday, 8/11.
David
**With respect to Streisand, Lara showed the photo she took with her (I believe) at a restaurant in NYC (one of the few perks she got from signing with Columbia/Sony). It can be seen at:
www.facebook.com/larafabianofficial/photos/a.215378125170359.50343.201065806601591/957361040972060/?type=1&theater
It included Lara’s comment, “We all have people, close or far, who inspire us deeply and sometimes influence the choices that define our paths.. For me, it is she ...A voice, "the" Voice... An inspiration that has never left me and that continues to illuminate my path... Mrs. Barbra Streisand...[and then a link to Streisand singing the song, “Somewhere”, www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAu3a7CMA84&feature=youtu.be].
Lara’s infatuation with Streisand has many roots, but she has said in the past she admired her for being her own woman, and appearing in movies as well as on records – in addition to her vocal prowess, of course.
The fans’ response was, as expected, that they too loved Streisand and the picture; they also recognize the vocal kinship between the two. Some also noted that for them, Lara played the same role in their life as Streisand did in hers.
**This was followed by Lara’s link to her own singing of the song ‘Gottingen’, her homage to the French singer known simply as Barbara on the program of Charles Aznavour, ‘Hier Encore’, at:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=8dt-4a3goNI&feature=youtu.be
Lara included the comment, “Around two years ago, on the scene of the Parisian "Olympia" theatre, at the invitation of Mr. Charles Aznavour... "Göttingen", by Barbara...”[Note, it was the year of the 50th anniversary of the post-war Élysée Treaty signed between Germany and France, although whether that influenced the choice of the song is not clear].
For those unfamiliar with the history of this song, here’s an article from the BBC in Berlin (http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-21126353):
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Goettingen: The song that made history
By Stephen Evans
The post-war reconciliation between France and Germany was enshrined in a treaty signed 50 years ago. But many believe a song recorded the following year [1964] did as much to thaw relations.
Can there be many songs that really did change the world?
There have certainly been records which have been immensely popular - and some of those have had a message. But did they really change the hearts and minds of ordinary people? Did they alter politics?
There is one which did, and it's barely known now.
Fifty years ago, Germany and France were neighbours where the scars of war were still raw.
Germany had invaded France and been repulsed, inch by bloody inch and town by town. Germans were trying to come to terms not just with total defeat, but with how what they thought was their civilised country had perpetrated one of the great crimes of history.
Into this minefield of potential resentment and painful rancour, stepped a slight, soft-voiced chanteuse.
Barbara was her stage name - she had been born Monique Serf in Paris in 1930. She was Jewish and so a target for the Nazis. But, two decades after the end of the war, she travelled to the German city Goettingen, as near to the heart of Germany as you can get.
She fell in love with the city and its people and recorded a paean of praise, first in French and then in German, the language of the former oppressor. She sang of "Herman, Peter, Helga et Hans". Who had they been, the listener wonders. Her friends? Her lovers?
It captured the hearts of her German audience at the Goettingen theatre. It became a hit.
A street was named after her. The city bestowed its Medal of Honour on her. The citation talks of the song and its "quiet, emphatic plea for understanding". The song's popularity, the citation says, "made an important contribution to Franco-German reconciliation".
As the song says:
"Of course, we have la Seine
And our Vincennes' wood,
But God, the roses are beautiful
In Goettingen, in Goettingen."
And then:
"But children are the same,
In Paris or in Goettingen.
May the time of blood and hatred
Never come back
Because there are people I love
In Goettingen, in Goettingen".
One of the people in the audience was a student by the name of Gerhard Schroeder.
He would later become Chancellor of Germany and use the words of the ballad in a speech marking the 40th anniversary of the Elysee Treaty of reconciliation between France and Germany, a speech made exactly 10 years ago. [Note this article is from 2013].
He said: "I was a doctoral student in Goettingen when she came to sing. It went to our hearts, the start of a wonderful friendship between our countries."
Listening to the song today, it's easy to understand its appeal then. It remains hauntingly beautiful, a wistful paean of love with a tinge of sadness.
She had much to be sad about. She had suffered sexual abuse from her father, and she had spent the war in flight from the Nazis, leaving Paris for the south and then dodging to hide from collaborators who would have handed her over to her murderers.
