News Update: 2/9

[davidhr]

Another light week publicly for Lara, though she likely was quite busy “behind the scenes” working on the show Star Academie. Her one interaction with fans was the posting on her Instagram site of her exercising, at

http://instagram.com/p/CKy9yYyB0oB

.

and included the caption, “We don’t slacken ...
Sports session with the wonderful @joseelavigueur who allows me to learn to surpass myself ...
Thanks to @boutiqueksl for these so comfortable outfits 💪🙏🥰”.

The Leski Foundation, for which Lara is spokesperson, has a new website, which can be found at

fondationleski.com/?fbclid=IwAR2iT6EvawnCQD2DhD0OcsAXqRDov4qGE6TZRDKsXdCgSqz6GDXLH4YfuMU

As you can see, it contains a beautiful picture of Lara and her dog Kayla.

As we know, Lara released the Lockdown Sessions album late last year, with very little fanfare – and no reviews from the press. It would appear that only her most devout fans know of it; and one gets the feeling that Lara wanted it that way, because she thought of it as “experimental”. This whole scenario is played out on youtube, specifically at

www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXqhXYZpwQE

where the presenter “Sal” is surprised the album exists; and then he goes on to review it so that he could publicize it (he notes there is nothing on youtube about it at all). He is actually pretty clueless about a number of things but he did seem to like some of the songs. So now there’s “one review” on youtube.

As noted last week, Lara will be a guest on "Pour une histoire" February 12th. Then two days later, the first open competition for the Star Academie will be aired. We wondered how Star Academie would take place in this age of Covid, and already there are problems, as detailed in this article (https://www.journaldemontreal.com/2021/02/03/star-academie-une-candidate-atteinte-de-la-covid-ecartee). Here’s the translation:
----------------------------
"Star Académie": a candidate with COVID rejected

There will ultimately be 21 aspiring academics at the inaugural Star Académie gala on February 14, not 22 as previously announced. Affected by COVID-19, candidate Camille Giguère-Laroche was excluded from the competition as a precaution.

The turn of events is heartbreaking for the 20-year-old singer, from Repentigny, but the production of Star Académie is uncompromising when it comes to safety rules and prevention measures in the face of the pandemic.

"We take COVID so seriously, we couldn't take any chances with it," explained Denis Dubois, vice-president of original content at Quebecor Content, in an interview with the QMI Agency.

Camille Giguère-Laroche had obtained her pass for the first variety of the season at the end of the second “Selection Camp”, which was broadcast on Sunday, January 24, but which had previously been recorded in November 2020.

The young woman caught COVID-19 over the holiday season and although she no longer has symptoms and is no longer contagious, she still tests positive to this day. We therefore did not want to run any risk so we had to remove her from the group.

The other future participants in Star Academy, they entered confinement last Friday, after being duly tested for the coronavirus. They will be 21 on the starting line in the early evening of February 14, and 15 of them will enter the same evening at the Waterloo academy to start the competition.

Here too, on a daily basis, passing guests will be subject to a strict protocol and physical distancing to avoid any contamination. And a whole procedure has been established in case one or more participant(s) fall ill during the season.

360 degree scene

Unsurprisingly, it is without an audience in the studio that the 12 Sunday galas of Star Académie hosted by Patrice Michaud will be in full swing.

False crowd sound effects or other such subterfuges will not be used to create the atmosphere; we will use other more original means, kept secret for the moment, to reinvent the formula.

And it will be far from bleak, advised Denis Dubois, who announces majestic shows: with its 360-degree stage - the most imposing of its kind in Canada, and the largest in the history of Star Académie.  Supported by a whole range of technological equipment, the large hall of the MELS in Saint-Hubert will take on the appearance of a very large fiesta every week.

“We will be everywhere on stage at the same time. It will be both grandiose and intimate, because we will address each of the viewers. I don't think we're going to suffer from the lack of audiences; it's just going to take us somewhere else. The "show" will remain impressive", offered Denis Dubois.

