Post by davidhr on Nov 10, 2020 8:15:51 GMT -5
The Star Academie, for which Lara is now director, continued its work this past week, as explained in this article from the Journal de Quebec (https://www.journaldequebec.com/2020/11/09/star-academie-mission-accomplie-pour-les-auditions):
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Star Académie: Mission Accomplished for the Auditions
The Star Académie team can say mission accomplished at the end of its audition tour, which ended on Sunday, at the Fairmont Queen Elizabeth in Montreal.
We will now have to wait until February to find out which young singing talents, aged 16 to 30, will be selected to live the great television adventure, among the some 5,500 aspirants who have tried their luck in all regions of Quebec and in New Brunswick.
The jury for the auditions was made up, among others, content producer Marianne Boulet, vocal coach Marie-Ève Riverin, director of distribution Rosalie Dumas and guest artists. Productions Déferlantes is at the origin of this new version of Star Académie.
Who will have the chance to have his room in the great academy and to tame the music industry and the profession of singer-songwriter with the host Patrice Michaud, the director Lara Fabian, the teachers Ariane Moffatt, Gregory Charles, Anne Dorval, Yannick Nézet-Séguin and Pepe Munoz, and artistic director Mika?
Answer next winter. Star Académie 2021's first Sunday variety gala will be presented on February 14, at TVA. It will be preceded by two special programs, in January, summarizing the training course which will bring together a hundred candidates drafted for the auditions.
---------------------------------------
Interesting that Lara was not directly involved in judging the auditions, though note that Marie-Eve Riverin was; she was one of the sisters who accompanied Lara on her World tour. Showing the 100 candidates chosen in the first two programs is something different from how it has been done in the past. Only 22 will make the cut and that group will be whittled down to 15 after the first performance.
All of this, of course, will be taking place within the parameters allowed by the pandemic, and this is what Lara and the 100 candidates are currently experiencing in Quebec. The official statement (https://www.quebec.ca/en/health/health-issues/a-z/2019-coronavirus/situation-coronavirus-in-quebec/) reads:
“For now, the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) is under control in Québec, but the present weeks are critical. Community transmission of the virus now extends to all regions of Québec. The Government is taking all the necessary measures to contain the contagion as much as possible.”
There were over 1100 new cases in the last 24 hours (1/4 in the Montreal area) and 15 deaths in the province (there have been 3500 in Montreal since the pandemic began). While the official statement indicates things are “under control”, the cases have been increasing, hence the ‘present weeks are critical statement’. Accordingly, the Quebec government has no plans to relax COVID-19 restrictions that have closed gyms, restaurants and other businesses in much of the province. Premier François Legault says despite a Montreal public-health document calling for a loosening of measures, the COVID-19 fight is not won in Montreal or the surrounding regions [the public health authority called for many businesses to be allowed to reopen, such as gyms, museums and libraries]. The government is however reviewing whether to ease restrictions on private gatherings. Currently, only people who live alone are allowed to have guests, and they can only host one person at a time. All other indoor and outdoor gatherings among members of different households are banned.
Who knows what the conditions will be like when the first program is supposed to air in January. In other parts of the world, the 'second or third' wave is proving to be quite challenging. For example, there have been sharp increases in France during the fall, and several days ago there was a record of more than 60,000 new cases. Overall deaths have totaled 40,000. 87% of current intensive care patients are suffering from the virus; in August it was just 7%. In response, French President Emmanuel Macron announced a second national lockdown until at least the end of November. Under the new measures, people would only be allowed to leave home for essential work or medical reasons. Non-essential businesses, such as restaurants and bars, are closed, but schools and factories remain open. Good thing Lara’s concerts there are many months away…
Maybe the Star Academie will have to have the 100 candidates participate virtually... Also, what restrictions will be in place for the 22 candidates who are supposed to live together? Will they all be in a 'bubble', not allowed to go outside? None of the announcements have addressed these issues, and speculation as to what things will be like in the coming months are probably useless, but none of the predictions are very positive. Unless a vaccine becomes readily available quickly, this would seem like the worst possible time to be planning something of this nature.
Otherwise, there was very little public news concerning Lara, understandable since she has no upcoming concerts and the pandemic has cut down personal appearances. She has also not posted anything on her Instagram or Facebook sites for close to 3 weeks, no “family tidbits”. Several months ago she said that fans would have to get used to less direct communication from her in the coming new phase of her career, and this may be indicative of that. Or maybe she has raised the bar on what she feels is worthwhile to say, given that the documentary said a lot.
