Post by davidhr on Mar 8, 2022 8:21:19 GMT -5
Starting with something different this week, as noted in the last update Lara was featured in the latest edition of the magazine Chatelaine. It has now come out, and one can see the beautiful cover which Lara has put on her FB site from the Chatelaine FB page:
www.facebook.com/ChatelaineQc/photos/a.187127444166/10161529701749167/
Their accompanying caption reads, “We welcome spring with the warm Lara Fabian in our March-April issue. On newsstands March 4”
Here’s a translation of the article/interview (thanks to the Lara Fabian Lockdown Sessions FB site for the scans):
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A Happy Star
An afternoon with Lara
Our cover girl was not at her first photo shoot, and it showed! Smiling, rigorous, always concentrated, Lara put on the outfits proposed by the stylist Patrick Vimbor and took the pictures in front of Andreanne Gauthier's lens with an extraordinary ease. To see in our website, the backstage of this beautiful afternoon.
A sun named Lara
Apart from the muted Mozart tunes, Lara Fabian's house is silent. Lou, her daughter, and Gabriel, her husband, are absent. Even the dog has gone for a walk. Without make-up, her hair loose, the new country girl is radiant.
"I decided to leave Montreal when I saw the crisis we have been going through for the past two years. I thought a little space and silence would be nice". Since her arrival in Quebec, almost 30 years ago, the artist of Italian-Belgian origin had lived almost exclusively in the chic city of Westmount, on the island of Montreal.
At the beginning of the pandemic, the choice of this house, bathed in light, and its vast grounds on the side of the mountain, in Bromont, was made without hesitation.
A few weeks after moving in, Lara was invited to become the director of the academy on the show Star Aademie, which was taped in an ancestral house in Waterloo, a stone's throw from her home. An unprecedented opportunity. "I want to pass on my passion for music today. It seems to me that this is a matter of course for the next 15 or even 20 years", she says, determined.
A New Vocation
The first season of the refreshed version of the reality show Star Ac, broadcast in the winter of 2021 on TVA, confirmed this new vocation.
Each week, a million viewers have seen her take young candidates under her wing with an almost maternal benevolence. And yet, the minutes broadcast on TV represent only a fraction of the hours she devotes to them.
What she wants to transmit is above all the notion of integrity. She insists on this word. "Many young people lose themselves in trying to exist in this profession. I want to show them that it is by remaining faithful to themselves that they will be able to touch the heart of the public". She quotes Peter Gabriel, Freddie Mercury and Barbra Streisand to illustrate her point. Because they have embodied only one version of themselves.
Felix Lemelin, 24, is one of those young singers that Lara accompanies. They met when he was a candidate for the show La Voix in 2018 and became friends. “I was quite intimidated at first but I quickly discovered a warm person, who is not afraid to show her emotions. She was present for me in the adventure and remained so thereafter. I consider her today as my second mother," he said.
Lara wrote him the song "Chez nous", which evokes the importance of remembering where we come from. In 30 years of career, she has learned the hard way that it is sometimes easy to forget herself, she says. She thinks for a moment, takes a few sips of water and continues.
"But I have no regrets! My entire career has been a masterful lesson. It is thanks to this that I feel ready today to advise the next generation."
The American dream
At the beginning of the 1990s, her lover, the composer Rick Allison, convinced her to leave Belgium where she grew up to come and live the "American dream" with him. And it is here that her career will take off until it propels her onto the most prestigious stages of Europe, Asia and America.
She will have to her credit around twenty records - all sacred gold, platinum and even diamond. She will sing alongside the greatest in memorable duos: Serge Lama, Johnny Hallyday...
An evidence: her success will go well beyond her hopes.
Her first album, simply called Lara Fabian, she recorded in Montreal in August 1991 thanks to money lent to her by her father. A significant sum for this Belgian heating engineer [NB: chimney sweep]. A guitarist in his spare time, he has always believed in the talent of his only daughter.
For months, Lara and Rick scoured Quebec from east to west to perform on regional radio shows. A memorable epic during which they sleep more than once on the bench seat of their Chevrolet Lumina.
"I very quickly felt at home. Quebec is my peace. I breathe here. There is light. look at what surrounds us!" she shouts happily, pointing to the forest outside.
It was not until the following winter that her notoriety snowballed. Lara is invited to sing on Sonia Benezra's talk show at TQS. A consecration, at the time. Her performance could have gone unnoticed, but that evening a storm raged and many Quebecers took refuge in front of their television sets. In the days that followed, her record sold more than 100,000 copies. And the successes keep coming.
Lara multiplies sold-out concerts across the country, records a second album, Carpe Diem, crowned gold in less than two weeks, and wins the Felix for Quebec Interpreter of the Year and Show of the Year - performer, in 1995.
"I ended up being compared to Celine. Quebecers paid me a compliment. It was a way for them to designate me as another of the great singers. They started by calling me by my first name. It’s extraordinary when, in people's hearts, you become a first name! I experienced this as one of the highest honors bestowed by the public," she says gratefully.
Her current musical director, Manu Pitois, remembers this era very well. "She arrived like a bomb! And very quickly, she also had success in France. Thanks to her talent, it's undeniable, but also because the 1990s were ideal to launch a career as a singer. Golden age of the music industry!" he exclaims.
"Sit down, Crokaert!"
In 1997, Lara joins the Sony label. A first major tour begins, first in France and Belgium then, a few months later, in the four corners of the planet. She leads her life at 100 an hour. And plunges into a long descent into hell.
We guess it, the pressure is enormous on the artists of this level: the major record companies claim that they put on the hits.
Lara Fabian strives to meet the demands of her financial partners with a register of more commercial songs, blonder hair, a sexier look. She struggles to lose weight. Always a little more.
One evening, after a show, she makes herself vomit in the toilets of a chic restaurant in New York. Seven years of fighting against anorexia will then follow.
At the same time, her relationship with Rick Allison ends. The media that contributed to her rise are now the first to feast on the failures of her private life. French broadcasts, well known for their provocative concepts - 'Tout le monde en parle', the French version, in particular - make fun of her by associating her with the cliche of the superficial and brainless singer. a relentlessness that still hurts her today.
“When you're young, you don't have enough perspective to face that. You take it all in the mouth. I admit that I gave them a lot to grind, my attitude was clearly not aligned with who I really was, but I don't think it was a guarantee of wickedness", says the singer-songwriter.
Lara sinks into a slump that will last almost a decade. It is paradoxically during this period that she will write the successful ballads: "J’y crois encore" and "Immortelle". The musical expression of her deepest feelings.
Her body will soon signal its breaking point. One day in 2010, Lara broke two vertebrae while lifting a grocery bag. Like that, without warning sign. A very painful fracture, and especially very rare, which the doctors explain as the consequence of her emotional distress.
Sitting cross-legged between the big armrests of her armchair, she exaggerates her Belgian accent with a deep voice. "This is the moment when life said to me: 'Sit down, Crokaert [her real last name]. We need to talk"."
This sudden touch of humor contrasts with the seriousness of her story.
Awareness
Lara then embarked on the path of rehabilitation, paved with a lightness that is now well honed. Her years of healing, she shares them between Paris and Brussels, sheltered from the media.
