Post by davidhr on Feb 23, 2016 9:04:00 GMT -5
Three items vie for top spot in the news this past week – (1) Lara’s tour, (2) a wonderful TV appearance, and (3) a new release. We’ll discuss them in that order (based on how much there is to say, rather than strictly importance).
(1) As will very likely be the case for most of the rest of this year, news concerning Lara’s tour was prominent this past week. Additions to the tour schedule were announced, along with a very attractive poster:
www.facebook.com/larafabianofficial/photos/a.215378125170359.50343.201065806601591/1068196219888541/?type=3&theater
The concerts we already knew about are:
** three in Belgium in March (including one in the Flemish portion of the country);
**then three in France in March;
**six in eastern Europe in April (Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary and Poland) ;
**one in Switzerland and four more in France in June;
In addition, we now have added an appearance in Tokyo(!) in July, as well as a concert in Montauban, France just three days later; and then in November, five more in mainland France, and a sixth in Corsica [still part of France, even if that is not necessarily their preference
]. So there are now 13 stops in France, starting to look like a respectable tour of the country, especially given that the new additions are spread out geographically [Marseille (for a second concert, the first being sold out) plus Voiron and Nice are in the south/southeast; Montauban is in the south/southwest; Niort is in the west, and Yerres is a suburb of Paris. For perspective, the earlier sites featured Nantes, in the west/northwest, Tours and Charleroi in the center/west; Paris in the center/north; Lyon and Liege in the east.. Notably absent so far are cities in the northeast (e.g., Strasbourg, Nancy), and the north (e.g., Lille, Amiens)].
And there would appear to be plenty of time in-between June and November to fill in, if Lara is of a mind to do so. Other countries that one can envision are Russia, where it will not yet be too cold; western Europe (it was suggested by Lara and her team that she would be visiting Germany and Holland again); and of course Italy, although it may be that Corsica is as close as she will come [who would have thought she’d end up giving a full concert in Japan before she gave one in Italy!] As we know, the stops in Antwerp, Tokyo and in Corsica mark fresh territory for Lara, so perhaps nothing is improbable now.
In that same vein…the Lara Fabian Web FB site noted that in response to a question from a Brazilian fan encouraging Lara to come, she responded, “Yes, I’m going to!” Perhaps that will be in the context of a larger North/South American tour next year. We’ve been told that an appearance in the U.S. is planned for 2017, so it may well be [though not a certainty] that Quebec will have to wait ‘til then as well. One fan on the LFIAG site noted that since the release of the album, there have been zero promotions in Quebec, and zero sales as well, while another suggested that Lara should release ‘Je vais revoir l’hiver’ as a single in Quebec, with its beautiful homage to that country.
As long was one is making suggestions… if the plans for the U.S. involve more than just a few widely scattered venues with potentially large Russian-speaking populations, release of an English (or at least multi-language) album would seem appropriate in that time frame, so that it could be promoted on a general tour. Lara did after all indicate (back in 2014) that such an album was in the offing. Otherwise, pushing only a French language album in the U.S. would not seem to be the most efficient use of Lara’s time, as much as U.S. fans will love to see her.
In fact the following exchange occurred in the past week on Lara’s FB site:
-------------------------------------
Kenneth Blaisdell: Any plans of a US tour? Isn't there an English album soon?
February 17 at 10:19pm
Lara Fabian: Yes, soon! Team Lara
--------------------------------------
It’s not clear whether that ‘soon’ refers to the tour’s announcement, or an English album, but hope spring eternal!
For the November concerts, there was an additional incentive to attend. On her website, the following statement was posted, with the ‘pre-sale’ referring to Friday:
--------------------------------------------------------------
It is now possible to book tickets for concerts in Nice, Niort and Marseille in "Pre-sale" in order to access the best seats. Follow the links / write an email to the following addresses:
Nice (11.11.16) follow this link: adamconcerts.trium.fr/index.php/…/manifestation/11306
Niort: (11.04.16) please write a message to the following email address: billetterie@az-prod.fr
Marseille (11.07.16): follow this link: adamconcerts.trium.fr/index.php/…/manifestation/11307
For these three dates, the general sale (through the different sites of ticketing and stores) will begin on Monday [2/22].
