The EuropeCrazy Holiday Hit List: Carcassonne September 2016

One last outstanding post from late summer before I turn my attention to the year-end chart.

Yes it's back!  It's a long time since I've done one of these.  The reason for that is mainly due to going on holiday and not having any music channels on TV, or programmes showing music clips.

However, on our holiday in September in Carcassonne, that wasn't a problem.  Between the W9 and CStar channels, there were lots of current/recent music clips to choose from and even better, about 99% of them were by French artists or other artists outwith the usual loop of overplayed artists.  

"Cette Année-La" - M Pokora.

I'll admit that I was pretty shocked on seeing and hearing this video for the first time.  Why?  Well, for one thing, the blonde hair.  Sorry Matt, but IMHO it's not a good look.  Or is it maybe also a tribute to Claude François' famous blonde hair?

I also didn't expect to see Matt Pokora, one of France's coolest pop stars of recent years - for the uninitiated, think France's answer to Justin Timberlake - performing a cover version of the song best known in the English-speaking world as "Oh What A Night" as performed by Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons.  In the parallel universe of French-language music, the song is better known as "Cette Année-La" as performed by French music legend Claude François, who tragically died in 1978.

But after some research it all became clear, because it was the first single from Matt's Claude François tribute album, which was released in October

This clip probably had the heaviest rotation of all during our short stay in Carcassonne.  It's certainly a strange career move for Matt, who just a few years ago was working with Timbaland and his team, but credit to him for trying something different and acknowledging his French music roots.  In case you didn't know, Claude François was one of France's most legendary singers and songwriters of his time: he wrote and recorded "Comme d'habitude" the original French version of the song later translated to English by Paul Anka and recorded by Frank Sinatra as..."My Way".

"Are We Awake" - Tal.

Another video which was on quite heavy rotation.  I know that Tal's been quite a successful artist in France over the past few years. although I'm not familiar with her music.  This is a nice easy-going pop/r'n'b number which, apart from its English title and the line "time to wake up right now" is in fact in French. I've been quite annoyed of late about the proliferation of the English language in French music, so I'm relieved that there's still plenty of native-language music around, even if a little English slips in here and there.

"On Dirait" - Amir.

Of course Amir used the bilingual approach very well on "J'ai cherche", France's 2016 ESC entry which achieved the country's best result in the contest in 14 years.  Even more pleasant is that Amir seems to be making a successful career post-ESC.  This follow-up single is equally as catchy and likeable as its predecessor.

"Le Lac" - Julien Doré.

Unlike in the UK, where a talent show win doesn't guarantee a long career (with the occasional exception), some artists in France have won talent shows and gone on to have sustained success, whether it's Jenifer and Nolwenn Leroy (Star Academy), Kendji Girac and Frero Delavega (The Voice), and Christophe Willem and Julien Doré (Nouvelle Star - French Idol)

Julien has followed his very individual musical path.  It's a quite epic video for "Le Lac" which is quite a laid-back and hypnotic song with soft, whispered vocals by the man himself.

"Lost On You" - LP.

Our holiday in Carcassonne introduced me to this song which has since gone on to become a very big hit in a number of European countries.  In the earlier years of my blog I used to have my "Great Lost European Hit of The Year" award and this looks like being 2016's winner as so far, this has escaped the attention of the tiresome and stagnant UK singles chart.

LP is American singer/songwriter Laura Pergolizzi is no overnight sensation: she initially established her career as a songwriter for the likes of the Backstreet Boys, Erik Hassle, Rihanna and Christina Aguilera, but she is now finally achieving fame in her own right with this song from her 4th album.



"Vivre ou ne pas vivre" - Coeur de Pirate, Arthur H and Marc Lavoine

A combination of older and younger stars. Many of our earlier holidays in France in the late 90s and early 2000s were soundtracked by Marc Lavoine who has been a big star in France since the 1980s and still remains popular today.  This is quite a haunting and hypnotic tune which grabbed my attention on the music video shows.  

NRJ Music Awards 2015

This year's NRJ Music Awards took place last night in its traditional home in the Palais des Festivals in Cannes.  It was the 17th edition of the awards.  Over recent years the NRJ Music Awards has attracted international media attention, although this is entirely related to the high number of international A-list artists who turn up on the red carpet, rather than a sudden interest in French music.

But here on this blog I only care about the French music and couldn't care less about those overexposed artists whose songs turn up on NRJ and every radio station, everywhere in the world, every day of every year!!