International stars

Local artists will perform every Sunday - Laurence Nerbonne, Louis-Jean Cormier, Patrick Norman, Corneille, Les Sœurs Boulay, Alaclair Ensemble and FouKi are already announced for the first evening -, and there will still be international stars invited at the party virtually, in a “live” performance. We are also looking at how to integrate the families of academics in danger in the elimination segments.

“We don't let our guard down. If things evolve, obviously we will jump at the opportunity to bring in international artists in person, for example, but we understand that, for the moment, no one can move”, said Denis Dubois.

Note that, despite the interruption of some international flights, the presence of artistic director Mika and artistic identity professor Pepe Munoz at Star Académie is not threatened, they having agreed to quarantine themselves upon their arrival at Quebec, "in a country that is not theirs," said Denis Dubois.

"It's quite generous of them."
----------------------------------------

And TVA is pulling out all the stops for this show, it will not just be a weekend program. Another article goes into more detail about what will happen each week (https://www.envedette.ca/potins-stars-quebec/television/star-academie-2021-de-nouveaux-ajouts-a-lequipe-deja-impressionnante-1.14509225):

----------------------------------------

STAR ACADÉMIE 2021: NEW ADDITIONS TO THE ALREADY IMPRESSIVE TEAM!

After we learned that Mélissa Bédard , Mathieu Dufour and Pierre-Yves Roy-Desmarais will form L'Escouade Star Académie [The Star Academie squad], we learn that three other stars are joining the big family of this edition of Star Académie!

Sabrina Cournoyer , Bryan Audet and Valérie Chevalier join the already impressive team of the popular show!

In addition to the great varieties of Sunday evening and La Daily, Star Académie will offer several other special events each week not to be missed!

THE PREVIEW FOR STAR ACADÉMIE HOSTED BY SABRINA COURNOYER
As of February 14, at 6:30 p.m., Sabrina Cournoyer will meet up with the listeners for Star Académie's L'avant Variété . She will set the table for the program of the evening to come and will give a return on the highlights of the week of the Academicians. On the menu: guests, interviews, discussions with fans, predictions and exclusives!

THE TAKE ME EVERYWHERE PODCAST HOSTED BY BRYAN AUDET
The music will be approached in all its forms every week with the meeting of artists in connection with the environment of Star Académie. The host and ex-Academician Bryan Audet is curious to know how music presented itself in their existence and how it has tainted their life until today. These meetings will make it possible to draw a parallel between what the Academicians live and what the established artists lived, at their age and at their beginnings, the established artists who surround them at the Academy. It starts on February 18!

STAR ACADÉMIE'S TINY TALK-SHOW HOSTED BY VALÉRIE CHEVALIER
Valérie Chevalier will welcome the Academicians in a big way ... in their own home! Despite the title of the show, in the eyes of the host, nothing will be "small" in this "tiny talk show". With a lot of humor and self-deprecation, she will play it big in its modest, but flashy decor! It's to see, three times a week, from Tuesday to Thursday, from February 23!
----------------------------
As one can see from the description, the candidates will get a full hearing, and the audience a chance to really get to know them. None of this obviously involves Lara directly, though she may often appear, so we will not be covering these shows in any detail;  but for those who have interest and access to them, it will help make the Star Academie a more complete experience.

Concerning COVID-19 in Quebec, the number of cases is falling, and there’s been some slight easing of restrictions in some parts of the province. A full discussion of that can be found at montreal.ctvnews.ca/here-s-what-s-open-and-closed-as-quebec-s-lockdown-measures-ease-on-feb-8-1.5299729. In Montreal itself, non-essential businesses, including hair and beauty salons will reopen. Waterloo, Quebec where the Star Academu ‘mansion’ is located, is in the La Haute-Yamaska Regional County Municipality – and it is not one of the regions which is allowed to open up even more. A curfew remains in effect for most of the province, with stay-at-home orders in place from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m.

Interesting photo(s) of the week: Lara posing for the Leski foundation, from the link of the ‘Lara Fabian est ton autre’ FB site,

www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=254620266032782&set=a.216252733202869

This actually is a picture included on the Leski Foundation site.

