FRENCH NEWS - in English of course. Politics, sports, reviews, travel, a slice of life in France and stories you might not necessarily be able to find elsewhere on the Net.
If you’ve been following Friday’s French music break for a while now, you might have noticed the trend for some featured artists to sing only in English…or a sometimes approximate version thereof.
Conversely, there are also several non-native French speakers who choose to re-record tracks they've originally sung in another language specifically for release in francophone countries.
Josef Salvat did it with “Open season” for example.
And so did Mika - although, with “Elle m’a dit”, he went the whole hog and released a song he had never previously recorded in English.
Joining the club is Swedish pop singer and TV presenter Måns Zelmerlöw with his plaintive (good word that) but catchy “Should've gone home (Je ne suis qu’un homme) “
Måns Zelmerlöw - screenshot from video of “Should've Gone Home (Je ne suis qu’un homme"
Actually on first hearing the song, you might well think it’s Salvat again as it has the same sort of feel to it.
Now, Eurovision fans among you (and there are a fair number scattered around the globe) will probably recognise the name, because Zelmerlöw won the whole shebang for his country back in 2015 and was one of the co-hosts at this year’s show.
Originally released in August 2015 and taken from his sixth studio album “Perfectly damaged”, the French version of “Should've gone home (Je ne suis qu’un homme)” keeps the original melancholic (OK so let’s not exaggerate too much) chorus cry.
But most the verses have been translated - courtesy apparently of singer-songwriter Doriand (Laurent Lescarret) who has done the same for the likes of Mika, Julien Doré and Camélia Jordan.
Anyway, “Should've gone home (Je ne suis qu’un homme) “ isn’t that bad, and neither is Zelmerlöw’s French as the audience at a one-off performance at la Maroquinerie in Paris in October 2015 was able to hear he performed Gilbert Bècaud’s French standard “Et maintenant”.
Et maintenant
So take a listen.
And just in case there are any Swedish readers out there - Ha en bra helg
This week's Friday's French music break couldn't be more removed - geographically speaking - from France.
Indeed, it comes from the other side of the globe. Australia to be exact.
But given that country was also invited earlier this year to participate in the 60th anniversary of the annual musical jamboree fest, the Eurovision Song Contest, it's perhaps not so surprising for one of its artists to be featured here.
And besides, Josef Salvat, who hit it big in 2014 with his remake of Rihanna's "Diamonds" (written of course by another Australian musical export, Sia Furler) actually sings a fair part of his own reworked "Open Season" in French.
Josef Salvat (screenshot "Open Season ) une autre saison" official video)
Voilà, the reason it's this week's pick.
It's a delightful version of a song that swings along, pulling the listener into it's feelgood mood with couplets which, according to music journalist, Jonathan Hamard, are "especially seductive with their percussion and almost martial rhythm" (!!!).
Whatever words you might choose to describe the 26-year-old's song, the overall effect is only enhanced by an excellent video which is a simple but effective pastiche of its own genre, the "making of".
So sit back. Hit the two links below - one for the French version, and the other for the English.
Compare and contrast - but more importantly, enjoy!
France wins the Eurovision Song Contest after 38 year long wait.
Well, that might well be the dream of France Télévisions executives who, in their infinite wisdom, have chosen a song that could have sealed victory several decades ago.
But that "dream" risks becoming a repeat nightmare of last year's final place entry when Twin Twin (who?) managed just two measly points.
Hoping for better things (well, let's face it, they could hardly get worse) France has plumped for another act largely unknown to the domestic audience to fly the tricolore at this year's annual "music" fest to be held in Vienna, Austria.
Lisa Angell will warble her way to Eurovision obscurity with the perhaps worryingly premonitive "N'oubliez pas" ("Don't forget").
Yep, while 21 of the 27 countries appearing in the final have opted to sing in the musical lingua franca of English (or "la la" approximative versions of it anyway), France has decided steadfastly to buck the trend by insisting on sending someone along singing a "proper" French entry...and that means in French.
Not that "la langue de Molière" will help improve Angell's chances though, as the song is dated, probably lacking in real appeal and instantly forgettable the moment it has finished.