This year's winners:

French Newcomer - Louane
French Male Artist - M Pokora
French Female Artist - Shy'm
French Duo/Group - Fréro Delavega
French song of the year - "Conmigo" - Kendji Girac

International Newcomer - Ellie Goulding
International Male - Ed Sheeran
International Female - Taylor Swift
International Group - Maroon 5
DJ - David Guetta
International Song of the Year - "See You Again" - Wiz Khalifa & Charlie Puth
International Video Clip - "Bad Blood" - Taylor Swift

Special awards - Sting, Adele, Charles Aznavour, Justin Bieber

The thing you notice straight away in the French winners' list is the dominance and popularity of "The Voice".  Unlike the UK version of the show which has failed to produce a commercially successful artist (apart from Becky Hill who has been the featured vocalist on a few dance hits), France's "The Voice, la plus belle voix" started off the career of 18 year old Louane Emera who then went on to appear in the hugely successful film "La Famille Bélier" which in turn kicked off a solo career which has made her one of the biggest selling artists of the past year in France with her debut album "Chambre 12".

Above: Louane shows off her award.

The next winners rose to fame on the 3rd series of The Voice which was won by a certain Kendji Girac.  Acoustic duo Fréro Delavega went on to release a very successful debut album of bright and breezy tunes.  Now as you know I've never really been a fan of the 'acoustic' style of music which has been popular over the last few years but I find Fréro Delavega very agreeable as they seem to follow a more upbeat musical style rather than the dreary acoustic ballads which have me reaching for the off switch.  And even better, they do it in the French language!  Just one thing though....you do not turn up to such a glamorous occasion dressed like that!

Above: Fréro Delavega, who didn't get the 'dress smartly' memo.

Finally, it was another successful night for Kendji Girac, the 19 year old who's taken French music by storm over the past couple of years with his flamenco-flavoured pop with a modern twist.  After winning best newcomer and song of the year awards at the 2014 NMAs, his song "Conmigo" was chosen in a public vote as French song of the year.  I do love Kendji's music but "Conmigo" IMHO isn't really one of his best songs as it's more generic r'n'b than the flamenco style which I prefer. Nevertheless I predict a lot more success for him in years to come.  Kendji has just released his second album "Ensemble" which is packed with more latin-flavoured pop bangers and will soon be making its way to my record collection.  

Above: Kendji on the red carpet.

Who knows - he might even go on to be as successful as this year's top French male artist M Pokora, who's been winning NRJ music awards since 2006.  Matt's another artist with a talent show connection; those of us with long memories (!) will remember him from the French version of Popstars The Rivals in 2003 as a member of Linkup.  

Above: Another in a long line of awards for Matt Pokora.

Finally, there was also a rare appearance at last night's awards by the legendary Mylene Farmer, whose latest album "Interstellaires" was released just a couple of days ago.  The first single to be released from it was a duet with Sting on a remake of one of his songs "Stolen Car".  Here's Sting and Mylene on the red carpet:

There was some disappointment though for the fans eagerly awaiting Mylene's first live TV performance in a long time, as a) she and Sting pre-recorded their performance of "Stolen Car" and b) the vocals weren't live but were playback.

Nevertheless though it is great to have her back.  I haven't had a chance to listen to clips of the new album yet - I'll approach this one with some trepidation as the last couple of her albums haven't done anything for me and came nowhere near the greatness of her classic older material, from Cendres de Lune up to and including Innamoramento.  Everything after that has been a disappointment for me, mainly because I have compared it to those older albums; but then again I guess that even a relatively disappointing Mylene release is still better than most of the overhyped junk passing for popular music these days.

NRJ Music Awards 2014

Once upon a time, the annual NRJ Music Awards used to take place every January in conjunction with the MIDEM festival in Cannes. But these days the awards take place in mid-December so let's check out the results of this year's competition which took place last night at the Palais des Festivals.

The show was presented by Nikos Aliagas, who previously presented Star Academy (those were the days!) and he now presents the French version of The Voice.

Best French female artist - Tal
Best French male artist - M Pokora
Best French newcomer - Kendji Girac
Best French group - Daft Punk
Best French song - Color Gitano - Kendji Girac
Best French video clip - Mme Pavoshko - Black M

Best international female artist - Sia
Best international male artist - Pharrell Williams
Best international newcomer - Ariana Grande
Best international group - One Direction
Best international song - Chandelier - Sia

Special awards - Stromae and Lenny Kravitz

The big winner on the night was Kendji Girac.  Since winning the 3rd series of the French version of "The Voice", he has become a big star.  (Unlike winners of The Voice UK, who seem to immediately sink without trace!) Yet again this year I've been out of the loop with French music, so I had a listen to some clips of his album on iTunes.  He cleverly blends Flamenco and Latin influences with a more contemporary and commercial style with very pleasant results.  It's a refreshing change from all the stale dance music and acoustic bores polluting the charts these days, so I'm very happy to see him doing so well. 