There will also be a pre-sale for the fans for Ajaccio [Corsica] in March. For Yerres, the tickets will be on sale in April (no pre-sale). For Voiron, the news will follow.
Team Lara
--------------------------------------------------------------
Obviously at this point it is too late to take advantage of the pre-sale in the three French cities; there was just one days notice of it. But at least there was special consideration given to fans who read Lara’s site regularly.
Again, the various concert dates, with the ability to buy, are available on the site from Decibel Productions,
decibelsprod.com/dates/artiste/lara-fabian/
In another relevant item – noted on Lara’s site was that the show in Paris scheduled for June 3 is sold out, and new dates will be put up for sale soon. That’s good news, and indicative perhaps of the fruits of all the public appearances Lara has made over the past four months.
Pitiblog has an article concerning this, as well as some other news (http://www.ptitblog.net/Lara-Fabian/lara-fabian-face-a-la-demande-elle-rallonge-sa-tournee_art13591.html); here’s the translation:
--------------------------------------------------------
Lara Fabian: faced with the demand, she extends her tour
From the month of March, Lara Fabian will resume the road for her new tour "Ma vie dans la tienne - the concert" built around the songs that comprise her new album of the same name. A show that she wants simple and the pure reflection of the spirit in which she found herself at the time of the writing of her new project. As she is accustomed, the singer begins by the Belgians, her homeland, to offer a preview of the show on March 16 to our border friends. She will return to the countries of the East in the month of April to continue developing her career in this market that has welcomed her with open arms. In the French capital, it will be necessary to wait until June 3 to discover the show sold out at the Palais des Congrès in Paris.
The public has always been very present in the career of the singer. A relationship that has lasted over 20 years, and reassures the artist in moments of crisis. This year she certainly intends to refind her audience and avert the fate which led to the cancellation of her previous tour. Demand is already very high on the ticketing networks, so much that the production company of the singer announced new dates across France and Corsica, the [latter] first in the career of the singer. She will be particularly in Yerres November 5, again to the Silo of Marseille November 7 and at the U Palatinu of Ajaccio on November 13. A busy year in concerts therefore before thinking of new projects for the international stage.
Next promotion, the singer hesitates between "L’oubli" and "Ton desir" as the next single. The first song being in the tradition "fabianesque" with great vocal flights like her fans love so much; the other is perhaps more radiophonic and therefore may be easier to work to ensure the album (already certified Gold Record) some beautiful days in the rankings.
Here are the dates of the 2016 Tour de Lara Fabian:
03.16.16 at Colisée de Roubaix
03.18.16 at the Brussels Bozar
03.19.16 at Liège Forum
03.20.16 Antwerpen in Antwerp
03.22.16 Silo Marseille
03.24.16 at Nantes Cité des Congrès
03.25.16 at Tours Vinci
From 04/20/16 to 05/26/16 tour of the countries of Eastern Europe
06.01.16 Leman Geneva Theatre
06.03.16 at the convention center of Paris (FULL)
06.04.16 at the Amphitheatre of Lyon
06.07.16 at the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Charleroi
06.08.16 at Liège Forum
11.04.16 at Niort Acclameur
11.05.16 at the Theatre of Yerres
11.07.16 Silo Marseille
11.08.16 Grand Angle Voiron
11.11.16 at the Acropolis in Nice
11.13.16 at U Palatinu Ajaccio
To learn more about Lara Fabian, visit her official Facebook page!
-----------------------------------------------------
This hesitation between L’oubli’ and ‘Ton desir’ has been obvious for some time, as Lara has recently chosen to sing the latter in public rather than the former which had been designated the official third single. However, it was previously indicated that the video for ‘L’oubli’ had been worked on…so it’s not obvious how a change can be made at this point. Maybe there can be an ‘A’ side and a ‘B’ side (as when there really were physical single records, 45s).
WRT those charts: in its 15th week, in France the album has dropped from #111 to #119 (total sales), though just a bit from #78 to #82 in physical CDs. It is estimated that there have been 81,500 copies sold; the record will very likely reach platinum (100,000) as the tour takes hold. In Belgium it has dropped from #17 to #18 – hence in the top 20 (for French language albums) for all 15 weeks.