And from the L’etoile des anges” FB site,

www.facebook.com/Nathalie.caille.ange/photos/a.712979215450076/4099165563498074/

Lara will have her two TV appearances this coming week, although in both cases, she won’t be the main focal point. Nevertheless, it will be nice to see her. Stay safe everybody.
David

[bernhard]

Hello community,

As I am currently learning French, I thought that translating another article into English would be a good practice for my feeling for the language. I hope the translation with the help of DeepL was successful. Neither English nor French are my mother tongue. The control was the additional translation into my own mother tongue. I apologize for the fact that I have often neglected the diacritical marks in the French copy.
The article comes from the 7jours magazine from the beginning of February 2021. The interviewer was the Canadian radio and TV presenter Joël Legendre.

English Version:

A few years ago, Lara told me that the moment she sat in the famous red armchair of the Voice, she felt, for one of the first times in her life, that she really belonged. In a few days, she begins a new chapter, this time as the director of the most popular Academy in Quebec.

- Lara, you are about to change the lives of talented young artists. Do you feel a responsibility towards them? -

Precisely, for the last few days, I refuse to show this insecurity that inhabits me in the face of this immense responsibility. I have therefore decided to measure all its contours. I started reading some 400 pages that contain all the files on these young people likely to enter the Academy. It allowed me to get to know the human beings before meeting the artists. I see my responsibility to them as much broader, since I know their deepest aspirations for their lives and, of course, for the profession they love. I believe that this is where I will deploy all my strength, helping these young people on the most difficult path of life: that of getting to know each other. This path that one day ends up making us say: "I know who I am". My role will be to help them plant the first seeds on this land of being and to make sure they always have the source they need to be well supplied with inspiration, benevolence, light and lucidity.

- I have the impression that this mission that you have been entrusted with is a new step for you too, isn't it? -

It is true. After all the transitions in my life that have allowed me to become a wife, wife and mother, after all the experience I gained during this part of my journey, I feel more than ever the desire to give to the next and contribute to the other. Star Academie will allow me to be this beacon on the horizon and to offer this space within me, which I will bury in the service of the other. I also want to invite these young people to use the tools that have served me in my career and in my personal life. The notion of joy, freedom and candor will be at the forefront of my transmission, because we are living in a period where lightness is essential. I do not want to be the one who will lead a student, I want to be his source and position myself with great humility in front of the Academicians, because I will have the will that they emancipate themselves, that they wake up and evolve.

- What would you have liked to have been taught when you started in this trade? -

To close my mouth! (laughing) The first thing I would have loved someone to say to me is: < Shut up and listen! >I had this need to take up too much space and, in hindsight, I realized that the place we should take up appears more clearly when we talk little and observe. But this defect also allowed me to meet some nice people. This awkwardness hid a curiosity and the desire to express myself, which seduced people and allowed them to become important actors in my life. They taught me that it is through listening and silence that the keys to growing up are found.

- You're about to give a chance to new talents. Who gave you that chance? -

It is without a doubt Lise Richard. Lise is first and foremost an exceptional woman. I would even say that I have been in contact with the maternal side that she inspired. She was the mother of two young girls whom she left behind for long periods of time to come with me all over the world. So, by ricochet, she became my big sister. Lise saw me one night while I was singing at the Bijou, a cabaret in Old Montreal that was very popular in the 1980s. It was her who brought me to Trans-Canada, which was at the time the largest producer and distributor of records in Quebec. It was she who made sure that I signed the contract for this first album. It is thanks to this wonderful woman that it all started for me.

- Many years later, you are still here! I know that your greatest pride is to have remained in this profession, but what would you suggest to the Academicians to last in this world that is so often ephemeral? -

Can you prepare someone for something that is not guaranteed? Are we all destined to last in this business? I don't know! But do we all have the ability and the capacity to evolve in our lives? The answer is yes, without a doubt! To do this, we must turn adversity into an opportunity. I can teach them to see an injury, a shock or an enemy as a great opportunity. The moment the arrow pierces their heart, they will take it out and throw it on the ground, I will teach them not to take it down and put it back in their heart. There will be fifteen of them at the beginning, and only one will be left at the end. I can teach them how to make an impact an opportunity.