And that can be an important element in Eurovision voting (you can decide for yourselves how weighted and unfair/fair it might be, there has been much...far too much...written on that subject)
as Angell will be the second act to take to the stage on Saturday and might well have become a foggy memory by the time all 27 countries have "done their stuff".
"Gifted with a powerful voice" and "extremely proud and happy to represent her country...with a song of hope and peace, of courage and solidarity," Angell may well be.
But that's unlikely to impress the millions who'll be watching the televised marathon, and France looks set to wait a little (lot) longer for that seemingly evasive Eurovision win.
Which is a shame, as there is so much (young) talent around that could have reflected the true nature and variety of the French music scene, such as The Avener, Cats on Trees, Marina Kaye, Louane Emera, Kendji Girac, Christina and the queens...to name just a few.
But hey. This is Eurovision - and more often than not it's the lowest common denominator that counts which, come to think of it, is probably the only thing to be said in Angell's favour.
Take a listen.
Try not to yawn.
And "enjoy" this week's Friday's French music break.
Nothing could be worse than the Eurovision Song Contest (and epsecially the French entries) when it comes to music, could it?
Think again - and not too hard. Because the answer to a somewhat loaded question (and what would under other circumstances surely be purely rhetorical) comes in the title of this week's Friday's French music break "On veut la coupe sur les Champs Élysées".
It's the unofficial "anthem" of the French team for this year's World Cup and a timely choice as the whole shebang is set to kick off in São Paulo on June 12 with hosts Brazil taking on Croatia in the first match of the tournament.
To accompany Les Bleus in their attempts to forget the nightmare that was Knysna four years ago in South Africa, French opera and Broadway musical baritone (and all round showman according to his official bio) David Serero has teamed his tonsils with those of "un collectif d'artistes anonymes" to produce a song which is presumably meant to inspire the team's performance on the pitch and drum up enthusiasm among fans back home.
Quite frankly though, it could well have the opposite effect - prompting the players to run back to their dressing room in embarrassment (should they have the misfortune to hear it in the first place) and leaving supporters in no doubt that the Eurovision result (two points and last place, remember) was not a one-off when it comes to appreciating French music.
It's meant to be a "festive" offering with a sunny Caribbean-South American beat and flavour but the result is just a mess.
The 33-year-old Serero might well have a voice well-suited to opera and popular standards (the latter is a matter of opinion) but when set among the cacophony that is ""On veut la coupe sur les Champs Élysées" he just sounds...well ridiculous and slightly off-key to boot.
All right. If your ears are up to it, here's the song.
How many seconds will you be able to endure?
Let's just hope that Benzema, Giroud, Ribéry and co prove more effective on the pitch than Serero and others did in the studio.
Friday's French music break this week is the song you've been waiting for - France's entry to that annual musical jamboree, the Eurovision Song Contest.
Yes, the song that will carry the hopes of a nation and (probably) disappoint as usual has been chosen.
Representing France in Copenhagen in May will be the trio of Lorent Idir, François Djemel and Patrick Biyik who make up the paradoxically-named Twin Twin.
Their gloriously dire "Moustache" was chosen by a combined panel of music "experts" and the voting public from among three "finalists" and the "winner" was announced on France 3's "Les chansons d'abord" on Sunday March 2.
"Moustache", bears more than a passing resemblance to Belgian singer Stromae's (excellent) "Papaoutai" with a dash of former child star Jordy's 1992 hit (the ghastly) "Dur dur d'être bébé!" thrown in for good measure.
If you need a bit of convincing, close your eyes and take a listen to Twin Twin and Stromae back-to-back or you could listen to all three titles (just click on the links provided) on the mashup made by DJs on Virgin radio.
Although the group has admitted there's some (!!!) similarity at the beginning of both their song and that of Stromae, they've denied accusations of plagiarism saying that the song was written a year before the release of Belgian singer's album ("Racine carrée").
"We're flattered to be compared with Stromae," the group said. "He's a great artist but the word 'plagiarised' isn't really appropriate."
All right. How about "copied" then?
France hasn't won the Eurovision Song Contest since 1977 and in recent years has placed (to say the least) poorly.
The method over the last six years for choosing the country's entry had been for the execs at France Télévisions to choose an artist and then the song.