With the war over, she returned to Paris and took up singing and piano lessons at the Paris Conservatoire. But it was cabaret to which she was drawn, and the world of Edith Piaf and then Jacques Brel. Her big breakthrough came in the early 60s with "Barbara chante Barbara".
And Goettingen. In Germany, she was loved for the love she had extended to them. In France, she was a star. Streets were named after her there too. A stamp had her face on it. When she died in 1997, a quarter of a million mourners went to the funeral.
But all that is just the ephemera of show business - the hits and the publicity and the pictures in the paper of her smoldering in dark glasses.
The part that still matters is that song. After all, which other singer could claim to have changed the world and for the better?
"Goettingen" was recorded just after one of the big political speeches of the century. President Charles de Gaulle of France went to the German city of Ludwigsburg and addressed the "youth of Germany", again in their own language.
"To you all I extend my congratulations," he said. "I congratulate you for being young."
He had spent much of the war in London as the exiled leader of the Free French and returned to France as the German enemy was forced out - so his speech in German was important. The historians mark it as significant.
But which is more important - the speech of the General or the song of the girl?
-------------------------------------------------------------
This has to be Lara’s most sensitive performance of the song, which of course was also included on Lara’s album ‘Toutes les femmes en moi’. She is not singing it here as a vocal exercise; instead she seemed to get completely into the lyrics and sentiment, as then did the audience. If one reads the comments on youtube, that was true of people who saw it there, too; in fact, some people, both there and on Lara’s site, felt they liked her rendition better than the original. If you want to view Barbara’s own presentation, it is visible at:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9b6E4MnCWk
**And for the final 'Barbara': Lara included her official video for ‘Deux ils, deux elles’ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D47lVYOSNwo&feature=youtu.be) with the caption, “A beautiful memory, a music video with beautiful people...A fight, for what should be self-evident: the freedom to love… " and "Twin souls are immortal Well beyond him or her”. She then followed this with the link to the remix version of the song by the ‘Electro’ Canadian artist Mistress Barbara, at:
www.musicordisques.ca/sites/default/files/fichiers/10_deux_ils_deux_elles_remis_par_mistress_barbara.mp3?utm_source=All&utm_campaign=Lara%20Fabian%20%20-%20Le%20Secret&utm_medium=email
Some fans stated they liked this version better than the original, while another viewpoint is that it reduces the impact of the lyrics - but at the very least, it is an interesting alternative.
We have to realize that this ‘interactivity’ is new to Lara, and she’s still finding her way, looking for things to say and offer up to the fans. The humor of the different ‘Barbaras’ shows she’s starting to loosen up about it, though it is still a challenge. The other, diverse, contributions (covered below) she provided are part of that search…
**Lara had several wishes for her fans, the first showing a video with colors and the caption, “I wish you a week-end full of colors, wherever you are and whatever you'll be doing.❤”,visible at
video-lga1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hvideo-xtp1/v/t42.1790-2/11818857_957997424241755_1820779602_n.mp4?efg=eyJybHIiOjY4NSwicmxhIjo1MTJ9&rl=685&vabr=381&oh=225198ca2f4f949a9af3c6dffa994944&oe=55C914AB
Lara thanked Cristina Munteanu for the "Butterflies" in the video, while the snippet of song was the piano introduction from ‘Make Me Yours Tonight’, Lara’s duet with Mustafa Ceceli.
In that regard, last week Lara had entered on her FB site the message “Today, a year ago, an encounter, a friendship…Mustafa Ceceli…and a beautiful adventure, “Make Me Yours Tonight”… Subsequently, he responded with “Always an honor for me and my magnificent experience in my life…thanks to your big heart
.**With her second wish for the fans, she presented the link to the audio of her song ‘Aime’,
www.youtube.com/watch?v=qICCxZV9TvA&feature=youtu.be
including the lyrics:
" Love,
Life is so beautiful
As soon as you become her or him who loves
The certainty that the other is essential
It is a rendezvous like a sign from heaven "
And a picture of Lara with a big heart behind her, at:
www.facebook.com/larafabianofficial/photos/a.215378125170359.50343.201065806601591/959800124061485/?type=1&theater
All of this comes with the caption, “Hello my angels, a small tour on Facebook, to wish you a wonderful week. ♥ Kisses to all my angels across the world. ♥ “
Lara’s team further explained that the picture was from Istanbul, in August of 2014.