- For this great Star Academie adventure, you will be well surrounded by, among others, Ariane Moffatt and Gregory Charles. -

I love them! I think we form a beautiful palette through which we can easily express ourselves, because we are very complementary and also completely different. Sometimes we disagree, but always agree to be. We examine talent, not always from the same window, but in the end there is a real convergence.

- What would you have liked to do differently in your career? -

I am not really a woman of regret, but one day a man of great kindness to me said to me: < Don't make the wrong enemy. Don't let go of your hand and don't necessarily fall in love with a man because you have an artistic affinity with him. > I had a precious moment in my career in the United States when I should not have mixed a man's love with my love for his talent as a composer and producer. But to be able to discern in our hearts the variables of love is only possible by making mistakes. Done, I don't regret my mistake, but if today I could come back to San Francisco, to this restaurant, in November 1997, I would say to young Lara:< Don't do that, you're wrong, you're a candidate. His music is wonderful, but he is not your life companion. > I don't regret the price I paid, because every mistake has made me the girl I have become. Today, I can say loud and clear that there is nothing around me that I would like to see disappear, not even my mistakes!

- In the documentary about your life, entitled Lara, you talk about this little voice that has often tried to sabotage you. How do you manage to control it? And how do you teach the academics not to listen to it? -

First of all, I understood that it is of no use to me and that it has always played against me. This little voice is never a guarantee of evolution. I wouldn't say that I always manage to master it, but I try to remember that the last time I listened to it, it didn't do me any favors. I will teach my students that it is by using the duty to remember that you can stop that little voice.

- August 30, 2021 will mark the 30* anniversary of your arrival in Quebec, did you ever think that after all these years you would serve as a mentor to a new generation? -

This is the first time I have been told about my participation in Star Academie from this perspective. I am not surprised that it is here that I have the privilege of giving back to others, because Quebec is my roots and it is also the pivot of my life, the place that has always been the centre of my evolution. It is here that I heal and evolve. It is in Quebec that I had my chance, so it is an immense privilege for me to give back this chance to others in my adopted land.

- I imagine you to be this young girl who would have definitely tried her luck at Star Academy if it had existed at the time... -

Absolutely, and I would have given it all! I take my role all the more seriously, for as the narrator of my life, I can tell the Academicians:< Look where I come from. I am the daughter of Pierre and Louisa, and I was born in a remote village. Anything is possible! >

- What have you found in Quebec that you haven't found anywhere else in the world? -

It's a place that allows me to be myself, I feel like I'm not tied to teachings that crystallize emotions that may not do me any good. Here you have the right to disagree with someone, but it won't end up in a fight. Here, you don't really dwell on the differences - especially if I compare with old Europe -, you can agree to disagree and go on your way without any judgment. The Quebec society offers an immense freedom, so it's much more relaxed to live there.

- The song "Je me souviens", which you wrote, remains for me one of the most beautiful hymns addressed to our Quebec. Under what circumstances did you compose it? -

I was in Brussels and had just reluctantly left Quebec. It was one day in April, and while it never snows in Brussels, white flakes suddenly appeared. The sadness that this snow did not come from Quebec immediately overwhelmed me and I felt this current in me and wrote the text in just three minutes. As an artist, at that moment, I understood that I had been given the grace of this song. It was the snow that inspired me to write this ode to Quebec.

- Your life is full of synchronics. In fact, just before you became Director of the Academy, you made a life choice, that of moving your family to the country, a few minutes from the Academy. Have you always been aware of this intuition that guides you in your decisions? -

I'll tell you that I'm finally starting to be in tune with my intuition. For the last 10 years, I have been more aware of this as a woman and a mother. Listening to my intuition comes much more from the woman in me than from the artist. And now, it is the woman I am that tries to bring intuition to the artist in me. I realize that it is in the mind's pay that I connect to my intuition.