It is also far from the spotlight and the paparazzi that she experienced her pregnancy and the birth of her daughter, Lou, whom she had with the Franco-Tunisian director Gerard Pullicino in 2007. "Lou is the fruit of my return to life. We are much less focused on our little navel when we are a mother. I had to heal for her, I had no choice", she says.
A black and white photo of the mother-daughter duo sits prominently in the room. Lara glances at it and her face expresses pride.
Lou is a charming teenager, passionate about baking and mangas, according to Mama Lara. "She's funny, so funny! She's a great kid with a world of her own. It's wonderful to see that I haven't given her my pans".
Kototama meditation allowed Lara to take a first step towards healing. This technique consists of producing sounds to make certain parts of the body vibrate and soothe ailments. A real revelation for the singer, who has been training diligently for ten years. "When the vibration hits where it hurts, the pain goes away. It's irresistible. Something inside you gives in and comes to consciousness. It's incredibly simple, it brings you back to candor and joy of childhood".
This approach has guided her towards other practices which, over the years, have prompted her to review the order of her priorities. She bursts out laughing. "People will think I smoked the carpet! But it's really nothing esoteric, just concrete approaches that helped me understand who I was and lead a meaningful life."
By learning to settle, Lara recovered from her injuries. "That's how I finally became ready to make my big comeback to the public in 2018, when I was invited to occupy one of the seats on the show La voix. I was finally going to be able to be transparent in the eyes of all, to be integrated, to be me.
Luminous Projects
This serenity helped Lara regain her appetite. It even inspired her to create a kind of culinary autobiography entitled Je passe à table, published in November 2021 by Libre Expression.
She reveals important moments in her life, interspersed with recipes that she particularly likes. We discover, among other things, the stages of preparation of teriyaki vegetables and salmon sashimi in sauce by her friend Masayo Hashimoto, chef of the Japanese restaurant Momoka, in Paris.
Masayo had just opened her establishment just opposite Lara's, in the ninth arrondissement, when she met her in 2003. "I didn't know she was famous. I had offered cakes to her bodyguard and she came in person to thank me. She immediately seemed very simple to me", recalls the chef.
The two women meet regularly to share confidences around good food. Masayo has seen Lara change over the past few years. "At first, she was not well. She barely ate. But over time, she found light. And it was love that ended up healing her."
The love is Gabriel Di Giorgio, whom Lara married in 2013. Lara takes a pause to define their relationship aptly. "The will that we have to take care of each other is a jewel. When you have this benevolence and this delicacy in your life, you are in the most beautiful space that can exist."
He watches over Lou like a father. And he will take care of her this summer, when Lara leaves for her 50 World Tour which she has not been able to start yet because of the pandemic. Then the family will decide where they want to settle.
A Canadian citizen, the singer claims to be guided by love. "I don't want to choose. For the past few years, living in Quebec has been logical. And it will be for some time to come, until another project calls me elsewhere."
This project could well be the opening of her own school. In Quebec or elsewhere. She's been thinking about it for a few years. A place to learn to sing, of course, but above all to be yourself. By practicing kototama and awakening to everything that, according to Lara, allows you to live in accordance with your conscience.
This interview has lasted almost two hours. Mozart is silent. Lara stretches, looking satisfied. She has nothing more to add. Or almost.
"The trust and love of the public gave me a voice. It's my capital. I now want to use it for the benefit of others. And until the end of my days, this sharing will be my privilege."
This time, everything is said.
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As one can see, Lara’s book detailing her problems has opened up the territory for interviewers to explore those hardships, and, as they did in the book, they make fascinating reading. It gives her much more of a ‘three-dimensional’ footprint than just that of a well-known singer/songwriter.
In addition, Lara does bring up, for perhaps the first time, the possibility that she may eventually leave Quebec. Remember when she promised Lou that they would not move again? Well, it's not really surprising, since Lara has often said that she has a peripatetic nature… In the interview she says a decision will be made as to where to settle after her (now called) ‘Best Of” tour. It’s hard to see how that will work, since the tour of France and eastern Europe is not until the fall; presumably she will have to tell the Star Academie whether she will be returning as director before that - last year she made the announcement on June 3 (https://www.tvanouvelles.ca/2021/06/03/lara-fabian-de-retour-a-star-academie-lan-prochain). Unless she’s already made up her mind not to return…She does say that living in Quebec will 'be logical' for some time to come, so perhaps this can be overblown.
A lot can change between now and then, but insofar as that tour is concerned, most COVID restrictions are now being lifted in France. After March 14, visitors will no longer be required to show proof of vaccination and masks will no longer be required to enter indoor establishments, as the situation is improving – coronavirus cases and hospitalizations have been falling since early February. As we know, Covid-19 has waned before, only to return with a new variant, but at least at the moment, the future for Lara’s 2022 concerts is looking bright.
Now on to the Star Academie show. Lara introduced to her fans the next edition of the Star Academie with the following two pictures, at
www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=541186197365678&set=pcb.541186230699008
or
with the caption, “Two Belgians in Montreal 🌟
Welcome Angèle to Star Académie TVA!”
The sixth Star Academie then followed; here’s a report from the Journal de Quebec, which again includes a lot of the videos (https://www.journaldequebec.com/2022/03/06/star-academie-le-public-sauve-encore-jeremy-1):
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“Star Académie”: the public still saves Jérémy
Nearly 400 people were present at the MELS studio on Sunday evening, for the sixth Variété de Star Académie, which notably welcomed La Chicane, Paul Daraîche and the Belgian singer Angèle. Jérémy Plante was once again saved by the public after a dazzling evening.
The Academicians had been waiting for it for a long time: Angèle finally landed on the set for a thrilling number which began with "Tout oublier", accompanied by the three put-in-danger of the week. She continued with "Solo", with Camélia and Krystel, before singing "Bruxelles, je t'aime", in the company of Audrey-Louise and Édouard. Julien had the chance to perform the song “Ta reine” as a duo. The number ended with its great success, “Balance ton quoi”, with Audrey-Louise and Sarah-Maude. A nice refreshing number.
Under examination
After the teachers repeatedly pointed out her lack of accuracy during her evaluation, Sandrine Hébert mainly focused on her technique during her performance of the song "C'est Zéro" by Julie Masse. Her interpretation, however, lacked a bit of life, but Lara Fabian wanted to congratulate her. "You took up the challenge, you sang adorably well," said the director.
Marily Dorion then deployed her incredible qualities as an interpreter on “Je t'aimais, je t'aime, je t'aimerai”, by Francis Cabrel. “Each time you sing, it's as if you took us by the hand to make us discover new corners, new smells … You are unique”, analyzed Guylaine Tremblay, completely under the spell.
To defend his place during this third endangerment, Jérémy Plante decided to have fun singing “Footloose” with completely crazy energy. Gregory Charles praised his audacity and his ability to galvanize a crowd.
“First, we must not forget that we are constantly learning. Second, communicating with an audience cannot be taught. So much the better, no need to be taught it because you know how to do it very well”, concluded the music teacher.
Tribute
The Academicians then paid a very nice tribute to Renée Martel, who died last December. In the company of Isabelle Boulay, Paul Daraîche, Annie Blanchard and Guillaume Lafond, they reviewed his greatest hits, from "Liverpool" to " Je vais à Londres", via "C'est mon histoire" or “Nous on aime la musique country".