And speaking of the documentary...on one of the fan sites for Celine Dion (https://www.facebook.com/newscelinedionfr/), they showed the portion of the 'Lara' documentary where she is singing and talking about Celine’s song “Boundaries”, visible at
www.facebook.com/newscelinedionfr/videos/350065749440429
While they appreciated her homage to Celine with the song, there was criticism of Lara for using a Quebec accent, thinking it an affectation since she was born in Belgium. Lara has heard this complaint before, most recently on ‘The Voice – la plus belle voix” when she switched to her Quebec accent in trying (successfully) to convince a candidate from Quebec (Margau) to join her team. She did have her supporters on this page, who noted that she’s lived in Quebec, and it’s only courteous to speak in the vernacular of your host country – and that Lara is a natural mimic. Interestingly, even though the fans posting there indicated they had seen the documentary, they missed entirely the part where Lara was accusing Celine’s team of having done their best to keep Lara from being a successful ballad singer in the U.S.
Interesting photo(s) of the week: The Lara Fabian Netherlands FB site had the following picture,
www.facebook.com/LaraFabianTheNetherlands/photos/a.208522637359807/226620925549978/
Their accompanying text discussed how at the Igor Krutoi anniversary concert in March of 2019 (with Dimash and Aida Garifullina) Lara was actually ill (note the warm coat) but performed anyway. They also include a link to a youtube video where Lara discusses her illness and the medication she is taking with Dimash. You may remember the video of the three of them singing ‘Ti Amo Cosi’, at www.youtube.com/watch?v=XaQFfqC3lnU; no way to tell that Lara was sick in this or the other performances she did. But being on the ice in cold temperatures obviously didn’t help.
Next, a picture to warm one up
, from the “Lara Fabian -L’etoile des anges” FB site,
www.facebook.com/Nathalie.caille.ange/photos/a.712979215450076/3863346143746685/
And speaking of Igor Krutoi and also ‘heat’, the Lara Fabian Hungary FB site featured the video of Lara performing “Toccami” at Krutoi’s 60th birthday celebration, shown at
www.youtube.com/watch?v=GX8n0C-L8ws
Finally, once again one has to give a shout out to “L’univers de Lara Fabian” for their highly creative mixes of Lara’s performances of her songs, this one for “J’y crois encore”:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOrrL8uzRL8&ab_channel=L%27universdeLaraFabian
Lara’s upcoming public schedule continues to be empty, and while she’s always capable of surprising us, in this particular environment it would not be surprising if she basically stays out of sight and even out of touch. That will continue to be a challenge for her fan sites to keep active - they which have opted for showing old videos/pictures of her (as included above). Hopefully, whatever she is doing, she (and you) will stay safe.
David
----------------------------------------
Star Académie: Mission Accomplished for the Auditions
The Star Académie team can say mission accomplished at the end of its audition tour, which ended on Sunday, at the Fairmont Queen Elizabeth in Montreal.
We will now have to wait until February to find out which young singing talents, aged 16 to 30, will be selected to live the great television adventure, among the some 5,500 aspirants who have tried their luck in all regions of Quebec and in New Brunswick.
The jury for the auditions was made up, among others, content producer Marianne Boulet, vocal coach Marie-Ève Riverin, director of distribution Rosalie Dumas and guest artists. Productions Déferlantes is at the origin of this new version of Star Académie.
Who will have the chance to have his room in the great academy and to tame the music industry and the profession of singer-songwriter with the host Patrice Michaud, the director Lara Fabian, the teachers Ariane Moffatt, Gregory Charles, Anne Dorval, Yannick Nézet-Séguin and Pepe Munoz, and artistic director Mika?
Answer next winter. Star Académie 2021's first Sunday variety gala will be presented on February 14, at TVA. It will be preceded by two special programs, in January, summarizing the training course which will bring together a hundred candidates drafted for the auditions.
---------------------------------------
Interesting that Lara was not directly involved in judging the auditions, though note that Marie-Eve Riverin was; she was one of the sisters who accompanied Lara on her World tour. Showing the 100 candidates chosen in the first two programs is something different from how it has been done in the past. Only 22 will make the cut and that group will be whittled down to 15 after the first performance.
All of this, of course, will be taking place within the parameters allowed by the pandemic, and this is what Lara and the 100 candidates are currently experiencing in Quebec. The official statement (https://www.quebec.ca/en/health/health-issues/a-z/2019-coronavirus/situation-coronavirus-in-quebec/) reads:
“For now, the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) is under control in Québec, but the present weeks are critical. Community transmission of the virus now extends to all regions of Québec. The Government is taking all the necessary measures to contain the contagion as much as possible.”