- s it a little bit for this reason that the desire to settle down in the country has arrived? -

Without a doubt. One part of me would like to tell you that it was the right time in my life, another part would tell you that it is to protect my child and the last part would tell you that the time we are going through makes me want to go back to the fundamental and essential. I didn't want to have this feeling of being in the heart of a beehive that resonates around me anymore, but rather to live in a space where silence takes all its dimension. Living in an environment where the gaze of others no longer looks at me at all allows me to reconnect with myself. But this historical step that humanity is going through at the moment requires a major anchoring in me. I felt the need for silence that one finds in the countryside to allow me a benevolent reflection.

- On a daily basis, what does your new life away from the big cities bring you? -

My daughter, Lou, has become much more involved in family life, and I am very happy about that. When we were in Montreal, I found it more and more difficult to have Lou at home when she came home from school, for example. Now she's always home. We fetch wood together, light a fire, empty the dishwasher, chop onions, cook, eat, clear the table and most importantly, we talk a lot more together.

- After all these years of career, do you sometimes feel like you've walked around the garden as a singer? -

There is something that has happened without my knowledge in what we are currently experiencing that is very difficult to express. A part of me first felt gratitude for this stop, because I was in the middle of a world tour and I was tired. But the other part of me, who has now been hiding for nine months, feels like I was in an accident. I can't wait to tell the singer in me that I still need her. But for now, since I can't exist from that point of view, I have put her to sleep, because that's the only way for me to live with all this upheaval.

- It is a very emotional Lara that I left. She promised me that she would talk to the singer who has been dozing inside her for the past few months. I suggested not to leave her out too long, because having such a great gift comes with a great responsibility. I would also like to remind her that we were the first to recognize that this singer has an exceptional voice that heals souls. We said goodbye and the snow this time was not a sign of sadness, but of comfort. I feel blessed, Lara, that you crossed my path 30 years ago. I remember both of us, as all those who love you remember you, around the world and here at home. -


Version française:

Il y a deja quelques annees, Lara m'avait confié qu'a l'instant où elle s'etait assise dans le celebre fauteuil rouge de la Voix, elle avait eu l'impression, pour une des premieres fois de sa vie, d'etre vraiment a sa place. Dans quelques jours, elle commence un nouveau chapitre, cette fois comme directrice de l'Academie la plus populaire au Quebec.

- Lara, tu t'appretes a changer la vie de jeunes artistes talentueux. Te sens-tu une responsabilite face a eux? -

Justement, depuis quelques jours, je refuse de montrer cette insecurite qui m'habite face a cette immense responsabilite. J'ai done decide d'en mesurer tout les contours. Je me suis mise a la lecture de quelque 400 pages qui renferment tous les dossiers sur ces jeunes susceptibles de faire leur entree a l'Academie. Ca m'a permis de connaitre les etres humains avant de rencontrer les artistes. Je vois done ma responsabilite a leur regard comme beaucoup plus large, puisque je connais leurs aspirations profondes face a leur vie et, bien sur, face a ce metier qu'ils cherissent. Je crois qu'est la que je vais deployertoute ma force, en aidant ces jeunes sur la chemin le plus difficile de la vie: celui de se connaitre. Ce chemin qui finit un jour par nous faire dire: <Je sais qui je suis>. Mon role sera de les aider a deposer les premieres semences sur ce territoire de l'etre et a m'assurer qu'ils aient toujours la source qu'il faut pour bien les approvisionner en inspiration, en bienveillance, en lumiere et en lucidite.

- J'ai l'impression que cette mission qu'on t'a confiee constitue une nouvelle etape pour tois aussi, n'est-ce pas? -

It is true. After all the transitions in my life that have allowed me to become a wife, wife and mother, after all the experience I gained during this part of my journey, I feel more than ever the desire to give to the next and contribute to the other. Star Academie will allow me to be this beacon on the horizon and to offer this space within me, which I will bury in the service of the other. I also want to invite these young people to use the tools that have served me in my career and in my personal life. The notion of joy, freedom and candor will be at the forefront of my transmission, because we are living in a period where lightness is essential. I do not want to be the one who will lead a student, I want to be his source and position myself with great humility in front of the Academicians, because I will have the will that they emancipate themselves, that they wake up and evolve.