Nostalgia
What a pleasure to hear again the great successes of La Chicane! Boom Desjardins' voice is as powerful and warm as ever. He took over “Tu m'manques” with a trio of guys (Jérémy, Édouard and Julien), then “Calvaire” with Olivier, who was not unworthy. Boom and Sarah-Maude performed a magnificent vocal harmony duet with their two powerful voices from Abitibi. We also learned that Jean-Marc Couture, who won Star Académie in 2012, was the new guitarist of La Chicane, with whom he will soon be going on tour.
Poetic sweetness
Ingrid Saint-Pierre finally offered a real poetic break at the end of the evening. She interpreted a magnificent version of “La lumière” with Marily, as well as a very good moment in duet with Olivier on “Les joailliers”, to finish on “Ficelles”, with Audrey-Louise and Julien.
Verdict
For the second time since the start of the season, the public has chosen to save Jérémy Plante, who could not believe that he was living through this moment. "It's a relief, and a great pride," he said before congratulating the talent of his colleagues with whom he was in danger. The faculty then chose to protect Marily Dorion, who therefore regained her place at the Academy. Sandrine's adventure at the Academy is now over.
STROMAE AT STAR ACADEMIE
The singer Stromae will be on the Star Académie Variété set on March 27, to the delight of young Academicians and viewers alike. This will be his only performance on a Canadian TV show.
Stromae is a faithful, since he had already set fire to a Star Académie gala, in 2012. In full worldwide success of his previous album, he had taken the time to exchange with young people, in addition to offering a frenzied performance on “Alors on danse”, alongside Andréanne A. Malette.
Ten years later, he will be back to sing his greatest hits with the Academicians, in addition to some of his new compositions. Note that it will also be a reunion for Marc Dupré, who was one of the guests of this 2012 gala.
The Belgian megastar has just released Multitude, a new album which comes nine years after the great success of Racine Carrée. His new songs, like "Santé", which is about essential workers in times of a pandemic, or "L'enfer", which evokes his problems with depression, are already enjoying resounding success all over the world.
The singer is currently preparing a major world tour which will stop at the Bell Center in Montreal, from November 25 to 27, and at the Videotron Center in Quebec City, on December 11.
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And here’s a complimentary report from (https://www.lesoleil.com/2022/03/07/star-academie-fausses-notes-et-previsibilite--6e15ac9e5db360d5227aa0bed9e1a4f3), a source which is always more opinionated:
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Star Académie : false notes and predictability
The Mels studio was packed to capacity on Sunday night for Variety 's Star Academy . It was felt and heard. But what we heard the most, from the start of the show, were the false notes pushed during the number of the pop icon, Angèle.
Starting with Jeremy who was swallowed up by the female voices of Angèle, Sandrine and Marily, who accompanied him. Angèle's tone gave several academicians a hard time, to say the least. Only Marily has managed to follow the pace, she who sticks more to the unique character of Angèle. It was also very difficult to understand the lyrics of the texts of the Belgian singer-songwriter of the hour.
In addition, the framing of the camera is too tight for television and loses the staging of the number and the decor, a bit like last week with Mitsou's number. We should also think about the people at home who like to watch the whole visual.
Predictability
This week, it was easy to predict who was going to be protected by the public and by the teaching staff among Sandrine, Jeremy and Marily. Even if his attitude and his lack of humility sometimes displease many Internet users and viewers, it was clear that Jeremy was going to be protected by the public.
Clad in a leather coat, he once again chose easy chansonnier music with Footloose . However, his ease on stage and his movements inspired by the popular film set Mels' studio on fire. While his technique was not always in control and he didn't maintain his energy throughout the number, Jeremy delivered an excellent performance while communicating with his audience relentlessly. Above all, he offered something different.
Marily, who was protected by the teachers, concocted a version in her image of Je t’aimais, je t’aime et je t’aimerai. Her soft voice manages to rock while brushing each of the words to reveal a piece of herself. Her magnificent interpretation of Francis Cabrel's song and her ability to appropriate text and music certainly make her a unique singer.
For her part, Sandrine's ability to tell a story and her intensity were put to the test this week. With C’est zero by Julie Masse, the 25-year-old academician delivered a colorless performance. Sandrine is more of a generic singer, but the interpretation was completely off the desired emotion, Sunday evening.
On Monday, half of the academicians will be in evaluation since there are only ten left. We bet that Eloi and Olivier will be in evaluation, they who were very discreet during the Variety
Country, nostalgia and sweetness
Sunday, the academicians immersed themselves in the country universe, a musical genre little exploited since the start of the season. Thus, Isabelle Boulay, Paul Daraîche, Annie Blanchard and Guillaume Lafond followed one another to pay tribute to the queen of country who left us last December. Camélia particularly shone in this issue alongside Isabelle Boulay with C'est mon histoire.
They then had the opportunity to rub shoulders with Boom Desjardins who still provides as much after 25 years of career with La Chicane.
It was also an opportunity for the popular group at the turn of the 2000s to present its new guitarist. After the announcement of the departure of Dany Bédar last week, it is now Jean-Marc Couture - the winner of Star Académie in 2012 - who will accompany the members of the group. In this issue, Sarah-Maude stood out by vocally challenging Boom Desjardins.
Finally, we were transported into the poetic world of Ingrid St-Pierre. With her soft voice, she demonstrated to the academicians that it is not necessary and effective to use loud voices to touch the hearts of the public. One of the highlights of the evening was when Audrey-Louise and Julien accompanied her for Ficelle. Their interpretation of this text which deals with Alzheimer's disease was sincere.
If we could give a game star tonight, it would definitely go to Marily. She also distinguished herself with Ingrid St-Pierre as an unexpected encounter with a soul mate. Their voices fit together perfectly.
Next Sunday, we promise a tribute to Gerry Boulet and a number signed by Pierre Lapointe. Jay Scott and Guylaine Tanguay will also be there for this seventh Variety .
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If this week’s show proves anything, not that it was really needed, it’s that vocal quality and ‘star quality’ have a very imperfect relationship. The most powerful voice (Sandrine) was eliminated, and, while Angele and Lara may both be from Belgium, and are both (currently) blonds, their vocal quality couldn’t be more different. [Note the Angele medley is also available on youtube, at www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CUuxZDkhP4]. Much better voices could be heard in two of the other medleys, the homage to Renee Martel (with Isabel Boulay, among others) and the beautiful medley with Ingrid St. Pierre, both available on the journal de Quebec link.
In a more Lara-centric component of the Star Academie, Lara’s debriefing from week 4, that included her conversation with Audrey-Louise about being too ‘cute’, is available with English subtitles (thanks to Lara the Ring Fabian) at
youtu.be/HESwkGkmOyM
As you may remember, the Academician’s seductive performance on last week’s show was at least partly in answer to that criticism.
And a TVA video of one of their courses (in French), linked to on the Lara Fabian Lockdown Sessions FB site, features Pierre Yves Duchesne, Lara’s singing teacher, giving a glimpse of his contribution to the Academicians, at
www.facebook.com/100063674018327/videos/492874138887019
with the accompanying text, “Pierre Yves Duchesne 1 hr -
“My greatest pleasure is to receive the smile of students when they discover a new tool that will help them progress.