EDIT: I've bought Kendji's album :))

It was a record-breaking 11th NRJ Music Award for Matt Pokora, who has now won more of these awards than any other artist, overtaking Mylène Farmer who previously won the most NRJ awards. 

While we're on the subject of Mylène, in recent years we've come to expect either a new album or DVD release around this time of the year, but there's nothing, zilch, nada this year.  Although as with all things Mylène, in the absence of news, the rumour machine will fire up.  It is rumoured that Mylène will not be working with Laurent Boutonnat on her next album but is allegedly collaborating with Matt Bellamy of Muse.  An intriguing collaboration, but whether it will come true, and indeed how the fandom will react, well we will just have to wait and see.

Jenifer's 'Déclaration': an unauthorised tribute

It seems no time since Jenifer Bartoli released her last album - "L'Amour & Moi". September 2012 to be precise.  Yet just 9 months after that album comes "Ma Déclaration"; it's not another album of new material though, but it's that curious and pointless exercise which many artists resort to during their careers - the covers album.  

In this instance, it's a tribute album to France Gall, who won the Eurovision Song Contest with "Poupée de Cire, Poupée de Son" in 1965 and went on to become one of the best-loved singers in French music history.  Her songs were regularly featured every year in Star Academy, which brings us nicely back to series 1 winner Jenifer.  

But why the quick release of this album?  A look at the chart positions in France for the 3 singles released from the last album may provide the answer. Even "Sur Le Fil", the first single from the album only got to no. 24 despite lots of publicity and heavy rotation on the music video channels when I was in France last September.  Her last two albums have failed to repeat the success of her early work; which suggests that her 11 year music career is on the wane. Thus the quick fix of the covers album.  

But here's where the fun starts....because France Gall, the notoriously reclusive singer who announced her retirement from music in 1997, is not happy.  In an interview with the Metro newspaper published last week, Jenifer claimed that her tribute album had been approved by France Gall, however this turned out not to be the case.  France then asked for a right of reply in Metro http://www.metronews.fr/culture/france-gall-sur-jenifer-je-n-ai-jamais-su-ni-entendu-quoi-que-ce-soit/mmff!yUG30uzDGHky6/ in which she said that she was never approached, knew nothing about it and never gave her authorisation for the project, ending her statement with "...I will say no more."  Apparently Jenifer and France had never spoken to each other in years.  Significantly, the title of the album was changed from the original "I Love France" to "Ma Déclaration" and there is no mention of France Gall's name in any of the advertising.  

Then there is the role of TF1, the channel which played a major role in Jenifer's rise to fame as the winner of Star Academy in 2001.  "Samedi Soir On Chante France Gall", a TV special featuring Jenifer and several other French artists was broadcast last Saturday night.  Very convenient promotion for this new album, don't you think?  But I digress.  Is the album any good?  Well, I like Jenifer, and I like France Gall, so that's a good place to start.  

The songs are very familiar to French music fans, and are remade in Jenifer's easy-going pop style, although "Evidemment" and "Diego" lose the emotional pull of the original versions and are just too lightweight. The original version of  "Ella, Elle L'a", my favourite France Gall song, still sounds as fresh today as it did 25 years ago, yet the version on this album sounds a little cheap and throwaway.  The wonderful Christophe Willem gets involved for a cover of France's duet with Michel Berger, "Ça balance pas mal à Paris" which is ok and not too different from the quirky original. It's only on "Resiste" and "Message Personnel" where Jenifer really manages to stamp her own authority on the songs. Going back to my original comment though, the whole thing is a pretty pointless exercise, as with all cover albums you find yourself wanting to listen to the original versions.  It's a bit like a rush-released covers-packed first album by an Idol winner, or the Star Academy albums from a few years ago, the latter also coincidentally being more of a cheap marketing exercise by TF1 and Universal rather than an attempt at any artistic credibility.  

Although first week sales are good (the album currently stands at no.2 in the French iTunes chart) I can't see this having the sustained success of the "Generation Goldman" album which has done very well over the last few months in France.  This was a similar tribute project and TV special featuring a number of today's artists interpreting the classic songs of the excellent Jean-Jacques Goldman. 

All in all, there is nothing particularly wrong with "Ma Déclaration", but it's a rather unnecessary project and it doesn't bode well if you don't have the approval of the artist whom you are paying tribute to! 

Star Academy is coming back!