(2) Now concerning the wonderful TV appearance: Lara was the guest of Jean-Michel Zecoa for a special edition of the show “Septante et un” (Seventy-one) on RTL TVI for the benefit of “Télévie” (as discussed in last week’s Update). It can be seen at:
www.facebook.com/larafabian.artist/videos/804207896389841/
This was a competition among 71 contestants to answer questions – Lara plus 70 others, personnel associated with Televie. As shown by the video, the first question was “What plant is cultivated in viticulture?” The choices were: Watermelon, melon, grapes. Lara was the first to correctly identified ‘grapes’. She then got to choose a category of further questions, and picked ‘Italian dishes’. The question was “ What preparation of pasta is at the base of yellow eggs and bacon? She correctly answered ‘La carbonera’ (without cream, she added). From the ‘N.Y. Times cookbook: “This dish is a deli egg-bacon-and-cheese-on-a-roll that has been pasta-fied, fancified, fetishized and turned into an Italian tradition that, like many inviolate Italian traditions, is actually far less old than the Mayflower. Because America may have contributed to its creation, carbonara is Exhibit A in the back-and-forth between Italy and the United States when it comes to food. Remember: the main goal is creaminess.”
The next choice she made was for ‘Binchois (Mardi gras) folklore’. The question was: ‘What food is traditionally eaten on the dawn of Mardi Gras?” Again given a choice of three, Lara correctly picked ‘oysters and champagne’. Lara then chose the category ‘Comedies’. The question was asked by the actor ‘’Joe Garcia, and it was, ‘What character did I portray in “La Verite si je mens!” (The Truth if I Lie, a 1997 French film). The correct answer was ‘Serge Benamou’, and Lara again came up with it (that was difficult). The next category that she chose was ‘Parler quebecois’, and the question was, “Other than a little cat, what is meant by the quebecois term ‘pussy’”? Lara’s correct answer, which she then proceeded to explain, was “A jalopy’ (an old rattle-trap, a clunker). By this time, only two of the other 70 people had produced all these correct answers. Then Lara chose the category “Cine Tele Revue”, and the question was ‘Which of these covers of CTR is the oldest?’ Lara chose wrongly (the correct answer was the more obvious one - with Michel Legrend on the cover - the one that had no color in it; it was their first cover). Next, Lara chose ‘cinema’, and the question (introduced by Patrick Bruel) was, “In what Barbara [the French singer Monique Andrée Serf] film was there a replica of Jacques Brel?” Lara correctly answered ‘Franz’; at this point she was now ahead of all but three of the other contestants. There was then a choice of questions concerning RTL-TVI and about ‘Housewives’ on the cover of CTR and their emotion – Lara correctly chose ‘desperate’. She screwed up the next question, but got the following one, about who was the character invented by the novelist Maurice Leblanc (it was detective Arsène Lupin). The last question then was the birth name of the French singer Gilbert Bécaud (it was Francois Silly) – which Lara got. Only one person bettered Lara's performance (Sandra Kim) and Lara ended up earning 2000 Euros for Televie.
One can see that the category of questions was likely chosen with Lara in mind; nevertheless, she did well, and with a wonderful attitude. This is a show that people will remember.
Some additional photos can be found on the Televie site,
www.facebook.com/televie/photos/pcb.10153865786287226/10153865785082226/?type=3&theater
At the end of the show Lara received a big poster celebrating ‘Ma vie dans la tienne’ having reached ‘gold record’ status, which has occurred in both France and Belgium. Lara posted the following comment on her FB site:
"MA VIE DANS LA TIENNE" is already " Gold record" in the last few weeks in France and Belgium... Thanks to the French, Belgian, and to you all, wherever you are.. And thanks to Warner Music France and Belgium.. I can't wait for the tour to begin.”
Associated with her very last comment, Lara put on her FB site a link to her performance of ‘Si tu m’aimes’ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnBBhR5F-8Y) from the ‘Nue’ tour DVD with the comment "Memories of another tour“
Lara was also featured at several special radio showcases for her; one was on Mona FM this past weekend, the poster for which can be seen at:
www.facebook.com/monafmnord/photos/a.254346402566.140709.254327027566/10153889061002567/?type=3&theater
Fans could also win tickets to Lara’s concert in Roubaix.