- Qu'aurais-tu aime qu'on t'enseigne lorsque tu as commencé dans ce metier? -

A fermer ma geule! (rire) La premiere chose que j'aurais aime quelqu'un me dies, c'est: < T'ais-toi et ecoute! >J'avais ce besoin de prendre trop de place et, avec le recul, je me suis rendu compte que la place qu'on doit prendre nous apparait plus clairement quand on parle peu et qu'on observe. Mais ce defaut m'a aussi permis de faire de belles rencontres. Cette maladresse cachait toute de meme une curiosite et le desir de m'exprimer , ce qui a seduit des gens et leur a par la suite permis de devenir des acteurs importants dans ma vie. Ils m'ont d'appris que c'est adns l'ecoute et le silence que se trouvent les clés qui servent a grandir.

- Tu t'appretes a donner une chance a de nouveaux talents. Et tois, qui t'a donné ta chance? -

C'est sans contredit Lise Richard. Lise est d'abord et avant tout une femme exceptionelle. Je dirais meme que j'ai beaucoup été en contact avec le cote maternel qu'elle inspirait. Elle etait la mere de deux jeunes filles qu'elle laisset pendant des longues periodes pour venir avec moi dans le monde entier. Alors, par ricochet, elle devenait ma grande soeur. Lise m'a vue un soir, alors que je chantais au Bijou, un cabaret du Vieux-Montreal tres populaire dans les annees 1980. C'est donne elle qui m'amènera chez Trans-Canada, qui etait a l'epoque le plus grand producteur et distributeur de disques au Quebec. C'est elle qui fera en sorte que je signe le contrat de ce premier album. C'est done grace a cette femme merveilleuse que tout a commencé pour moi.

- Plusiers annees plus tard, tu est toujours la! Je sais que ta plus grande fierté est d'avoir perduré dans ce metier.Que sugererais-tu aux Academiciens pour durer dans ce monde si souvent éphémère? -

Peut-on preparer quelqu'un à une chose qui n'est pas garantie. Sommes-nous tous destines à durer dans ce metier? Je ne sais pas! Mais est-ce qu'on a tous l'habilite et la capacite d'evoluer dans notre vie. La reponse est oui, sans aucun doute! Pour cela, il faut faire de l'adversite une opportunite. Je pourrai leur enseigner a voir une blessure, un choc ou un ennemi comme une grande pssibilite. Au moment ou la fleche leur transpercera le coeur, qu'ils l'enleveront et la jetteront par terre, je porrai leur enseigner a ne pas le reprendre au sol pour se la replanter dans le coeur. Ils seront 15 au depart, et il n'en restera qu'un seul a la fin. Je peux done leur apprendre a faire d'un impact une opportunite.

- Pour cette grande adventure Star Academie, tu seras bien entouree, entre autres d'Ariane Moffatt et de Gregory Charles. -

Je les adore!Je trouve que nous formons une belle palette au travers de laquelle on peut aisement s'exprimer, car on est tres complementaires et aussie completement differents. On est parfois en desaccord, mais toujours d'accord de l'etre. On examine le talent, pas tourjours a partir de la meme fenetre, mais au final, il y a une convergence reelle.

- Qu'aurais-tu voulu faire autrement dans ta carriere? -

Je ne suis pas vraiment une femme de regret, mais un jour, un homme d'une grande bienveillance a mon endroit m'a dit: < Ne te trompe pas d'ennemi. > En parlent de moi, bien sur, car nous somme s nos pires ennemies.< Ne te lache pas la main et ne tombe pas necessairement amoureuse d'un homme parce que tu as une affinite artistique avec lui. > I y a done une moment préeis dans ma carriere aux Etats-Unis ou je n'aurais pas du melanger l'amour d'un homme avec celui que j'avais pour son talent de compositeur et de producteur. Mais arriver a discerner dans nos coeurs les variables de l'amour ne se fait qu'en se trompant. Done, je ne regrette pas mon erreur, mais si ajourd'hui je pouvais revenir a San Francisco, dans ce restaurant, en Novembre 1997, je dirais a la jeune Lara:< Ne fais pas ca, tu te trompes te candidat. Sa musique est merveilleuse, mais c'est ne pas lui, ton compagnon de vie. > Je ne regrette pas le prix que j'ai payé, car chaque erreur a fait de moila fille que je suis devenue. Aujourd'hui, je peux affirmer haut et fort qu'il n'y a rien autour de moi que je voudrais voir disparaitre, pas meme mes erreurs!