I've been thinking about Star Academy quite a lot recently.  Maybe it's because being in Nice in September 2003, 2005 and 2008 always meant switching on TF1 just after 6pm for the nightly update shows.  The format was done properly in France of course, and indeed in Spain (Operacion Triunfo) and translated very badly over here (Fame Academy) but for at least its first four years the French edition was the best reality-talent format ever, and even in subsequent years it gave us some excellent performers with genuine vocal talent. But all good things must come to an end, and by 2008, the show had finally reached its use-by date: they had moved from the chateau at Dammarie-les-Lys to a more modest hotel in Paris, ratings were plummeting and the winner Mickels Rea did not go on to achieve any commercial success, far less replicate the success of series 1 and 2 winners Jenifer and Nolwenn Leroy.

The world of the TV talent show has moved on of course. We are bombarded from all sides by Idol and X Factor and The Voice and ...Got Talent, with all the sob stories and overacting by judges and contestants alike. TF1 cancelled Star Academy and like many other countries it had moved on to The Voice, having already broadcast one series with Jenifer, Garou, Louis Bertignac and Florent Pagny as coaches. So it appeared that Star Academy would be consigned to reality-TV-talent history.

But hold that thought.....

...because Star Academy is on the way back to France's TV screens. Only this time it won't be broadcast by TF1, but rather a more minor channel, NRJ12. There will be daily update shows and a weekly 'Prime' as before, but I'd guess it's most unlikely that any of the old 'profs' will be there nor will Nikos Aliagas - he may have had his critics back in the day but you really couldn't imagine anyone else presenting the show. You'll have guessed that I have mixed feelings about it all.  Being broadcast by a digital/cable channel with a very small audience share and a lower budget is not the way for such an iconic show to make a comeback.  Nevertheless I'm looking forward to see how it will go.  There is no scheduled broadcast date as yet, but contestants are currently being sought: http://www.nrj12.fr/votre-chaine-4209/actu-4187/article/287009-star-academy-la-nouvelle-histoire-commence-maintenant-.html

If like me you were a massive fan of the original Star Academy, 2001-2008, I'd like to hear your views about the show coming back.  Is the time right for a comeback?  Or is it doomed to failure? Your comments are welcome!

Fête de la Musique 2011

It will soon be time for France's (inter)national day of music. Fête de la Musique is celebrated on 21st June every year with a number of concerts/musical activities inside and outside l'hexagone.

Check out the official site at http://www.fetedelamusique.culture.fr/ for more info.

If you have access to the TV5 channel, don't forget to tune in on Tuesday night at 21:00 French time (20:00 UK time) for a Taratata special - a big outdoor concert from Brussels, featuring the following artists: Asa, Ayo, Louis Bertignac, Aloe Blacc, Brigitte, Chico and the Gypsies, Colonel Reyel, Julien Doré , Jessie J, Claire Keim, La Fouine, Nolwenn Leroy, Christophe Maé, Ziggy Marley, Yael Naim, Yannick Noah, Julian Perretta, Sexion d'Assaut, Martin Solveig, Stromaë, Selah Sue, Elisa Tovati & Tom Dice and many more. (info courtesy of http://www.tv5.org/)

If you live in the UK, you can find TV5 on channel 799 on Sky Digital.

Le retour de Jenifer

The original French 'pop idol' is back with a new single, "Je Danse". This is the first single from her forthcoming fourth studio album which will be released on 29th November. More info about this at http://www.idolesmag.com/article-340-Jenifer-Je-danse.html

You can also hear a short clip of the new song at www.chartsinfrance.net and in full at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pm1Jg2gaw3k (no video yet but I guess this is still to come?) As usual with many of Jenifer's songs, it didn't really make an impression on me after one hearing, but I've heard it about three times now and it's already beginning to grow on me. Some choppy guitars, some well-placed handclaps (and you know I'm partial to them!) and even a bit of talking/rapping too = a catchy foot-tapper, although it's a long, long way from the original Jenifer-style. (If you heard this and didn't know who it was, you wouldn't really guess it was Ms Bartoli).

I'm feeling so 'out of the loop' with French music now, and really need to catch up. Maybe I'm missing out on something special. If anyone has any tips on good new French pop music then these would be very welcome.

New Mylene Farmer live DVD on the way!

Found out today that a new live DVD of my all-time favourite French singer will be released on 12th April. The title is pretty self-explanatory - yes of course it was recorded at her Stade de France shows which took place last September.

Although I'm not such a big fan of her more recent material I always love to watch her concert DVDs which are truly a spectacle....I'm sure this will be no different, if the teaser clip on YouTube is anything to go by: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJWepgGI0mY

NRJ Music Awards 2010: the results are in

The annual NRJ Music Awards ceremony took place in Cannes on Saturday night. As I've been so busy lately and not had much time to blog or keep track of all things European and musical, it kind of passed me by this year and I even forgot to vote!