Alongside @larafabianofficial, I'm teaching @staracademietva academics how to increase their lung capacity and tame the airflow. Distilling air is paramount to supporting the singer and phonographer. This is referred to as low costo-diaphragmatic breathing.
🙏🏼 Thanks to @tvareseau and @proddeferlantes for this wonderful memory.”
Lara posted a picture/short video of herself with him on her Instagram site, at
saying, “What a joy to find my Maestro @pierreyvesduchesne 🥰
2 years ... it was a long time ...
Hugs to you 💋💋💋”
Now for the next chapter in Lara’s book, ‘Je passe a table’
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FIFTEENTH STORY: MY HALF OF THE ORANGE
Vacations in Sicily
It is the end of summer, soon autumn, I am alone.
The public announcement of the end of my story with my man is really done in the greatest of respects. Despite the pain I feel, I tell myself that I had the chance to be with a good person.
Around me and in my heart everything seems to be foggy. I am still "stuck" in my head, frozen in another time.
I can't get used to the idea that life is once again confronting me with the impossibility of love. But it is what it is.
So I make the decision to leave alone with my four year old daughter to my island. I rented a house in a small village on the slopes of Mount Etna, my volcano. It is an old building surrounded by gardens, fruit trees and an old chapel. Every morning the rooster wakes us up and reminds us that we went to bed a little too late the night before.
All the women of my family or almost are around me. My "tired" mother prefers not to travel and stays quiet in her house in Brussels. So here I am surrounded by both her nieces (my cousins) and their children.
Strangely, this place of Italy reminds me of my childhood and the friendly atmosphere. The remaining actors are almost all the same, they have just aged a bit.
To get me out of my torpor, I receive a lot of friends in this garden. They come from all over to share privileged moments on my land, to wash away the sorrows that make us friends of misfortune.
I also give some master classes that are asked of me during my days of rest.
Valentina and Gabriel
Not far from the house, there is this school of music and performing arts which, from time to time, receives guests and offers to its students some teachings from elsewhere. As the director of this school, Valentina, is a friend of my family, I accept her invitation without being asked, to clear my mind. It will do me good.
I meet amazing young people and artists. I meet dedicated teachers who give themselves body and soul to make dreams and aspirations come true.
Valentina, delighted, asks me to come for several days in a row and to help them create a musical comedy based on the life of Casanova.
It is necessary to pass all the castings, to listen to all the voices, to grant the roles, to imagine the sets, to work with the composers and the authors, of which she is part.
This young woman is an incredibly talented artist, filled with healthy ambition and unsinkable courage.
Diving into this adventure with her is a real challenge and makes me immerse myself in a world that creates magic.
As the days go by, I have to choose the young artist who will play the role of Casanova, but I also have to choose the narrator. The one who, like the beautiful Gringoire, puts everything in perspective.
Valentina imagines him as an illusionist, she would like him to be able to sing and recite, but also to create amazing moments that will leave the audience in awe.
She is thinking of a friend, someone she has known all her life. They were born on the same day, or almost the same day, the same year, they have been through a lot together. She's been trying to reach him for days, but he seems to be very busy.
In reality, he prefers to ignore the audition part of this adventure. He doesn't want to go through the stress. He wants to practice his art, the one he masters and practices every day.
Magic.
He has no intention of sitting in front of a table of teachers and professionals to be judged. He doesn't want to be judged, he doesn't like competition, he won't come.
I see that Valentina, whom I am becoming very close to, cannot stand the refusal of her best friend.
After a few days of relatively animated discussion, he agrees to come and meet us with the only condition that he does not audition. They agreed: he will show her how he sees the character, and she will do what she wants, that's all.
But Valentine's idea is already made: the narrator will be her friend Gabriel.
So, on this late autumn day, he stands in front of this table, in front of her and me. He holds a small suitcase, opens it, and makes appear a very particular character, a ghost.
He flies her around the room singing a piece of a song I know well...He sings it in a voice full of emotion, in a unique voice.
But beyond the great talent that this polymorphous artist possesses, it is really his sensitivity that moves me, his sincerity.
Once this number finished, played in front of two conquered and mouthful spectators, Gabriel delicately puts away this small mysterious character, closes the squeaking buckle of his suitcase and makes us a small sign of the head.
He leaves the room in silence.
A few minutes later, he comes back and asks me if he can just shake my hand to thank me for having listened to him so attentively.
I get up, walk over to him, take his hand and pull him to me in an affectionate embrace, not really understanding what I am doing.
A reunion? The certainty that I already know him? Connections from another life?
I can't say exactly.
What I do know is that everything is perfect.
The famous Miracle
After that moment, it took me some time to accept to enter this story, because a thousand circumstances were processing each of my feelings in my rational and reasoned mind.
I asked myself a billion questions, to which, day after day, I found all the answers I needed.
A few months later, we got married under the orange trees, in front of the sea, with our good volcano as our only landscape.
A Celtic wedding celebrated over two days. An open air ceremony where we promised each to the other with the blessing of the four elements.
It was the extraordinary being who had begun to open all the drawers of my consciousness that married us. Issâ Padovani.
By the powers that were conferred to him as a druid, he celebrated the most beautiful moment of my life.
In the presence of my close friends, my family and my five-year-old daughter, who, for the occasion, deeply moved us by singing a song learned in secret.
To top it all off, on that day, my husband Gabriel read me the most beautiful love letter ever written.
There was not a dry eye in the whole assembly.
It is one of those moments that are aligned under the most beautiful stars, under the best auspices.
Even today, almost ten years later, when I wake up in the morning and look at him beside me, I pinch myself and count my blessings.
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A happy, ‘kismet’ story for Lara, for once!
Interesting photo(s) of the week: since they are so beautiful, these pictures all come from the article in Chatelaine, as provided by the Lara Fabian Lockdown Sessions FB site scans:
www.facebook.com/LaraFabianLockdownSession/photos/pcb.474511221080316/474510991080339
www.facebook.com/LaraFabianLockdownSession/photos/pcb.474511221080316/474511057746999
www.facebook.com/LaraFabianLockdownSession/photos/pcb.474511221080316/474511104413661
www.facebook.com/LaraFabianLockdownSession/photos/pcb.474511221080316/474511157746989
One can’t beat those… ; however, Lara tried, with her appearance at the Star Academy (i.e., the photo with Angele Lara posted on her FB and Instagram sites). Articles about her dress can be found at (https://news.in-25.com/entertainment/celebrities/16856.html) and (https://www.grazia.fr/people/lara-fabian-52-ans-ose-la-robe-cintree-avec-soutien-gorge-apparent-et-affole-s-1068486). As one of the articles put it, “During the show, she crossed paths with another Belgian: Angèle . The opportunity for the two icons of song to pose for a shot that caused a sensation on instagram. Not for the meeting of the two stars, but rather for Lara's very sexy outfit, which puts her perfectly in value. Lara Fabian sublimated herself with a white dress perfectly fitted at the waist, whose neckline reveals her delicate and sensual lingerie. A little audacity that set the social network on fire! Just hot Lara!”