She also was at MFM radio in Lyons, offering a ‘mini-recital’. The ‘Lara Fabian est ton autre’ site had some pictures from it, at:
www.facebook.com/166959643357708/photos/pcb.969516293102035/969516256435372/?type=3&theater
as did the Operation Fan Club Lara Fabian site, at:
www.facebook.com/OperationFanClubLaraFabian/photos/pcb.908719829235214/908719692568561/?type=3&theater
and also the Twitter site of the host, Bernard Montiel
(3) And last but not least, concerning the ‘new release’: the poster for this MFM show had some quite interesting news on the bottom:
www.facebook.com/166959643357708/photos/a.168982793155393.43222.166959643357708/969222563131408/?type=3&theater
It verifies, as was reported as a ‘rumor’ last week, that there will be a re-edition of the album ‘Ma vie dans la tienne’ to be released March 25th. This will contain two previously unreleased songs, along with the DVD of the film ‘Un soir autour du monde’. The poster says that it will be done in conjunction with MFM radio. The MZ FB site reports that one of the two ‘unreleased’ songs is, happily, ‘’Non coupable” (Lara’s strong response to her critics concerning her singing – written, apparently, with the same ‘no filters’ approach employed for the other songs), while they claim that the other is ‘Voce’ (which has previously been released ‘internationally’ but not officially in France). As for the movie, it was always likely that it would eventually be made available to a wider audience, in addition to its one evening showing back in November, but it’s good to get confirmation of that. Another professional DVD of a Lara concert is always big, welcome news!
While there may well be additional ways to obtain it, this package appears to be available for pre-order on FNAC, at
musique.fnac.com/a9479620/Lara-Fabian-Ma-vie-dans-la-tienne-Edition-collecteur-CD-album
The site is not very specific, but they do list ‘2 discs’ (volumes) and a release date of March 25th. Note that the DVD, assuming that is the second disc here, will likely be PAL and may be region 2.
Interesting photo(s) of the week
From the show in honor of Televie:
scontent-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfp1/v/t1.0-9/12728919_10153865785022226_69521082035942578_n.jpg?oh=431a5dac51a929a3cd3c10925518fa3c&oe=5765144C
From Operation Fan Club Lara Fabian:
www.facebook.com/OperationFanClubLaraFabian/photos/a.674006339373232.1073741828.673991206041412/908511572589373/?type=3&theater
and from Lara Fabian Mexico:
www.facebook.com/LaraFabianfromMexico/photos/a.556367684417296.1073741826.556364357750962/968945263159534/?type=3&theater
Coming up (as reported by the Lara Fabian – PHQ site), ‘Capital FM’ will dedicate the week of February 22-28 as the “La Semaine Lara Fabian”, where one can play and win copies of her new album (http://www.capitalfm.re/jeuxconcours/la-semaine-sp%C3%A9ciale-lara-fabian-18). The (translated) release goes on to say,
------------------------------------------------
THE WEEKLY SPECIAL
On CAPITAL FM every week an artist is highlighted through its news, Monday to Sunday at 8h20,10h20,16h20 and 18h20 it is THE WEEKLY SPECIAL".
This week it is "THE WEEKLY SPECIAL - LARA FABIAN"
To play, send now BY SMS the word LARA in 7010 (2x0.65cts +1 SMS) to participate in the draw and maybe win "Ma vie dans la tienne" the album of Lara FABIAN.
------------------------------------------------
The significance of this lies not so much in the actual event but what it continues to signify – Lara, Odacity, Warner France/Belgium, Decibel Productions – all are continuing to work overtime to push Lara’s career, be it record promotions, expanding her tour, media opportunities, radio showcases…These entities all certainly receive an A+ for effort. Lara is certainly getting to be seen, and to be well-liked!
In the past, a gold record would be considered the minimum for Lara, and the current total sales for the new album would be looked upon with some disdain. Now it is celebrated. Perception matters – if all this effort makes it appear that Lara’s ‘reboot’ is a success, if it is viewed in that light, it will, according to the old phrase “success breeds success”, be its own self-fulfilling prophecy. And maybe the French-speaking public will once again fully recognize Lara the way she truly deserves to be.