All very democratic and hugely unsuccessful; producing a string of also-rans with last year's entry from Amandine Bourgeois finishing in 23rd place.
So a change of strategy was adopted this year with three artists and three songs being put to that combined "expert" and voting public vote - the first time it has happened since 2007.
Mind you, that doesn't bode particularly well either.
That year's entry - Les Fatals Picards with "L'amour à la française" (the link also has Terry Wogan's "Gosh, wasn't that awful" commentary) totted up a magnificent 19 points to finish 22nd out of the 24 finalists.
Here you go then. Here's Twin Twin with "Moustache".
France hasn't even chosen its contestant to place poorly in this year's Eurovision Song Contest, but already one of the contenders is creating a buzz.
And not for the right reasons.
The confusingly (purposefully) named trio Twin Twin are being accused by many of having "plagiarised" one of 2013's biggest-selling songs in France in an effort...well presumably to make it through as France's representative at this year's songfest to be held in the Danish capital Copenhagen in May.
Their group's song, "Moustache", bears more than a passing resemblance to Belgian singer Stromae's (excellent) "Papaoutai" with a dash of former child star Jordy's 1992 hit (the ghastly) "Dur dur d'être bébé!" thrown in for good measure.
If you need a bit of convincing, close your eyes and take a listen to Twin Twin and Stromae back-to-back or you could listen to all three titles (just click on the links provided) on the mashup made by DJs on Virgin radio.
The group has admitted there is some (!!!) similarity at the beginning of both their song and that of Stromae, but has denied accusations of plagiarism saying that the song was written a year before the release of Belgian singer's album ("Racine carrée").
"We're flattered to be compared with Stromae," the group said. "He's a great artist but the word 'plagiarised' isn't really appropriate."
All right. How about "copied" then?
France hasn't won the Eurovision Song Contest since 1977 and in recent years has placed (to say the least) poorly.
The usual method for choosing the country's entry has been for the execs at France Télévisions to choose an artist and then the song.
All very democratic and hugely unsuccessful producing a string of also-rans with last year's entry from Amandine Bourgeois finishing in 23rd place.
So a change of strategy this year with three artists and three songs being put to a public vote.
They are of course "Moustache" from Twin Twin, a semi-finalist in a past edition of Star Academy Joanna, singing "Ma liberté" (you can listen that here) and "Sans toi" - an English-French mix from the group Destan
All three acts have already performed at the so-called National Finals televised on France 3 and it's now up to the public to decide which one will represent the country in Copenhagan in May.
The "winner" will be revealed towards the end of February.
It's without doubt the music event of the year in France - well unless, of course, you're counting on the country finishing as an also ran in May's Eurovision Song Contest in the Swedish city of Malmö.
Carla Bruni-Sarkozy's new album is set for release in April, and already French radio stations are playing an acoustic version of the first track to be taken as a single.
Carla Bruni-Sarkozy (screenshot from video clip of "Chez Keith et Anita")
Bruni-Sarkozy is back in fine form as she murmurs her way through "Chez Keith et Anita", a charming little tune "with a Cuban rhythm" about Rolling Stone Keith Richards and his former partner Anita Pallenberg.
Heck, at one point Bruni-Sarkozy even breaks into a rap...of sorts...although that might be putting it a little strongly perhaps. So let's settle for "talking in tune".
The single is from the former-top model, cum actress and one-term first lady's fourth studio album "Little French songs", the long-anticipated (by some) follow-up to her best-selling (really?) "Comme si de rien n'était" in 2008
Among the treats in store on the new album apparently is a homage to her other half - the former French president Nicolas Sarkozy, just in case you needed reminding.
"Mon Raymond," she sings in the track entitled "Raymond". "Il a tout bon, c'est d'la valeur authentique, pour franchir le Rubicon on peut pas dire qu'il hésite / (...) Mon Raymond, il est canon, c'est d'la bombe atomique." (You can do the Google translate if you need to).
Cough, cough.
And there's a swipe at that much revered/reviled profession of journalism in "Les diseurs" with, "Il faut dire que c'est pas drôle, non, d'faire diseurs, ce n'est pas le beau rôle, non. Toutes ces heures passées à causer pour finir oubliés".