- Dans le documentaire sur ta vi, intitulé Lara, tu parles de cette petite voix qui a souvent cherché à te saboter. Comment arrive-t-on à la maitriser? Et comment enseigner aux Academiciens à ne pas l'ecouter? -

Tout d'abord, j'ai compris qu'elle ne me sert a rien et qu'elle a toujours joué contre moi. Cette petite voix n'est jamais gage d'evolution. Je ne te dirais pas que j'arrive tout le temps a la maitriser, mais j'essaie de me rappeler que la derniere fois ou je l'ai ecoutée elle ne m'a pas rendu service. J'enseignerai a me eleves que c'est en faisant appel au devoir de memoire qu'on reussit a arreter cette petite voix.

- Le 30 aout 2021 marquera le 30* anniversaire de ton arrivee au Quebec.Aurais-tu pnsé qu'aprés totes ces annees tu servirais de mentore a une nouvelle generation? -

C'est la premiere fois qu'on me parle ma participation a Star Academie sous cet angle. Ce qui ne m'etonne pas, c'est que ce soit ici que j'aie ce privilege de redonner aux autres, car le Quebec, ce sont mes racines et c'est aussi le pivot de ma vie, l'endroit qui a toujours eimenté les phases d'evolution. C'est ici que je me gueris et que j'evolue. C'est au Quebec que j'ai eu ma chance, alors c'est un immense privilege pour moi de redonner dette chance aux autres sur ma terre d'adoption.

- Je t'imagine etre cette jeune fille qui aurait assurement tente sa chance a Star Academie si ca avait existe a l'epoque... -

Tout a fait, et j'aurais tout donné! Je prends d'autant plus mon role au serieux, car en tant que narratrice de ma vie, je porrais dire aux Academiciens:< Regardez d'ou je viens. Je suis la fille de Pierre et Louisa, et je suis née dans un bled perdu. Tout est possible! >

- Qu'as-tu trouvé au Quebec que tu n'as pas trouvé ailleurs dans le monde? -

C'est une endroit qui permet d'etre soi-meme, j'ai la sensation de ne pas etre encheinee a des enseignements qui cristallisent des emotions susceptibles de ne pas me faire du bien. Ici, tu as le droit de ne pas etre d'accord ave quelqu'un, mais ca ne finira pas en chicane. Ici, on ne s'attarde pas vraiment aux differences – surtout si je compare avec la vieille Europe - , on peut etre d'acdord de ne pas etre d'accord et continuer son chemin sans aucun jugement. La societe quebecoise propose une immense liberte, alors c'est beaucoup plus relaxe d'y vivre.

- La chanson „Je me souviens“, que tu as ecrite, demeure pour moi l'un des plus beaux hymnes adressés a notre Quebec. Dans quelles circonstances l'as-tu composée? -

J'etais a Bruxelles et je venais de quitter le Quebec a contrecoeur. C'etait une journee d'avril, et alors qu'il ne neige jamais a Bruxelles, des flocons tout blancs sont soudainement apparus. La tristesse de constater que cette neige ne vennait pas du Quebec m'a aussitot envahie.J'ai senti ce courant en moi et j'ai ecrit le texte en a peine trois minutes. En tant qu'artiste, a ce moment-la, j'ai compris qu'on m'avait fait la grace de cette chanson. C'est la neige qui ma inspiré cette ode au Quebec.