Album français de l’année: Caféine - Christophe Willem
Album international de l’année: One Love - David Guetta
Artiste féminine française de l’année: Sofia Essaidi
Artiste féminine internationale de l’année: Mariah Carey
Artiste masculin français de l’année: Christophe Willem
Artiste masculin international de l’année: Robbie Williams
Chanson internationale de l’année: I Gotta Feeling - Black Eyed Peas
Chanson francophone de l’année: L’Assasymphonie - Mozart
Groupe/Duo/Troupe français(e) de l’année: Mozart, L’opéra-rock
Groupe/Duo/Troupe international(e) de l’année: Tokio Hotel
Révélation française de l’année: Florent Mothe
Révélation internationale de l’année: Lady GaGa

Well done Christophe Willem, a well-deserved two awards for him. Glad that Sofia won best French female artist too. As I haven't paid too much attention to the French music scene over the last 12 months (with very few exceptions), the whole Mozart-thing has also passed me by, although I'm not surprised by its success if you bear in mind how well the likes of Cleopatre and Le Roi Soleil have done over the past few years.

I don't make new year resolutions, but one thing I must do over the coming year is rediscover French popular music, which was something I completely loved for so long: it's only over the past couple of years that I've drifted away from French music so I really need to get back there :)

So what's been happening then?

• The fallout from Britain's Got Talent continues as the media is now giving us daily reports of Susan Boyle's meltdown on tour, resulting in her being unable to appear every night. I don't know whose idea it was for this lady to enter BGT in the first place - but whoever it was, they should share the blame for what has happened to her. Yes she has a very good singing voice, but it's very clear by now that the limelight is not the most appropriate place for her to be. For her own sake, she should take some time out, go home and chill with her cat. At which time the media should also leave her in peace.


• Wimbledon starts tomorrow, and as usual I won't be watching as I lost interest a long time ago, around the time of John McEnroe's retirement :( Anyway, expect Murray-mania, a bit like Henman all over again, the only difference being that Murray might have a realistic chance of winning.


• Summertime is in full swing, and despite our usual quota of rain I'd have to say that it's probably been better than the last couple of years. We should be booking my summer holiday within the next 4 weeks - we've made our decision about the destination. Can't reveal anything yet, but I'll tell you more when we're booked. (Clue: it's outwith our usual comfort zone!)


• It's Fete de la Musique in France today, which I always thought was a great idea - 21st June every year brings a national celebration of music across France. French TV usually broadcasts a big outdoor concert from Paris and this used to be televised on TV5 a few years ago then they stopped doing this for a couple of years. I checked TV5's website and it looks as if it's back on this year, so I'll set my video later tonight and will review the show on here in the next couple of weeks. This year's line-up of 30 French and international stars includes Calogero, Jason Mraz, Eros Ramazzotti, Milow, Christophe Willem, Seal, Alesha Dixon and James Morrison.


• Both Anders Lundin and Lotta Engberg are playing it down, but the Swedish tabloid press is enthusiastically talking-up the impending Allsång-war between "Lotta på Liseberg" (starting tomorrow night on TV4) and "Allsång på Skansen" (Tuesday on SVT1), Lotta is firing out of the blocks with Nanne Gronvall, Christer "I Love Yoo-rup" Sjogren and something which is more up my street - Brolle and Ola. As if that's not enough Swedish summer TV entertainment, "Sommarkrysset" is also back on TV4. Talking of Brolle, he appeared on last week's season-premiere of the show doing a tribute to Buddy Holly! Unfortunately - I've said this before and I'll say it again - TV4's webstream gives me internet-rage as it takes so long to get the video clips going (and this is with super-duper fast Broadband too!), unlike SVT Play which I never have any bother with. So get your act together TV4 because I want to watch Sommarkrysset and Lotta without any problems!!! Allsång kicks off its new season on Tuesday with special guests Tomas Ledin, Henrik Dorsin, Måns Zelmerlöw, Anna Maria Espinosa and Owe Thörnqvist. Not that we need a reason for a gratuitous pic of Måns of course....here he is in a publicity pic for this year's Allsång, picture courtesy of www.svt.se.

Christophe Willem album on the way...

Not long now till the release of "Cafeine" but you can get a little preview of some of the tracks in the meantime if you go to http://www.nrj.fr/op/christophe_willem_extraits_0509/ecoute1

Mylene Farmer's tour starts tonight in Nice!

Yes, the latest long-awaited tour by my favourite French musical icon is kicking off at the Palais Nikaia in Nice tonight. As Mylene herself continues to be a woman of mystery, giving absolutely nothing away, the web is awash with rumour and counter-rumour about the stage, the costumes, the setlist....all will be revealed after tonight.