Strong stuff.
Sadly you'll have to wait until April 1 (and no, apparently that's not an April Fool) until you can get your mitts on "Little French songs" and treat your ears to the breathless dulcets of the 45-year-old.
But just in case you're impatient to hear what all the pre-release fuss is (or will be) about, here's the acoustic version of that first single, "Chez Keith and Anita".
Now if all that hasn't made you prick up your ears in absolute delight, there's also a tour in the offing.
The head of Barclay, the lucky record label releasing "Little French songs", Olivier Caillart, confirmed Bruni-Sarkozy would be taking her show on the road later in the year.
"A tour is planned in the autumn," he said, adding how delighted he was that Bruni-Sarkozy had "shown confidence in the label by signing".
"The quality of her writing, the unique timbre of her voice and its charm make her one on the major French singing artists," he added, not exaggerating in the slightest.
Proving there really is life after television talent shows, Amandine Bourgeois has been chosen to represent France at this year's Eurovision Song Contest in the Swedish city of Malmö in May.
Bourgeois won the sixth edition of Nouvelle Star - France's version of Pop Idol - in 2008.
The show, which was cancelled by M6 a couple of years ago, is currently undergoing something of a renaissance on D8.
And that's perhaps what Bourgeois is hoping for by taking part in the annnual Europe-wide musical jamboree, because since winning Nouvelle Star, her career has hardly been...well er...decidedly rocky (although not in the musical sense of the word).
It all started off reasonably enough, with her debut album "20 m2" in 2009 being pretty well received by music critics and the public alike.
It reached a high of number five in the French charts and went gold. The first track released as a single, "L'homme de la situation" was a catchy little number which received plenty of airplay and reasonable chart success.
Amandine Bourgeois (screenshot from "L'homme de la situation" official clip)
There were two follow-up singles both taken from the album - "Tant de moi" and "Du temps" - which helped keep Bourgeois in the public eye, her album in the charts and bolster tickets sales for her tour of generally small to medium-sized venues around the country.
Bourgeois' second album in 2012 "Sans amour Mon amour" apparently "inspired by the retro 60's R&B of Amy Winehouse" and the two singles "Sans amour and "Envie d'un manque de problèmes", although well-written and produced, pretty much failed to register on the all-important commercial rader.
The result? Well Bourgeois was forced to cancel her tour after selling only 4,000 copies of the album and admitting how upset she was.
"I'm very sad and sorry, but it's really difficult to fill venues when my album simply isn't selling well and the songs aren't played on the radio," she said on her Facebook page, making a promise that she would "work and pray hard to continue living her passion".
And the way apparently to "live her passion" is to represent France in Malmö!
Amandine Bourgeois (screenshot from "L'homme de la situation" YouTube clip)
A France Télévisions committee designated Bourgeois as this country's representative - yes that's the way things are done in France: no leaving it up to the public to decide.
And the song chosen for the 33-year-old to sing in front of millions will be "L'enfer et moi"
Here's wishing Bourgeois all the best in Malmö.
She'll certainly need it if the recent past form of French participants is anything to go by.
Last year Indonesian-born singer Anggun only managed to finish 22nd out of 26 in the final and the previous year, the man with the big voice and dodgy "hairdon't" Amaury Vassili, only managed a self-described 15th placed "shitty finish".
In fact you have to go all the way back to the hey days of the competition for France's last win.
As the French media keeps reminding everyone each time Eurovision comes around, the last "triumph" for the country was in 1977 when Marie Myriam captured the hearts (and ears) of those watching with "L'oiseau et l'enfant".
"It's an honour for me to represent France," Bourgeois says on her Facebook page.
"I'm a little frightened but I also have the ability to transform that into a something positive," she told the weekly television programming magazine Télé 7 Jours.
"Whatever happens, Eurovision should open doors for me and boost my career."
There's no video of "L'enfer et moi" available yet, but here's a reminder of how she sounded back in her Nouvelle Star-winning days.
Friday's French music break this week couldn't be anything other than...the country's entry to the annual jamboree that is the Eurovision Song Contest, "Echo (You and I)"
The 38-year-old, who apparently has had widespread international success - according to her website, so it must be true - was chosen by the Powers that Be at France Television back in November to fly the tricolore, so-to-speak, at this year's contest.