David
(1) As will very likely be the case for most of the rest of this year, news concerning Lara’s tour was prominent this past week. Additions to the tour schedule were announced, along with a very attractive poster:
www.facebook.com/larafabianofficial/photos/a.215378125170359.50343.201065806601591/1068196219888541/?type=3&theater
The concerts we already knew about are:
** three in Belgium in March (including one in the Flemish portion of the country);
**then three in France in March;
**six in eastern Europe in April (Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary and Poland) ;
**one in Switzerland and four more in France in June;
In addition, we now have added an appearance in Tokyo(!) in July, as well as a concert in Montauban, France just three days later; and then in November, five more in mainland France, and a sixth in Corsica [still part of France, even if that is not necessarily their preference
]. So there are now 13 stops in France, starting to look like a respectable tour of the country, especially given that the new additions are spread out geographically [Marseille (for a second concert, the first being sold out) plus Voiron and Nice are in the south/southeast; Montauban is in the south/southwest; Niort is in the west, and Yerres is a suburb of Paris. For perspective, the earlier sites featured Nantes, in the west/northwest, Tours and Charleroi in the center/west; Paris in the center/north; Lyon and Liege in the east.. Notably absent so far are cities in the northeast (e.g., Strasbourg, Nancy), and the north (e.g., Lille, Amiens)]. And there would appear to be plenty of time in-between June and November to fill in, if Lara is of a mind to do so. Other countries that one can envision are Russia, where it will not yet be too cold; western Europe (it was suggested by Lara and her team that she would be visiting Germany and Holland again); and of course Italy, although it may be that Corsica is as close as she will come
[who would have thought she’d end up giving a full concert in Japan before she gave one in Italy!] As we know, the stops in Antwerp, Tokyo and in Corsica mark fresh territory for Lara, so perhaps nothing is improbable now.In that same vein…the Lara Fabian Web FB site noted that in response to a question from a Brazilian fan encouraging Lara to come, she responded, “Yes, I’m going to!” Perhaps that will be in the context of a larger North/South American tour next year. We’ve been told that an appearance in the U.S. is planned for 2017, so it may well be [though not a certainty] that Quebec will have to wait ‘til then as well. One fan on the LFIAG site noted that since the release of the album, there have been zero promotions in Quebec, and zero sales as well, while another suggested that Lara should release ‘Je vais revoir l’hiver’ as a single in Quebec, with its beautiful homage to that country.
As long was one is making suggestions… if the plans for the U.S. involve more than just a few widely scattered venues with potentially large Russian-speaking populations, release of an English (or at least multi-language) album would seem appropriate in that time frame, so that it could be promoted on a general tour. Lara did after all indicate (back in 2014) that such an album was in the offing. Otherwise, pushing only a French language album in the U.S. would not seem to be the most efficient use of Lara’s time, as much as U.S. fans will love to see her.
In fact the following exchange occurred in the past week on Lara’s FB site:
-------------------------------------
Kenneth Blaisdell: Any plans of a US tour? Isn't there an English album soon?
February 17 at 10:19pm
Lara Fabian: Yes, soon! Team Lara
--------------------------------------
It’s not clear whether that ‘soon’ refers to the tour’s announcement, or an English album, but hope spring eternal!
For the November concerts, there was an additional incentive to attend. On her website, the following statement was posted, with the ‘pre-sale’ referring to Friday:
--------------------------------------------------------------
It is now possible to book tickets for concerts in Nice, Niort and Marseille in "Pre-sale" in order to access the best seats. Follow the links / write an email to the following addresses:
Nice (11.11.16) follow this link: adamconcerts.trium.fr/index.php/…/manifestation/11306
Niort: (11.04.16) please write a message to the following email address: billetterie@az-prod.fr
Marseille (11.07.16): follow this link: adamconcerts.trium.fr/index.php/…/manifestation/11307
For these three dates, the general sale (through the different sites of ticketing and stores) will begin on Monday [2/22].