One thing's for sure, she will certainly put on one spectacular live extravaganza, and I can't wait to see the live DVD, which is expected to be released towards the end of this year.

(In the meantime, if you were at the show and you read this blog, then please feel free to leave a comment!)

The things you discover on a Friday night whilst looking for French music....!

As if a good new Calogero album isn't enough, I've just found out that Emmanuel Moire has a new album out too, "L'équilibre" is its name, it was released last week.

Emmanuel has had a drastic image change since his last album, he's shaved off all his hair :( you know I don't go for that look, but strangely enough he seems to carry it off....!

Anyway let's focus on the music (based on the short clips available at http://musique.fnac.com/a2639687/Emmanuel-Moire-L-equilibre-Inclus-DVD-bonus-CD-album?Mn=-1&Mu=-13&Ra=-28&To=0&Nu=1&Fr=0)

There's a more contemporary electro-pop production this time which may win him some new fans. It may be a little overproduced at times, verging on my pet-hate-of-the-moment (the dreaded autotune) however it's really good to hear him trying a more updated style. He is a very good and talented singer and deserves success with his second album.

(Yet again) more to follow...

New Calogero and Christophe Willem albums soon...

I've been so much out of the loop with non-Swedish music of late that I've had a couple of pleasant (French) surprises in the last couple of days.

Firstly the always-wonderful Poster Girl told us that Christophe Willem was on the way back; now I've just discovered that one of my all time favourite French singers Calogero will release his new album next month. I'm hoping it is a return to form after Pomme C, which although OK, wasn't up to the standard of "3" or "Calogero" (IMHO) anyway I need to investigate further...

NRJ Music Awards: results

The NRJ Music Awards took place in Cannes tonight: here are the results, not too surprising if you think about it...but well done Mylène, others may come and go, but you will always be a legend.

Best French Female - Jenifer
Best International Female - Britney Spears
Best French Male - Christophe Maé
Best International Male - Enrique Iglesias
Best French Group - la comédie musicale Cléopâtre
Best International Group - The Pussycat Dolls
Best French Song - "Belle Demoiselle" (Christophe Maé)
Best International Song: "Disturbia" (Rihanna)
Best French Album: "Point de Suture" (Mylène Farmer)
Best International Album: "One of the Boys" (Katy Perry)

Best French Newcomer: Zaho
Best International Newcomer: Jonas Brothers
NRJ special Music Award: Coldplay

NRJ Music Awards 2009

One of France's most prestigious awards ceremonies is due to take place on 17 January 2009. I should have mentioned this here a while ago but you know how it is...anyway here are the categories and nominees in this year's NRJ Music Awards.

Artiste Masculin Français: Christophe Mae; Renan Luce; David Guetta; Laurent Wolf; Martin Solveig.
Prediction: Christophe Mae should win this one.

Album Français de L'annee: "Blonde Comme Moi" - BB Brunes; "Comme a la Maison" - Christophe Mae; "Ersatz" - Julien Dore; "Repenti" - Renan Luce; "Point de Suture" - Mylene Farmer.
Prediction: Christophe Mae.

Album International de L'annee: "This Is The Life" - Amy MacDonald; "Viva La Vida" - Coldplay; "Rockferry" - Duffy; "One Of The Boys" - Katy Perry; "Funhouse" - Pink.
Prediction: Coldplay or Pink.

Artiste Feminine Française de L'annee: Jenifer; Nadiya; Shy'm; Zazie; Mylene Farmer.
Prediction: Mylene Farmer.

Artiste Feminine Internationale de L'annee: Britney Spears; Christina Aguilera; Pink; Rihanna; Beyonce.
Prediction: Britney Spears.

Artiste Masculin International de L'annee: Chris Brown; Enrique Iglesias; Lenny Kravitz; Akon; James Blunt.
Prediction: Chris Brown.

Chanson International de L'annee: "Viva La Vida" - Coldplay; "American Boy" - Estelle & Kanye West; "I Kissed A Girl" - Katy Perry; "Beggin'" - Madcon; "Disturbia" - Rihanna.
Prediction: "I Kissed A Girl" - Katy Perry.

Clip de L'annee: "Womanizer" - Britney Spears; "I Don't Care" - Fall Out Boy; "C'est La Vie" - Martin Solveig; "La Debacle des Sentiments" - Stanislas & Calogero; "C'est Chelou" - Zaho.
Prediction: Britney Spears.

Groupe/duo Français de L'annee: Cleopatre; Enrique Iglesias & Nadiya; Magic System; Sheryfa Luna & Mathieu Edward; Stanislas & Calogero.
Prediction: Sheryfa Luna & Mathieu Edward.