**For an update on her current activities, she provided a picture of her visit to a local market, at:
www.facebook.com/larafabianofficial/photos/a.622966977744803.1073741829.201065806601591/959197137455117/?type=1&theater
with a caption “Grocery shopping” [and showing some fruit emoticons]. Fans hoped she had good meals from them.
**Finally, a picture with the caption, “A piece of heaven… a bit of sun…I hope…”
www.facebook.com/larafabianofficial/photos/a.215378125170359.50343.201065806601591/956810861027078/?type=1&theater
along with a link to her song ‘J’ai zappe’ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrQ6KoJz3n0&feature=youtu.be).
The song can be seen to be relevant in various ways. Several of those caption lines are lyrics in it; in addition, the relevance to the picture is that the song’s lyrics recounting disasters occurring on this ‘small planet’ (being reported on the TV news) contrasts with the perfection of the sky and sunshine. Also Lara is apparently using technology (i.e., a remote control device for her TV) to change channels in the hope that all negativity will be ‘zapped’ away. She is also using technology here (Facebook) with perhaps the same hope…
This song is from the album ‘Pure’, and Lara’s team took several opportunities in responding to fans to remind them of Lara’s comment that the new album would be like ‘Pure’ and ‘Nue’. That may mean anything from being more personal, to the strength of the singing, and/or to the concentration on ‘hits’. Certainly they hope it is true commercially!
All of Lara’s FB interactions (and other publicity ventures) are paying off in one respect. You may have noticed how rapidly the ‘likes’ are accumulating on her FB page – at the time of this writing they are up to 948 thousand (948K), and have been increasing at the rate of what seems like almost 10,000/week. Occasionally we have surveyed how Lara places in FB ‘likes’ relative to some other French female singers; here is a current standing (obviously not all inclusive):
Singer (date of birth) FB Likes (in thousands – K)
Shy’m (1985) 1,699K
Jenifer (1982) 1,131K
Zaz (1980) 1,121K
Alizee (1984) 972K
Lara (1970) 948K
Mylene Farmer (1961) 813K
Dalida (1933) 585K
Helene Segara (1971) 390K
Zazie (1964) 389K
Vanessa Paradis (1972) 385K
Nolwenn Leroy (1982) 377K
Chimene Badi (1982) 248K
Isabelle Boulay (1972) 222K
Francoise Hardy (1944) 181K
Patricia Kass (1966) 170K
Julie Zenatti (1981) 122K
Lara is currently fifth on this list, and in a position to move up if she keeps advancing at recent rates. There are several influences to note. The four singers in front of Lara are all about a decade younger than she is, emphasizing not only current popularity but the relative weighting of their youthful audience on social media. It is also important not to confuse FB ‘likes’ with sales potential as FB is not necessarily a ‘French thing’ (witness the very popular French language singers with less than 400K likes). So Lara likely gains here from her international audience, and whether that will really translate commercially depends upon whether discs – or digital versions- are available in those countries. [It must certainly hurt CD sales for fans to have to order from a foreign country, e.g., via amazon.fr, regardless of how reliable they are. But as we’ve seen with the release of ‘Selection’, the distribution regulations are byzantine indeed…]. Digital distribution is therefore of paramount importance, and, at least as far as the previous albums are concerned, things are now much better for Lara, with her albums readily available in many countries. Hopefully that will be true for ‘Ma vie dans la tienne’, as well.
In other news, the site ‘Operation Fan Club Lara Fabian’ has provided the picture from a recent news blurb, visible at:
www.facebook.com/OperationFanClubLaraFabian/photos/a.674006339373232.1073741828.673991206041412/818595818247616/?type=1&theater
It reads (in translation):
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The Singers of Voice Back in Service
The golden voices Lara Fabian, Helene Segara and Chimene Badi had all three had their careers interrupted for reasons of health. The first had lost her hearing, the second her sight and the third her voice. Finally, after having taken the time to rest, the three singers are preparing to return to the front of the stage. Lara has just published a single, her new album will be released November 6th, Helene has in turn to begin a tour and is about to join the jury of ‘La France a un incroyable talent' while Chimene will present her new opus, ‘Au-dela des maux’, next August 21st. All’s well that ends well…
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In about the same spirit, is this article on the mfmradio site (http://mfmradio.fr/musique/people/11595/ils-ont-fait-lanne-2015-lara-fabian), translated below:
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They made the year 2015: Lara Fabian
Transformed and armed with her best voice, Lara Fabian has returned to the race!