Starting next week, there are now just ten candidates left on the Star Academie, and a number of them are strong, so the shows should become even more competitive – which will make it harder for the judges as well as the public. Stay safe everybody,
David
www.facebook.com/ChatelaineQc/photos/a.187127444166/10161529701749167/
Their accompanying caption reads, “We welcome spring with the warm Lara Fabian in our March-April issue. On newsstands March 4”
Here’s a translation of the article/interview (thanks to the Lara Fabian Lockdown Sessions FB site for the scans):
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A Happy Star
An afternoon with Lara
Our cover girl was not at her first photo shoot, and it showed! Smiling, rigorous, always concentrated, Lara put on the outfits proposed by the stylist Patrick Vimbor and took the pictures in front of Andreanne Gauthier's lens with an extraordinary ease. To see in our website, the backstage of this beautiful afternoon.
A sun named Lara
Apart from the muted Mozart tunes, Lara Fabian's house is silent. Lou, her daughter, and Gabriel, her husband, are absent. Even the dog has gone for a walk. Without make-up, her hair loose, the new country girl is radiant.
"I decided to leave Montreal when I saw the crisis we have been going through for the past two years. I thought a little space and silence would be nice". Since her arrival in Quebec, almost 30 years ago, the artist of Italian-Belgian origin had lived almost exclusively in the chic city of Westmount, on the island of Montreal.
At the beginning of the pandemic, the choice of this house, bathed in light, and its vast grounds on the side of the mountain, in Bromont, was made without hesitation.
A few weeks after moving in, Lara was invited to become the director of the academy on the show Star Aademie, which was taped in an ancestral house in Waterloo, a stone's throw from her home. An unprecedented opportunity. "I want to pass on my passion for music today. It seems to me that this is a matter of course for the next 15 or even 20 years", she says, determined.
A New Vocation
The first season of the refreshed version of the reality show Star Ac, broadcast in the winter of 2021 on TVA, confirmed this new vocation.
Each week, a million viewers have seen her take young candidates under her wing with an almost maternal benevolence. And yet, the minutes broadcast on TV represent only a fraction of the hours she devotes to them.
What she wants to transmit is above all the notion of integrity. She insists on this word. "Many young people lose themselves in trying to exist in this profession. I want to show them that it is by remaining faithful to themselves that they will be able to touch the heart of the public". She quotes Peter Gabriel, Freddie Mercury and Barbra Streisand to illustrate her point. Because they have embodied only one version of themselves.
Felix Lemelin, 24, is one of those young singers that Lara accompanies. They met when he was a candidate for the show La Voix in 2018 and became friends. “I was quite intimidated at first but I quickly discovered a warm person, who is not afraid to show her emotions. She was present for me in the adventure and remained so thereafter. I consider her today as my second mother," he said.
Lara wrote him the song "Chez nous", which evokes the importance of remembering where we come from. In 30 years of career, she has learned the hard way that it is sometimes easy to forget herself, she says. She thinks for a moment, takes a few sips of water and continues.
"But I have no regrets! My entire career has been a masterful lesson. It is thanks to this that I feel ready today to advise the next generation."
The American dream
At the beginning of the 1990s, her lover, the composer Rick Allison, convinced her to leave Belgium where she grew up to come and live the "American dream" with him. And it is here that her career will take off until it propels her onto the most prestigious stages of Europe, Asia and America.
She will have to her credit around twenty records - all sacred gold, platinum and even diamond. She will sing alongside the greatest in memorable duos: Serge Lama, Johnny Hallyday...
An evidence: her success will go well beyond her hopes.
Her first album, simply called Lara Fabian, she recorded in Montreal in August 1991 thanks to money lent to her by her father. A significant sum for this Belgian heating engineer [NB: chimney sweep]. A guitarist in his spare time, he has always believed in the talent of his only daughter.
For months, Lara and Rick scoured Quebec from east to west to perform on regional radio shows. A memorable epic during which they sleep more than once on the bench seat of their Chevrolet Lumina.
"I very quickly felt at home. Quebec is my peace. I breathe here. There is light. look at what surrounds us!" she shouts happily, pointing to the forest outside.
It was not until the following winter that her notoriety snowballed. Lara is invited to sing on Sonia Benezra's talk show at TQS. A consecration, at the time. Her performance could have gone unnoticed, but that evening a storm raged and many Quebecers took refuge in front of their television sets. In the days that followed, her record sold more than 100,000 copies. And the successes keep coming.
Lara multiplies sold-out concerts across the country, records a second album, Carpe Diem, crowned gold in less than two weeks, and wins the Felix for Quebec Interpreter of the Year and Show of the Year - performer, in 1995.
"I ended up being compared to Celine. Quebecers paid me a compliment. It was a way for them to designate me as another of the great singers. They started by calling me by my first name. It’s extraordinary when, in people's hearts, you become a first name! I experienced this as one of the highest honors bestowed by the public," she says gratefully.
Her current musical director, Manu Pitois, remembers this era very well. "She arrived like a bomb! And very quickly, she also had success in France. Thanks to her talent, it's undeniable, but also because the 1990s were ideal to launch a career as a singer. Golden age of the music industry!" he exclaims.
"Sit down, Crokaert!"
In 1997, Lara joins the Sony label. A first major tour begins, first in France and Belgium then, a few months later, in the four corners of the planet. She leads her life at 100 an hour. And plunges into a long descent into hell.
We guess it, the pressure is enormous on the artists of this level: the major record companies claim that they put on the hits.
Lara Fabian strives to meet the demands of her financial partners with a register of more commercial songs, blonder hair, a sexier look. She struggles to lose weight. Always a little more.
One evening, after a show, she makes herself vomit in the toilets of a chic restaurant in New York. Seven years of fighting against anorexia will then follow.
At the same time, her relationship with Rick Allison ends. The media that contributed to her rise are now the first to feast on the failures of her private life. French broadcasts, well known for their provocative concepts - 'Tout le monde en parle', the French version, in particular - make fun of her by associating her with the cliche of the superficial and brainless singer. a relentlessness that still hurts her today.
“When you're young, you don't have enough perspective to face that. You take it all in the mouth. I admit that I gave them a lot to grind, my attitude was clearly not aligned with who I really was, but I don't think it was a guarantee of wickedness", says the singer-songwriter.
Lara sinks into a slump that will last almost a decade. It is paradoxically during this period that she will write the successful ballads: "J’y crois encore" and "Immortelle". The musical expression of her deepest feelings.
Her body will soon signal its breaking point. One day in 2010, Lara broke two vertebrae while lifting a grocery bag. Like that, without warning sign. A very painful fracture, and especially very rare, which the doctors explain as the consequence of her emotional distress.
Sitting cross-legged between the big armrests of her armchair, she exaggerates her Belgian accent with a deep voice. "This is the moment when life said to me: 'Sit down, Crokaert [her real last name]. We need to talk"."
This sudden touch of humor contrasts with the seriousness of her story.
Awareness
Lara then embarked on the path of rehabilitation, paved with a lightness that is now well honed. Her years of healing, she shares them between Paris and Brussels, sheltered from the media.
It is also far from the spotlight and the paparazzi that she experienced her pregnancy and the birth of her daughter, Lou, whom she had with the Franco-Tunisian director Gerard Pullicino in 2007. "Lou is the fruit of my return to life. We are much less focused on our little navel when we are a mother. I had to heal for her, I had no choice", she says.