Groupe/duo International de L'annee: Coldplay; Estelle & Kanye West; Fall Out Boy; Madcon; Pussycat Dolls.
Prediction: Coldplay.

Revelation Française de L'annee: Gregoire; Marc Antoine; Sheryfa Luna; William Balde; Zaho.
Prediction: Zaho.

Revelation Internationale de L'annee: Amy MacDonald; Duffy; Katy Perry; Jonas Brothers; Leona Lewis.
Prediction: Katy Perry.

I've just made my predictions the way I think the vote will go....of course I will be voting on the website and many of my choices will be different from my predictions of course :))))

Three weeks tonight in Cannes, all will be revealed!

Album Review: "Cleopatre, La Derniere Reine D'Egypte" Original Soundtrack.

Cleopatre, comin’ atcha! (sorry....couldn’t resist that one!!)

One thing I’ve noticed about France over the last 10 years or so, is that they love their musicals. Firstly it was Starmania, then Notre Dame de Paris, and that paved the way for the massively successful Les Dix Commandements. What the latter proved was that a soundtrack album could be successful as a separate entity from the musical itself. Most recently, Le Roi Soleil produced a string of hit singles and has made stars out of Emmanuel Moire and Christophe Mae.

Since the news leaked last year of a new project masterminded by top choreographer and Star Academy dance teacher, the lovely Kamel Ouali, we eagerly awaited the arrival of this new musical based on the Cleopatra legend.

Of course a musical could succeed or fail based on casting choices but I feel they have made the right decision for this one: the leading lady is Moroccan-born Sofia Essaidi, who was a semi-finalist in Star Academy in 2003 and since that time she released an excellent debut album which I thought was vastly underrated. Sofia excelled as an all-round performer in Star Ac therefore it’s good to see her finally getting the starring role which she deserves. She has it all: looks, talent and a distinctive singing voice although she is not the type of singer usually associated with musical theatre.

Many of the songs on this soundtrack have a very modern feel indeed: the first single, Sofia’s "Femme D’Aujourd’hui" was very ‘now’, with a musical similarity to "Umbrella" whilst the follow-up "Une Autre Vie" - a duet between Sofia and Florian Etienne, is musically reminiscent of Keane. The third, soon-to-be released single "Main Dans La Main" sunb by Mehdi Kerkouche would not seem out of place among the current crop of r’n’b tunes and I’m sure this will be a massive hit. Amelie Piovoso’s "Je Serai Ton Ombre" also has that r’n’b thing going on. I particularly like the stomping rocky number "L’Accord" and think this will work well on stage, likewise "Le Serment", a duet between Christopher Stills and Florian Etienne. There are also more traditional ballads but all in all it’s a more contemporary soundtrack than you would expect from a ‘musical’.

Looking at the songwriters involved it’s certainly an impressive list: Blair MacKichan, Patrice Guirao, Lionel Florence, Stanislas, Benoit Poher and Souad Massi appear in the songwriting credits and all lend their distinctive styles: Massi’s "Tout Sera Stratageme" certainly boasts an ‘eastern feel’ and is a nice departure from the other tracks.

Apart from Sofia, the troupe mainly consists of unknown names (to me anyway) although there is one familiar name - Christopher Stills, the son of very famous musical parents Stephen Stills and Veronique Sanson. I wonder if Florian Etienne, Mehdi Kerkouche, Dominique Magloire and Amelie Piovoso will become household names like their Le Roi Soleil predecessors?

The verdict: this is a good album rather than a great one. It could be argued that it lacks the absolute showstoppers required of a musical soundtrack, and for that matter there is nothing as good as "Mon Essentiel" or "Etre a la Hauteur" or the tearjerking greatness of "Tant Qu’on Reve Encore". As an album of contemporary songs it certainly succeeds though: it will be interesting to see just how well they fit into the stage production which kicks off on 29th January 2009 in Paris.

French Albums Roundup

Can it really be 30 years since Laurent Voulzy’s legendary French hit "Rockollection"? This was a song incorporating some of Voulzy’s favourite old hits, and you could say it was a forerunner of the hugely popular early 80s "Stars On 45" hit medleys.

Laurent Voulzy has felt the need to celebrate this anniversary with a new album entitled "Recollection". This takes the "Rockollection" theme right across the album with some very interesting results. Voulzy has always been one of my favourite French singer-songwriters over the years and once again he’s collaborated with songwriting partner Alain Souchon on this mix of the old and the new.