There were over 1100 new cases in the last 24 hours (1/4 in the Montreal area) and 15 deaths in the province (there have been 3500 in Montreal since the pandemic began). While the official statement indicates things are “under control”, the cases have been increasing, hence the ‘present weeks are critical statement’. Accordingly, the Quebec government has no plans to relax COVID-19 restrictions that have closed gyms, restaurants and other businesses in much of the province. Premier François Legault says despite a Montreal public-health document calling for a loosening of measures, the COVID-19 fight is not won in Montreal or the surrounding regions [the public health authority called for many businesses to be allowed to reopen, such as gyms, museums and libraries]. The government is however reviewing whether to ease restrictions on private gatherings. Currently, only people who live alone are allowed to have guests, and they can only host one person at a time. All other indoor and outdoor gatherings among members of different households are banned.
Who knows what the conditions will be like when the first program is supposed to air in January. In other parts of the world, the 'second or third' wave is proving to be quite challenging. For example, there have been sharp increases in France during the fall, and several days ago there was a record of more than 60,000 new cases. Overall deaths have totaled 40,000. 87% of current intensive care patients are suffering from the virus; in August it was just 7%. In response, French President Emmanuel Macron announced a second national lockdown until at least the end of November. Under the new measures, people would only be allowed to leave home for essential work or medical reasons. Non-essential businesses, such as restaurants and bars, are closed, but schools and factories remain open. Good thing Lara’s concerts there are many months away…
Maybe the Star Academie will have to have the 100 candidates participate virtually... Also, what restrictions will be in place for the 22 candidates who are supposed to live together? Will they all be in a 'bubble', not allowed to go outside? None of the announcements have addressed these issues, and speculation as to what things will be like in the coming months are probably useless, but none of the predictions are very positive. Unless a vaccine becomes readily available quickly, this would seem like the worst possible time to be planning something of this nature.
Otherwise, there was very little public news concerning Lara, understandable since she has no upcoming concerts and the pandemic has cut down personal appearances. She has also not posted anything on her Instagram or Facebook sites for close to 3 weeks, no “family tidbits”. Several months ago she said that fans would have to get used to less direct communication from her in the coming new phase of her career, and this may be indicative of that. Or maybe she has raised the bar on what she feels is worthwhile to say, given that the documentary said a lot.
And speaking of the documentary...on one of the fan sites for Celine Dion (https://www.facebook.com/newscelinedionfr/), they showed the portion of the 'Lara' documentary where she is singing and talking about Celine’s song “Boundaries”, visible at
www.facebook.com/newscelinedionfr/videos/350065749440429
While they appreciated her homage to Celine with the song, there was criticism of Lara for using a Quebec accent, thinking it an affectation since she was born in Belgium. Lara has heard this complaint before, most recently on ‘The Voice – la plus belle voix” when she switched to her Quebec accent in trying (successfully) to convince a candidate from Quebec (Margau) to join her team. She did have her supporters on this page, who noted that she’s lived in Quebec, and it’s only courteous to speak in the vernacular of your host country – and that Lara is a natural mimic. Interestingly, even though the fans posting there indicated they had seen the documentary, they missed entirely the part where Lara was accusing Celine’s team of having done their best to keep Lara from being a successful ballad singer in the U.S.
Interesting photo(s) of the week: The Lara Fabian Netherlands FB site had the following picture,
www.facebook.com/LaraFabianTheNetherlands/photos/a.208522637359807/226620925549978/
Their accompanying text discussed how at the Igor Krutoi anniversary concert in March of 2019 (with Dimash and Aida Garifullina) Lara was actually ill (note the warm coat) but performed anyway. They also include a link to a youtube video where Lara discusses her illness and the medication she is taking with Dimash. You may remember the video of the three of them singing ‘Ti Amo Cosi’, at www.youtube.com/watch?v=XaQFfqC3lnU; no way to tell that Lara was sick in this or the other performances she did. But being on the ice in cold temperatures obviously didn’t help.
Next, a picture to warm one up
, from the “Lara Fabian -L’etoile des anges” FB site, www.facebook.com/Nathalie.caille.ange/photos/a.712979215450076/3863346143746685/
And speaking of Igor Krutoi and also ‘heat’, the Lara Fabian Hungary FB site featured the video of Lara performing “Toccami” at Krutoi’s 60th birthday celebration, shown at
www.youtube.com/watch?v=GX8n0C-L8ws
Finally, once again one has to give a shout out to “L’univers de Lara Fabian” for their highly creative mixes of Lara’s performances of her songs, this one for “J’y crois encore”:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOrrL8uzRL8&ab_channel=L%27universdeLaraFabian
Lara’s upcoming public schedule continues to be empty, and while she’s always capable of surprising us, in this particular environment it would not be surprising if she basically stays out of sight and even out of touch. That will continue to be a challenge for her fan sites to keep active - they which have opted for showing old videos/pictures of her (as included above). Hopefully, whatever she is doing, she (and you) will stay safe.
David