There will also be a pre-sale for the fans for Ajaccio [Corsica] in March. For Yerres, the tickets will be on sale in April (no pre-sale). For Voiron, the news will follow.
Team Lara
--------------------------------------------------------------
Obviously at this point it is too late to take advantage of the pre-sale in the three French cities; there was just one days notice of it. But at least there was special consideration given to fans who read Lara’s site regularly.
Again, the various concert dates, with the ability to buy, are available on the site from Decibel Productions,
decibelsprod.com/dates/artiste/lara-fabian/
In another relevant item – noted on Lara’s site was that the show in Paris scheduled for June 3 is sold out, and new dates will be put up for sale soon. That’s good news, and indicative perhaps of the fruits of all the public appearances Lara has made over the past four months.
Pitiblog has an article concerning this, as well as some other news (http://www.ptitblog.net/Lara-Fabian/lara-fabian-face-a-la-demande-elle-rallonge-sa-tournee_art13591.html); here’s the translation:
--------------------------------------------------------
Lara Fabian: faced with the demand, she extends her tour
From the month of March, Lara Fabian will resume the road for her new tour "Ma vie dans la tienne - the concert" built around the songs that comprise her new album of the same name. A show that she wants simple and the pure reflection of the spirit in which she found herself at the time of the writing of her new project. As she is accustomed, the singer begins by the Belgians, her homeland, to offer a preview of the show on March 16 to our border friends. She will return to the countries of the East in the month of April to continue developing her career in this market that has welcomed her with open arms. In the French capital, it will be necessary to wait until June 3 to discover the show sold out at the Palais des Congrès in Paris.
The public has always been very present in the career of the singer. A relationship that has lasted over 20 years, and reassures the artist in moments of crisis. This year she certainly intends to refind her audience and avert the fate which led to the cancellation of her previous tour. Demand is already very high on the ticketing networks, so much that the production company of the singer announced new dates across France and Corsica, the [latter] first in the career of the singer. She will be particularly in Yerres November 5, again to the Silo of Marseille November 7 and at the U Palatinu of Ajaccio on November 13. A busy year in concerts therefore before thinking of new projects for the international stage.
Next promotion, the singer hesitates between "L’oubli" and "Ton desir" as the next single. The first song being in the tradition "fabianesque" with great vocal flights like her fans love so much; the other is perhaps more radiophonic and therefore may be easier to work to ensure the album (already certified Gold Record) some beautiful days in the rankings.
Here are the dates of the 2016 Tour de Lara Fabian:
03.16.16 at Colisée de Roubaix
03.18.16 at the Brussels Bozar
03.19.16 at Liège Forum
03.20.16 Antwerpen in Antwerp
03.22.16 Silo Marseille
03.24.16 at Nantes Cité des Congrès
03.25.16 at Tours Vinci
From 04/20/16 to 05/26/16 tour of the countries of Eastern Europe
06.01.16 Leman Geneva Theatre
06.03.16 at the convention center of Paris (FULL)
06.04.16 at the Amphitheatre of Lyon
06.07.16 at the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Charleroi
06.08.16 at Liège Forum
11.04.16 at Niort Acclameur
11.05.16 at the Theatre of Yerres
11.07.16 Silo Marseille
11.08.16 Grand Angle Voiron
11.11.16 at the Acropolis in Nice
11.13.16 at U Palatinu Ajaccio
To learn more about Lara Fabian, visit her official Facebook page!
-----------------------------------------------------
This hesitation between L’oubli’ and ‘Ton desir’ has been obvious for some time, as Lara has recently chosen to sing the latter in public rather than the former which had been designated the official third single. However, it was previously indicated that the video for ‘L’oubli’ had been worked on…so it’s not obvious how a change can be made at this point. Maybe there can be an ‘A’ side and a ‘B’ side (as when there really were physical single records, 45s).
WRT those charts: in its 15th week, in France the album has dropped from #111 to #119 (total sales), though just a bit from #78 to #82 in physical CDs. It is estimated that there have been 81,500 copies sold; the record will very likely reach platinum (100,000) as the tour takes hold. In Belgium it has dropped from #17 to #18 – hence in the top 20 (for French language albums) for all 15 weeks.