A black and white photo of the mother-daughter duo sits prominently in the room. Lara glances at it and her face expresses pride.
Lou is a charming teenager, passionate about baking and mangas, according to Mama Lara. "She's funny, so funny! She's a great kid with a world of her own. It's wonderful to see that I haven't given her my pans".
Kototama meditation allowed Lara to take a first step towards healing. This technique consists of producing sounds to make certain parts of the body vibrate and soothe ailments. A real revelation for the singer, who has been training diligently for ten years. "When the vibration hits where it hurts, the pain goes away. It's irresistible. Something inside you gives in and comes to consciousness. It's incredibly simple, it brings you back to candor and joy of childhood".
This approach has guided her towards other practices which, over the years, have prompted her to review the order of her priorities. She bursts out laughing. "People will think I smoked the carpet! But it's really nothing esoteric, just concrete approaches that helped me understand who I was and lead a meaningful life."
By learning to settle, Lara recovered from her injuries. "That's how I finally became ready to make my big comeback to the public in 2018, when I was invited to occupy one of the seats on the show La voix. I was finally going to be able to be transparent in the eyes of all, to be integrated, to be me.
Luminous Projects
This serenity helped Lara regain her appetite. It even inspired her to create a kind of culinary autobiography entitled Je passe à table, published in November 2021 by Libre Expression.
She reveals important moments in her life, interspersed with recipes that she particularly likes. We discover, among other things, the stages of preparation of teriyaki vegetables and salmon sashimi in sauce by her friend Masayo Hashimoto, chef of the Japanese restaurant Momoka, in Paris.
Masayo had just opened her establishment just opposite Lara's, in the ninth arrondissement, when she met her in 2003. "I didn't know she was famous. I had offered cakes to her bodyguard and she came in person to thank me. She immediately seemed very simple to me", recalls the chef.
The two women meet regularly to share confidences around good food. Masayo has seen Lara change over the past few years. "At first, she was not well. She barely ate. But over time, she found light. And it was love that ended up healing her."
The love is Gabriel Di Giorgio, whom Lara married in 2013. Lara takes a pause to define their relationship aptly. "The will that we have to take care of each other is a jewel. When you have this benevolence and this delicacy in your life, you are in the most beautiful space that can exist."
He watches over Lou like a father. And he will take care of her this summer, when Lara leaves for her 50 World Tour which she has not been able to start yet because of the pandemic. Then the family will decide where they want to settle.
A Canadian citizen, the singer claims to be guided by love. "I don't want to choose. For the past few years, living in Quebec has been logical. And it will be for some time to come, until another project calls me elsewhere."
This project could well be the opening of her own school. In Quebec or elsewhere. She's been thinking about it for a few years. A place to learn to sing, of course, but above all to be yourself. By practicing kototama and awakening to everything that, according to Lara, allows you to live in accordance with your conscience.
This interview has lasted almost two hours. Mozart is silent. Lara stretches, looking satisfied. She has nothing more to add. Or almost.
"The trust and love of the public gave me a voice. It's my capital. I now want to use it for the benefit of others. And until the end of my days, this sharing will be my privilege."
This time, everything is said.
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As one can see, Lara’s book detailing her problems has opened up the territory for interviewers to explore those hardships, and, as they did in the book, they make fascinating reading. It gives her much more of a ‘three-dimensional’ footprint than just that of a well-known singer/songwriter.
In addition, Lara does bring up, for perhaps the first time, the possibility that she may eventually leave Quebec. Remember when she promised Lou that they would not move again? Well, it's not really surprising, since Lara has often said that she has a peripatetic nature… In the interview she says a decision will be made as to where to settle after her (now called) ‘Best Of” tour. It’s hard to see how that will work, since the tour of France and eastern Europe is not until the fall; presumably she will have to tell the Star Academie whether she will be returning as director before that - last year she made the announcement on June 3 (https://www.tvanouvelles.ca/2021/06/03/lara-fabian-de-retour-a-star-academie-lan-prochain). Unless she’s already made up her mind not to return…She does say that living in Quebec will 'be logical' for some time to come, so perhaps this can be overblown.
A lot can change between now and then, but insofar as that tour is concerned, most COVID restrictions are now being lifted in France. After March 14, visitors will no longer be required to show proof of vaccination and masks will no longer be required to enter indoor establishments, as the situation is improving – coronavirus cases and hospitalizations have been falling since early February. As we know, Covid-19 has waned before, only to return with a new variant, but at least at the moment, the future for Lara’s 2022 concerts is looking bright.
Now on to the Star Academie show. Lara introduced to her fans the next edition of the Star Academie with the following two pictures, at
www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=541186197365678&set=pcb.541186230699008
or
http://instagram.com/p/Cax96M3LEW7
with the caption, “Two Belgians in Montreal 🌟
Welcome Angèle to Star Académie TVA!”
The sixth Star Academie then followed; here’s a report from the Journal de Quebec, which again includes a lot of the videos (https://www.journaldequebec.com/2022/03/06/star-academie-le-public-sauve-encore-jeremy-1):
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“Star Académie”: the public still saves Jérémy
Nearly 400 people were present at the MELS studio on Sunday evening, for the sixth Variété de Star Académie, which notably welcomed La Chicane, Paul Daraîche and the Belgian singer Angèle. Jérémy Plante was once again saved by the public after a dazzling evening.
The Academicians had been waiting for it for a long time: Angèle finally landed on the set for a thrilling number which began with "Tout oublier", accompanied by the three put-in-danger of the week. She continued with "Solo", with Camélia and Krystel, before singing "Bruxelles, je t'aime", in the company of Audrey-Louise and Édouard. Julien had the chance to perform the song “Ta reine” as a duo. The number ended with its great success, “Balance ton quoi”, with Audrey-Louise and Sarah-Maude. A nice refreshing number.
Under examination
After the teachers repeatedly pointed out her lack of accuracy during her evaluation, Sandrine Hébert mainly focused on her technique during her performance of the song "C'est Zéro" by Julie Masse. Her interpretation, however, lacked a bit of life, but Lara Fabian wanted to congratulate her. "You took up the challenge, you sang adorably well," said the director.
Marily Dorion then deployed her incredible qualities as an interpreter on “Je t'aimais, je t'aime, je t'aimerai”, by Francis Cabrel. “Each time you sing, it's as if you took us by the hand to make us discover new corners, new smells … You are unique”, analyzed Guylaine Tremblay, completely under the spell.
To defend his place during this third endangerment, Jérémy Plante decided to have fun singing “Footloose” with completely crazy energy. Gregory Charles praised his audacity and his ability to galvanize a crowd.
“First, we must not forget that we are constantly learning. Second, communicating with an audience cannot be taught. So much the better, no need to be taught it because you know how to do it very well”, concluded the music teacher.
Tribute
The Academicians then paid a very nice tribute to Renée Martel, who died last December. In the company of Isabelle Boulay, Paul Daraîche, Annie Blanchard and Guillaume Lafond, they reviewed his greatest hits, from "Liverpool" to " Je vais à Londres", via "C'est mon histoire" or “Nous on aime la musique country".