Condemned to silence following health problems, she was missing from the French scene ...
"I had two hearing shocks, the first on a television set, the second on a concert stage (...) I had to relearn everything (...) I cried my race!"
For nearly 10 months, she had to struggle to regain her hearing. Now restored, it is a new Lara Fabian that we find, ready to relaunch her career!
At 45, she offers a fresh start with her 12th new album, in French! Entitled "Ma vie dans la tienne” it will be released next November 6th. Resolutely modern, it is the witness of her transformation and of her new life but will be "in the tradition of the albums" she did "in the past".
"This album is very personal for it has passed through something difficult".
The singer does not stop there! When the album comes out, she will also be at the movies! A film recounting the epic of her last European tour will be screened in more than 40 French theaters. A first that her public is not likely to miss!
That is not all! Another idea also echoes in her head: to become Coach in the talent show The Voice on TF1! For now, the talent show production has not yet proposed anything to her ... but the message is passed!
Meanwhile, it is on MFM Radio that you find her most beautiful songs like "Quand je ne chante pas" single from her upcoming album!
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Lara also had several other promotional plugs. On the program ‘Demandez le programme “ on TV5Monde (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQlTwvGEu74) her new single was introduced with positive comments. And on the Italian site ‘Network in Progress’ the single was shown with the accompanying (translated) text:
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Strange fate of some huge celebrity in the world of international music. We speak of the excellent Lara Fabian, songwriter and composer Belgian naturalized Canadian of Italian descent. Hers is one of the most powerful and acute voices in the melodious world and this year she wanted to get involved by participating in the Festival of Sanremo, a bastion of Italian song, with the song "Voce"; unfortunately it was immediately eliminated from the race and then the song has not been as successful as in our opinion it rather deserved. But Lara, pop music star of world fame, did not blink and launched smiling in the production of a new album "Ma vie dans la tienne" whose release is scheduled for November 2015. In the meantime, the network launches the new single "Quand Je Ne Chante Pas" in French precisely, a rhythmic song, highly catchy, fresh and enhanced by the determination that only Lara knows how to put in her songs.
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Interesting pictures of the week: building on the one shown by Lara herself from her performance of ‘Gottingen’, the site ‘Anges du bout du monde’ put several others together, available at:
www.facebook.com/AngesDuBoutDuMonde/photos/pcb.485453518296788/485452974963509/?type=1&theater
Consistent with the song ‘Aime’, from CI Lins on the ‘Lara Fabian Voice of Passion’ site,
www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=622761764530362&set=p.622761764530362&type=1&theater
And from the Lara Fabian Mexico site,
www.facebook.com/LaraFabianfromMexico/photos/a.556366341084097.1073741825.556364357750962/881401475247247/?type=1&theater
We should note also the beautiful title page put together for Lara’s upcoming album (as well as another for the new single) by the Operation Fan Club Lara Fabian site, at
www.facebook.com/OperationFanClubLaraFabian/photos/a.677490525691480.1073741836.673991206041412/816276821812849/?type=1&theater
When asked whether there will be a second single for the album, Lara’s people said, in effect, stay tuned.
It will be interesting to see where Lara’s ‘interactivity’ on her FB site goes from here. Will she get hooked by it, and start reveling in her ability to share whatever comes to mind, or will she get bored, and gradually taper off – especially when the commercial reasons for ‘priming the pump’ diminish? Maybe she will start using it as an opportunity to be even more revealing….If so, it will really help fans (and perhaps Lara herself) get to know her better. Meanwhile, Lara’s team posted the following statement on the FB site: “Ready for a new quiz ? Meet us tomorrow, at 14h00 CET (Paris/Brussels), for a musical quiz. This time with a prize for the winner(s) Team Lara”. So for those of you interested, join them on Wednesday, 8/11.
David