- Ta vie est pleine des synchronicites. D'ailleurs, tout juste avant d'obtenir le mandat de directrice a l'Academie, tu as fait un choix de vie, celui de déménageren famille a la campagne, a quelques minutes de l'Accademie. As-tu toujours été consciente de cette intuition qui te guide dans tes decisions? -

Je te dirais que je commence enfin a etre en phase avec mon intuition. Depuis les 10 derniere annees, j'en suis plus consciente en tant que femme et maman. L'ecoute de mon intuition vient beaucoup plus de la femme en moi que de l'artiste. Et maintenant, c'est la femme que je suis qui tente d'amener l'intuition a l'artiste en moi. Je m'apercois que c'est dans la paie d'esprit que je me connecte a moi intuition.

- Est-ce un peu pour cette raison que le desir de t'installer a la campagne est arrivé? -

Sans aucun doute. Une part de moi a envie de te dire que c'etait le bon moment dans ma vie, une autre part te dirait que c'est pour proteger mon enfant et une derniere te confierait que l'epoque que nous traversons m'a donne envie de revenir au fondamental et a l'essentiel. Je ne voulais plus avoir cette sensation d'etre au coeur d'une ruche qui résonne autour de moi, mais plutot d'habiter un espace ou le silence prend toute sa dimension. Vivre dans un environnement ou le regard des autres ne me regarde plus du tout me permet de reprendre contact avec moi-meme. Mais cette etappe historique que traverse en ce moment l'humanite requiert chez moi un ancrage majeur. J'ai ressenti ce besoin de silence qu'on retrouve a la campagne pour me permettre une reflexion bienveillante.

- Au quotidien, qu'est-ce que ta nouvelle vie loin des grands centres t'apporte? -

Ma fille, Lou, participe beaucoup plusa la vie de famille, et ca me rejouit enormement. Lorsqu'on etait a Montreal, j'avais de plus en plus de difficulte a avoir Lou a la maison, lorsqu'elle revenait de l'ecole, par example. Maintenant, elle est toujours a la maison. On va chercher du bois ensemble, on allume un feu de cheminée, on vide le lave-vaisselle, on coupe les oignons, on fait la popote, on mange, on débarrasse la table et surtout, on parle beaucoup plus de temps ensemble.

- Aprés toutes ces années de carrière, as-tu parfois l'impression d'avoir fait le tour du jardin comme chanteuse? -

Il y a queque chose qui s'est passé à mon insu dans ce qu'on vit présentement et qui est trés difficile à exprimer. Une part de moi a d'abord ressenti de la gratitude face à cet arrét, car j'etais en pleine tournee mondiale et j'etais fatiguee. Mais l'autre part de moi, qui se cache maintenant depuis neuf mois, a l'impression d'avoir été accidentée. J'ai trés hate de dire à la chanteuse en moi que j'ai encore besoin d'elle. Mais pour l'instant, étant donné que je ne peux pas exister de ce point de vue là, je l'ai endormie, parce que c'est la seule facon pour moi de vivre avec tout ce bouleversement.

- C'est une Lara tres emue que j'ai quittee. Elle ma promis de reparler a la chanteuse qui s'est assoupie en elle au cours des derniers mois. Je lui ai sugéré de ne pas la laisser de cote trop longtemps, car posseder un don aussi grand vient aussi avec une grand responsabilité. Je ne sui égalment permis de lui rappaler que c'est nous qui avons été les premiers à reconnaitre que cette chanteuse a la voix exceptionelle qui sommeille en elle guérisait aussi les àmes. On s'est dit au revoir et la neige, cette fois-ci, n'etait pas signe de tristesse, mais bien de reconfort. Je me sens choyé, Lara, que tu aies croise mon chemin il y a 30 ans deja. Je me souviens de nous deux, comme se souviennent de toi tous ceux qui t'aiment, à travers le monde et ici, chez toi. -

[daniela]

Hello everybody, i‘m new here and i like to thank you all for your great work here. Thank you David and bernhard for translating this french articles, since my french is actually nonexistent😉. So Lara has moved to Waterloo?

[bernhard]

Hello Daniela, it looks like this, probably in the same region. However, nobody can give you an exact address 😉. And of course, if I were Lara Fabian, I would keep this a secret too.