Nostalgia
What a pleasure to hear again the great successes of La Chicane! Boom Desjardins' voice is as powerful and warm as ever. He took over “Tu m'manques” with a trio of guys (Jérémy, Édouard and Julien), then “Calvaire” with Olivier, who was not unworthy. Boom and Sarah-Maude performed a magnificent vocal harmony duet with their two powerful voices from Abitibi. We also learned that Jean-Marc Couture, who won Star Académie in 2012, was the new guitarist of La Chicane, with whom he will soon be going on tour.
Poetic sweetness
Ingrid Saint-Pierre finally offered a real poetic break at the end of the evening. She interpreted a magnificent version of “La lumière” with Marily, as well as a very good moment in duet with Olivier on “Les joailliers”, to finish on “Ficelles”, with Audrey-Louise and Julien.
Verdict
For the second time since the start of the season, the public has chosen to save Jérémy Plante, who could not believe that he was living through this moment. "It's a relief, and a great pride," he said before congratulating the talent of his colleagues with whom he was in danger. The faculty then chose to protect Marily Dorion, who therefore regained her place at the Academy. Sandrine's adventure at the Academy is now over.
STROMAE AT STAR ACADEMIE
The singer Stromae will be on the Star Académie Variété set on March 27, to the delight of young Academicians and viewers alike. This will be his only performance on a Canadian TV show.
Stromae is a faithful, since he had already set fire to a Star Académie gala, in 2012. In full worldwide success of his previous album, he had taken the time to exchange with young people, in addition to offering a frenzied performance on “Alors on danse”, alongside Andréanne A. Malette.
Ten years later, he will be back to sing his greatest hits with the Academicians, in addition to some of his new compositions. Note that it will also be a reunion for Marc Dupré, who was one of the guests of this 2012 gala.
The Belgian megastar has just released Multitude, a new album which comes nine years after the great success of Racine Carrée. His new songs, like "Santé", which is about essential workers in times of a pandemic, or "L'enfer", which evokes his problems with depression, are already enjoying resounding success all over the world.
The singer is currently preparing a major world tour which will stop at the Bell Center in Montreal, from November 25 to 27, and at the Videotron Center in Quebec City, on December 11.
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And here’s a complimentary report from (https://www.lesoleil.com/2022/03/07/star-academie-fausses-notes-et-previsibilite--6e15ac9e5db360d5227aa0bed9e1a4f3), a source which is always more opinionated:
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Star Académie : false notes and predictability
The Mels studio was packed to capacity on Sunday night for Variety 's Star Academy . It was felt and heard. But what we heard the most, from the start of the show, were the false notes pushed during the number of the pop icon, Angèle.
Starting with Jeremy who was swallowed up by the female voices of Angèle, Sandrine and Marily, who accompanied him. Angèle's tone gave several academicians a hard time, to say the least. Only Marily has managed to follow the pace, she who sticks more to the unique character of Angèle. It was also very difficult to understand the lyrics of the texts of the Belgian singer-songwriter of the hour.
In addition, the framing of the camera is too tight for television and loses the staging of the number and the decor, a bit like last week with Mitsou's number. We should also think about the people at home who like to watch the whole visual.
Predictability
This week, it was easy to predict who was going to be protected by the public and by the teaching staff among Sandrine, Jeremy and Marily. Even if his attitude and his lack of humility sometimes displease many Internet users and viewers, it was clear that Jeremy was going to be protected by the public.
Clad in a leather coat, he once again chose easy chansonnier music with Footloose . However, his ease on stage and his movements inspired by the popular film set Mels' studio on fire. While his technique was not always in control and he didn't maintain his energy throughout the number, Jeremy delivered an excellent performance while communicating with his audience relentlessly. Above all, he offered something different.
Marily, who was protected by the teachers, concocted a version in her image of Je t’aimais, je t’aime et je t’aimerai. Her soft voice manages to rock while brushing each of the words to reveal a piece of herself. Her magnificent interpretation of Francis Cabrel's song and her ability to appropriate text and music certainly make her a unique singer.
For her part, Sandrine's ability to tell a story and her intensity were put to the test this week. With C’est zero by Julie Masse, the 25-year-old academician delivered a colorless performance. Sandrine is more of a generic singer, but the interpretation was completely off the desired emotion, Sunday evening.
On Monday, half of the academicians will be in evaluation since there are only ten left. We bet that Eloi and Olivier will be in evaluation, they who were very discreet during the Variety
Country, nostalgia and sweetness
Sunday, the academicians immersed themselves in the country universe, a musical genre little exploited since the start of the season. Thus, Isabelle Boulay, Paul Daraîche, Annie Blanchard and Guillaume Lafond followed one another to pay tribute to the queen of country who left us last December. Camélia particularly shone in this issue alongside Isabelle Boulay with C'est mon histoire.
They then had the opportunity to rub shoulders with Boom Desjardins who still provides as much after 25 years of career with La Chicane.
It was also an opportunity for the popular group at the turn of the 2000s to present its new guitarist. After the announcement of the departure of Dany Bédar last week, it is now Jean-Marc Couture - the winner of Star Académie in 2012 - who will accompany the members of the group. In this issue, Sarah-Maude stood out by vocally challenging Boom Desjardins.
Finally, we were transported into the poetic world of Ingrid St-Pierre. With her soft voice, she demonstrated to the academicians that it is not necessary and effective to use loud voices to touch the hearts of the public. One of the highlights of the evening was when Audrey-Louise and Julien accompanied her for Ficelle. Their interpretation of this text which deals with Alzheimer's disease was sincere.
If we could give a game star tonight, it would definitely go to Marily. She also distinguished herself with Ingrid St-Pierre as an unexpected encounter with a soul mate. Their voices fit together perfectly.
Next Sunday, we promise a tribute to Gerry Boulet and a number signed by Pierre Lapointe. Jay Scott and Guylaine Tanguay will also be there for this seventh Variety .
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If this week’s show proves anything, not that it was really needed, it’s that vocal quality and ‘star quality’ have a very imperfect relationship. The most powerful voice (Sandrine) was eliminated, and, while Angele and Lara may both be from Belgium, and are both (currently) blonds, their vocal quality couldn’t be more different. [Note the Angele medley is also available on youtube, at www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CUuxZDkhP4]. Much better voices could be heard in two of the other medleys, the homage to Renee Martel (with Isabel Boulay, among others) and the beautiful medley with Ingrid St. Pierre, both available on the journal de Quebec link.
In a more Lara-centric component of the Star Academie, Lara’s debriefing from week 4, that included her conversation with Audrey-Louise about being too ‘cute’, is available with English subtitles (thanks to Lara the Ring Fabian) at
youtu.be/HESwkGkmOyM
As you may remember, the Academician’s seductive performance on last week’s show was at least partly in answer to that criticism.
And a TVA video of one of their courses (in French), linked to on the Lara Fabian Lockdown Sessions FB site, features Pierre Yves Duchesne, Lara’s singing teacher, giving a glimpse of his contribution to the Academicians, at
www.facebook.com/100063674018327/videos/492874138887019
with the accompanying text, “Pierre Yves Duchesne 1 hr -
“My greatest pleasure is to receive the smile of students when they discover a new tool that will help them progress.