(2) Now concerning the wonderful TV appearance: Lara was the guest of Jean-Michel Zecoa for a special edition of the show “Septante et un” (Seventy-one) on RTL TVI for the benefit of “Télévie” (as discussed in last week’s Update). It can be seen at:
www.facebook.com/larafabian.artist/videos/804207896389841/
This was a competition among 71 contestants to answer questions – Lara plus 70 others, personnel associated with Televie. As shown by the video, the first question was “What plant is cultivated in viticulture?” The choices were: Watermelon, melon, grapes. Lara was the first to correctly identified ‘grapes’. She then got to choose a category of further questions, and picked ‘Italian dishes’. The question was “ What preparation of pasta is at the base of yellow eggs and bacon? She correctly answered ‘La carbonera’ (without cream, she added). From the ‘N.Y. Times cookbook: “This dish is a deli egg-bacon-and-cheese-on-a-roll that has been pasta-fied, fancified, fetishized and turned into an Italian tradition that, like many inviolate Italian traditions, is actually far less old than the Mayflower. Because America may have contributed to its creation, carbonara is Exhibit A in the back-and-forth between Italy and the United States when it comes to food. Remember: the main goal is creaminess.”
The next choice she made was for ‘Binchois (Mardi gras) folklore’. The question was: ‘What food is traditionally eaten on the dawn of Mardi Gras?” Again given a choice of three, Lara correctly picked ‘oysters and champagne’. Lara then chose the category ‘Comedies’. The question was asked by the actor ‘’Joe Garcia, and it was, ‘What character did I portray in “La Verite si je mens!” (The Truth if I Lie, a 1997 French film). The correct answer was ‘Serge Benamou’, and Lara again came up with it (that was difficult). The next category that she chose was ‘Parler quebecois’, and the question was, “Other than a little cat, what is meant by the quebecois term ‘pussy’”? Lara’s correct answer, which she then proceeded to explain, was “A jalopy’ (an old rattle-trap, a clunker). By this time, only two of the other 70 people had produced all these correct answers. Then Lara chose the category “Cine Tele Revue”, and the question was ‘Which of these covers of CTR is the oldest?’ Lara chose wrongly (the correct answer was the more obvious one - with Michel Legrend on the cover - the one that had no color in it; it was their first cover). Next, Lara chose ‘cinema’, and the question (introduced by Patrick Bruel) was, “In what Barbara [the French singer Monique Andrée Serf] film was there a replica of Jacques Brel?” Lara correctly answered ‘Franz’; at this point she was now ahead of all but three of the other contestants. There was then a choice of questions concerning RTL-TVI and about ‘Housewives’ on the cover of CTR and their emotion – Lara correctly chose ‘desperate’. She screwed up the next question, but got the following one, about who was the character invented by the novelist Maurice Leblanc (it was detective Arsène Lupin). The last question then was the birth name of the French singer Gilbert Bécaud (it was Francois Silly) – which Lara got. Only one person bettered Lara's performance (Sandra Kim) and Lara ended up earning 2000 Euros for Televie.
One can see that the category of questions was likely chosen with Lara in mind; nevertheless, she did well, and with a wonderful attitude. This is a show that people will remember.
Some additional photos can be found on the Televie site,
www.facebook.com/televie/photos/pcb.10153865786287226/10153865785082226/?type=3&theater
At the end of the show Lara received a big poster celebrating ‘Ma vie dans la tienne’ having reached ‘gold record’ status, which has occurred in both France and Belgium. Lara posted the following comment on her FB site:
"MA VIE DANS LA TIENNE" is already " Gold record" in the last few weeks in France and Belgium... Thanks to the French, Belgian, and to you all, wherever you are.. And thanks to Warner Music France and Belgium.. I can't wait for the tour to begin.”
Associated with her very last comment, Lara put on her FB site a link to her performance of ‘Si tu m’aimes’ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnBBhR5F-8Y) from the ‘Nue’ tour DVD with the comment "Memories of another tour
“Lara was also featured at several special radio showcases for her; one was on Mona FM this past weekend, the poster for which can be seen at:
www.facebook.com/monafmnord/photos/a.254346402566.140709.254327027566/10153889061002567/?type=3&theater
Fans could also win tickets to Lara’s concert in Roubaix.