Delighted to see the release of Star Academy 7 winner Quentin Mosimann’s debut CD "Duel" which has a very original format - one CD of his jazzy/swing-style interpretations, the other has some great dance remixes which I prefer. Sadly, his Peter Cincotti/David Guetta collaboration on "Love Is Gone" which was so brilliantly featured in Star Academy, is missing from this collection - but there are some very intriguing cover version choices - Talk Talk’s "Such a Shame" and French classics such as "Cargo de Nuit", "C’est La Ouate" and "Mise Au Point". I don’t know how well this CD will do in France, but congratulations to Quentin for doing something so brave and different with his first album.


Mathieu Edward has also released his debut CD: "Entre Toi et Moi" is in that very popular r’n’b style and this is surprisingly quite nice as I hadn’t really rated him before. It includes "Comme Avant" a duet with Sheryfa Luna, whom I also quite like. The album made the top 10 of the French album chart, which isn’t too bad for a Star Academy runner-up.


Matt Pokora’s third album, "MP3" has now completely dropped out of the French album chart, I could only attribute this to the French record-buying public not being too excited about their version of Justin Timberlake going and making an album in the English language. I still love "Dangerous" though - expect to see that doing well in my end-of-year chart.


Being "Mrs President" in France hasn’t stopped Carla Bruni from continuing her recording career: "Comme si de rien n'était" is her latest album and guess what, she’s gone all thrash metal on us!! Only kidding folks, Madame Sarkozy’s back with the same mix of introspective acoustic/jazzy tunes which made her debut "Quelqu’un m’a dit" such a big hit a few years ago. It’s not really my kind of music, but she seems to have cornered this market in France and her elevated status as France’s First Lady will ensure worldwide success - I even saw this CD in my local record shop last week!

I wasn’t really aware of Renan Luce but I understand he’s become very popular in France over the last couple of years. He’s yet another performer in that 'new French chanson' Benabar/Vincent Delerm style, and sometimes I think he sounds like Raphael. His album "Repenti" hit the charts 2 years ago and is still in the top 20. Again not my style, but it could be a lot worse.

I guess "Best of Sinclair" by Sinclair is only out to fulfil some kind of contractual obligation, as he's already had a similar compilation ("Comme Je Suis", once of my Christmas presents in 2004 from faithful travelling companion, no less!!) but this one is a bit of a mixed bag, including stuff from the "Mon Idole" soundtrack whilst leaving out the likes of "Un Jour" and "Sur Le Vif". Now can we have some new material (please please please??)

(album cover photos courtesy of www.amazon.fr)

Three new albums due out soon in France: better start saving up those Euros

Checked the forthcoming French releases on www.fnac.com today and discovered that the end of August will see the release of three albums I'm very interested in hearing. All of them just in time for my trip to Nice in September so there is a strong possibility I'll end up buying all three, well, if they're good enough of course!

A Mylene Farmer album is always an event, to say the least, and it's been three years since the (IMHO) disappointing - by her exceptional standards - "Avant Que L'Ombre" which has been gathering dust in my CD rack as I haven't played it for a while. The first single from the new album, "Dégénération" hasn't really excited me in the way that a lot of her past material has, but maybe it just needs time to grow on me.

Star Academy 7 winner Quentin Mosimann finally gets around to releasing his debut - double! - album on 18.08.08 and he also has his own official blog at http://quentin.over-blog.com/ Is it just me or does he look a tiny little bit like Pete Wentz from Fall Out Boy in some of his new photos?

Finally, I've been a big fan of Sofia Essaïdi since her debut album "Mon Cabaret". She now has the leading role in Kamel Ouali's musical "Cleopâtre" and should at last get the recognition she deserves in France. The soundtrack album is due out at the end of August and fingers crossed it'll be as good as the "Le Roi Soleil" soundtrack which I bought in Nice three years ago and which I couldn't stop playing for months, you'd have thought it was glued inside my CD player.

Star Academy: whatever happened to...Gael Garcia ?

During the lead-up to the next series of Star Academy I'll be taking an occasional look back at some of the contestants from past years and find out what they're up to now.

I'll start with an old favourite from two years ago. Gael Garcia was the Star Academy 6 student who brought flamenco to the chateau. He also memorably walked off the show that year!

Gael released his debut CD "Barrio Caliente" earlier this year and I've also found a clip on YouTube of him bringing his own flamenco style to "Le Monde est Stone":




I don't have a start date yet for Star Academy 8 - hopefully it will be back to its usual time (beginning of September) and then I can watch it on TF1 whilst I'm in Nice. Auditions are currently in progress. No details have been revealed as to who will replace the profs who won't be returning this year.

As for Quentin Mosimann, his official site reports that his first single, the very jazzy "Cherchez le Garçon" will be released this week.