Alongside @larafabianofficial, I'm teaching @staracademietva academics how to increase their lung capacity and tame the airflow. Distilling air is paramount to supporting the singer and phonographer. This is referred to as low costo-diaphragmatic breathing.
🙏🏼 Thanks to @tvareseau and @proddeferlantes for this wonderful memory.”
Lara posted a picture/short video of herself with him on her Instagram site, at
http://instagram.com/p/Cam0oFNrmgs
saying, “What a joy to find my Maestro @pierreyvesduchesne 🥰
2 years ... it was a long time ...
Hugs to you 💋💋💋”
Now for the next chapter in Lara’s book, ‘Je passe a table’
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FIFTEENTH STORY: MY HALF OF THE ORANGE
Vacations in Sicily
It is the end of summer, soon autumn, I am alone.
The public announcement of the end of my story with my man is really done in the greatest of respects. Despite the pain I feel, I tell myself that I had the chance to be with a good person.
Around me and in my heart everything seems to be foggy. I am still "stuck" in my head, frozen in another time.
I can't get used to the idea that life is once again confronting me with the impossibility of love. But it is what it is.
So I make the decision to leave alone with my four year old daughter to my island. I rented a house in a small village on the slopes of Mount Etna, my volcano. It is an old building surrounded by gardens, fruit trees and an old chapel. Every morning the rooster wakes us up and reminds us that we went to bed a little too late the night before.
All the women of my family or almost are around me. My "tired" mother prefers not to travel and stays quiet in her house in Brussels. So here I am surrounded by both her nieces (my cousins) and their children.
Strangely, this place of Italy reminds me of my childhood and the friendly atmosphere. The remaining actors are almost all the same, they have just aged a bit.
To get me out of my torpor, I receive a lot of friends in this garden. They come from all over to share privileged moments on my land, to wash away the sorrows that make us friends of misfortune.
I also give some master classes that are asked of me during my days of rest.
Valentina and Gabriel
Not far from the house, there is this school of music and performing arts which, from time to time, receives guests and offers to its students some teachings from elsewhere. As the director of this school, Valentina, is a friend of my family, I accept her invitation without being asked, to clear my mind. It will do me good.
I meet amazing young people and artists. I meet dedicated teachers who give themselves body and soul to make dreams and aspirations come true.
Valentina, delighted, asks me to come for several days in a row and to help them create a musical comedy based on the life of Casanova.
It is necessary to pass all the castings, to listen to all the voices, to grant the roles, to imagine the sets, to work with the composers and the authors, of which she is part.
This young woman is an incredibly talented artist, filled with healthy ambition and unsinkable courage.
Diving into this adventure with her is a real challenge and makes me immerse myself in a world that creates magic.
As the days go by, I have to choose the young artist who will play the role of Casanova, but I also have to choose the narrator. The one who, like the beautiful Gringoire, puts everything in perspective.
Valentina imagines him as an illusionist, she would like him to be able to sing and recite, but also to create amazing moments that will leave the audience in awe.
She is thinking of a friend, someone she has known all her life. They were born on the same day, or almost the same day, the same year, they have been through a lot together. She's been trying to reach him for days, but he seems to be very busy.
In reality, he prefers to ignore the audition part of this adventure. He doesn't want to go through the stress. He wants to practice his art, the one he masters and practices every day.
Magic.
He has no intention of sitting in front of a table of teachers and professionals to be judged. He doesn't want to be judged, he doesn't like competition, he won't come.
I see that Valentina, whom I am becoming very close to, cannot stand the refusal of her best friend.
After a few days of relatively animated discussion, he agrees to come and meet us with the only condition that he does not audition. They agreed: he will show her how he sees the character, and she will do what she wants, that's all.
But Valentine's idea is already made: the narrator will be her friend Gabriel.
So, on this late autumn day, he stands in front of this table, in front of her and me. He holds a small suitcase, opens it, and makes appear a very particular character, a ghost.
He flies her around the room singing a piece of a song I know well...He sings it in a voice full of emotion, in a unique voice.
But beyond the great talent that this polymorphous artist possesses, it is really his sensitivity that moves me, his sincerity.
Once this number finished, played in front of two conquered and mouthful spectators, Gabriel delicately puts away this small mysterious character, closes the squeaking buckle of his suitcase and makes us a small sign of the head.
He leaves the room in silence.
A few minutes later, he comes back and asks me if he can just shake my hand to thank me for having listened to him so attentively.
I get up, walk over to him, take his hand and pull him to me in an affectionate embrace, not really understanding what I am doing.
A reunion? The certainty that I already know him? Connections from another life?
I can't say exactly.
What I do know is that everything is perfect.
The famous Miracle
After that moment, it took me some time to accept to enter this story, because a thousand circumstances were processing each of my feelings in my rational and reasoned mind.
I asked myself a billion questions, to which, day after day, I found all the answers I needed.
A few months later, we got married under the orange trees, in front of the sea, with our good volcano as our only landscape.
A Celtic wedding celebrated over two days. An open air ceremony where we promised each to the other with the blessing of the four elements.
It was the extraordinary being who had begun to open all the drawers of my consciousness that married us. Issâ Padovani.
By the powers that were conferred to him as a druid, he celebrated the most beautiful moment of my life.
In the presence of my close friends, my family and my five-year-old daughter, who, for the occasion, deeply moved us by singing a song learned in secret.
To top it all off, on that day, my husband Gabriel read me the most beautiful love letter ever written.
There was not a dry eye in the whole assembly.
It is one of those moments that are aligned under the most beautiful stars, under the best auspices.
Even today, almost ten years later, when I wake up in the morning and look at him beside me, I pinch myself and count my blessings.
------------------------------------------
A happy, ‘kismet’ story for Lara, for once!
Interesting photo(s) of the week: since they are so beautiful, these pictures all come from the article in Chatelaine, as provided by the Lara Fabian Lockdown Sessions FB site scans:
www.facebook.com/LaraFabianLockdownSession/photos/pcb.474511221080316/474510991080339
www.facebook.com/LaraFabianLockdownSession/photos/pcb.474511221080316/474511057746999
www.facebook.com/LaraFabianLockdownSession/photos/pcb.474511221080316/474511104413661
www.facebook.com/LaraFabianLockdownSession/photos/pcb.474511221080316/474511157746989
One can’t beat those… ; however, Lara tried, with her appearance at the Star Academy (i.e., the photo with Angele Lara posted on her FB and Instagram sites). Articles about her dress can be found at (https://news.in-25.com/entertainment/celebrities/16856.html) and (https://www.grazia.fr/people/lara-fabian-52-ans-ose-la-robe-cintree-avec-soutien-gorge-apparent-et-affole-s-1068486). As one of the articles put it, “During the show, she crossed paths with another Belgian: Angèle . The opportunity for the two icons of song to pose for a shot that caused a sensation on instagram. Not for the meeting of the two stars, but rather for Lara's very sexy outfit, which puts her perfectly in value. Lara Fabian sublimated herself with a white dress perfectly fitted at the waist, whose neckline reveals her delicate and sensual lingerie. A little audacity that set the social network on fire! Just hot Lara!”
Starting next week, there are now just ten candidates left on the Star Academie, and a number of them are strong, so the shows should become even more competitive – which will make it harder for the judges as well as the public. Stay safe everybody,
David