She also was at MFM radio in Lyons, offering a ‘mini-recital’. The ‘Lara Fabian est ton autre’ site had some pictures from it, at:
www.facebook.com/166959643357708/photos/pcb.969516293102035/969516256435372/?type=3&theater
as did the Operation Fan Club Lara Fabian site, at:
www.facebook.com/OperationFanClubLaraFabian/photos/pcb.908719829235214/908719692568561/?type=3&theater
and also the Twitter site of the host, Bernard Montiel
(3) And last but not least, concerning the ‘new release’: the poster for this MFM show had some quite interesting news on the bottom:
www.facebook.com/166959643357708/photos/a.168982793155393.43222.166959643357708/969222563131408/?type=3&theater
It verifies, as was reported as a ‘rumor’ last week, that there will be a re-edition of the album ‘Ma vie dans la tienne’ to be released March 25th. This will contain two previously unreleased songs, along with the DVD of the film ‘Un soir autour du monde’. The poster says that it will be done in conjunction with MFM radio. The MZ FB site reports that one of the two ‘unreleased’ songs is, happily, ‘’Non coupable” (Lara’s strong response to her critics concerning her singing – written, apparently, with the same ‘no filters’ approach employed for the other songs), while they claim that the other is ‘Voce’ (which has previously been released ‘internationally’ but not officially in France). As for the movie, it was always likely that it would eventually be made available to a wider audience, in addition to its one evening showing back in November, but it’s good to get confirmation of that. Another professional DVD of a Lara concert is always big, welcome news!
While there may well be additional ways to obtain it, this package appears to be available for pre-order on FNAC, at
musique.fnac.com/a9479620/Lara-Fabian-Ma-vie-dans-la-tienne-Edition-collecteur-CD-album
The site is not very specific, but they do list ‘2 discs’ (volumes) and a release date of March 25th. Note that the DVD, assuming that is the second disc here, will likely be PAL and may be region 2.
Interesting photo(s) of the week
From the show in honor of Televie:
scontent-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfp1/v/t1.0-9/12728919_10153865785022226_69521082035942578_n.jpg?oh=431a5dac51a929a3cd3c10925518fa3c&oe=5765144C
From Operation Fan Club Lara Fabian:
www.facebook.com/OperationFanClubLaraFabian/photos/a.674006339373232.1073741828.673991206041412/908511572589373/?type=3&theater
and from Lara Fabian Mexico:
www.facebook.com/LaraFabianfromMexico/photos/a.556367684417296.1073741826.556364357750962/968945263159534/?type=3&theater
Coming up (as reported by the Lara Fabian – PHQ site), ‘Capital FM’ will dedicate the week of February 22-28 as the “La Semaine Lara Fabian”, where one can play and win copies of her new album (http://www.capitalfm.re/jeuxconcours/la-semaine-sp%C3%A9ciale-lara-fabian-18). The (translated) release goes on to say,
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THE WEEKLY SPECIAL
On CAPITAL FM every week an artist is highlighted through its news, Monday to Sunday at 8h20,10h20,16h20 and 18h20 it is THE WEEKLY SPECIAL".
This week it is "THE WEEKLY SPECIAL - LARA FABIAN"
To play, send now BY SMS the word LARA in 7010 (2x0.65cts +1 SMS) to participate in the draw and maybe win "Ma vie dans la tienne" the album of Lara FABIAN.
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The significance of this lies not so much in the actual event but what it continues to signify – Lara, Odacity, Warner France/Belgium, Decibel Productions – all are continuing to work overtime to push Lara’s career, be it record promotions, expanding her tour, media opportunities, radio showcases…These entities all certainly receive an A+ for effort. Lara is certainly getting to be seen, and to be well-liked!
In the past, a gold record would be considered the minimum for Lara, and the current total sales for the new album would be looked upon with some disdain. Now it is celebrated. Perception matters – if all this effort makes it appear that Lara’s ‘reboot’ is a success, if it is viewed in that light, it will, according to the old phrase “success breeds success”, be its own self-fulfilling prophecy. And maybe the French-speaking public will once again fully recognize Lara the way she truly deserves to be.
David