Although most of the lyrics of "Echo (You and I)" are in French, the song also has a smattering of English.
But not too much to create a hoo-ha and there has been none of the "political furore" (heavens, it's just a cheesy "Songfest") that accompanied France's 2008 entry from Sébastien Tellier who was forced to change some of the lyrics to "Divine".
Tellier has originally planned to sing only in English, but eventually rejigged a couple of lines as a "wink to the French".
Following what last year's French representative Amaury Vassili called a "shitty 15th placed finish" when the 21-year-old bookmakers' favourite tried his best with the Corsican dialect "Sognu", what chance does Anggun have?
Well the lyrics are inane (when has that ever mattered?) and the tune dire. So it's an entry entirely in keeping with the contest's usual standard and should have the potential to do reasonably well.
Plus Anggun can "perform" as opposed to just sing - apparently. And let's face it, Eurovision is as much about being able to put on a show as it is the quality of the song.
Judge for yourself what chances she has of bringing the competition to Paris next year by becoming the first person to win the whole shebang for France since Marie Myriam triumphed with "L'oiseau et l'enfant" back in 1977.
Here for your delectation are two videos of the song.
The first is of Anggun apparently in the studio giving her lungs an airing.
The second, the official Eurovision preview, sees her wearing the obligatory scantiest of costumes along with sometimes partially clad beefcake who like to iron in uniforms and occasionally wear gas masks..plus a cameo role for a pig.
Oh yes it's full of profound imagery.
Heaven help the organisers of the contest if all that lot show up on stage.
The final of this year's Eurovision Song Contest will be broadcast live from Azerbaijan capital Baku on Saturday evening.
It's admittedly a couple of months until that annual musical jamboree the Eurovision Song Contest takes place but it's already making the news as participating countries decide who they'll be sending to represent them in Baku.
Yes - as an aside - this year's "musical jamboree" will take place in the capital of Azerbaijan (break out the atlas) thanks to that country's win last year.
And following hot on the heels of the United Kingdom's decision to send Engelbert Humperdinck to sing his lungs out, Russia has now decided to uphold a long Eurovision tradition by choosing a song to represent it which surely...er...is taking the Michael (that's putting it politely).
And France?
Well it just doesn't seem to be able to treat the "cultural event of the year" in quite the manner those inverted commas would deem appropriate.
Rather than relying on humour, it seems to take the whole affair far too seriously.
Granted, back in 2007 France sent Les Fatals Picards along to represent it in Helsinki with "L'amour à la française", but after only managing 22nd (out of 24 in the final) seemed to realise that perhaps the rest of Europe didn't "get" the French touch at being lighthearted.
So the Powers that Be at France television, realising that it had perhaps made an error, took the choice of who would represent the country away from viewers and reverted to the tradition of appointing an artist who would carry the colours in a manner more befitting the country's (ahem) musical heritage and cultural diversity
There followed, in order, Sébastien Tellier (2008, 19th in Serbia), Patricia Kaas (2009, eighth in Russia), Jessy Matador (2010, 12th in Norway) and Amaury Vassili (2011, 15th in Germany).
Following up on Vassili's dreadfully awful or awfully dreadful "Sognu" from last year, which bookies (at least as far as the French were reporting) ranked among the favourites but only managed in the singer's words a "shitty finish" it's the turn of Indonesian-born Anggun to try her luck.
While the United Kingdom will be sending along ageing crooner Engelbert Humperdinck, who'll be 76 by the time the contest comes around, and Russia has just chosen a bunch of grannies Buranovskiye Babushki (try saying that after a few vodkas) to, in the words of the song "Party for everybody" (see video), France is pinning its hopes on a serious singer with international success and appeal who has already "conquered France and Europe" according to her official bio and won umpteen awards.
Ah yes. But this is Eurovision, an event which has brought millions of viewers such memorable moments as Stefan Raab "ridiculing the ridiculous" as Terry Wogan put it for Germany in 2000 with "Wadde hadde dudde da" or Ireland's Dustin the turkey reminding everyone that "he comes from a nation what knows how to write a song" in 2008 with "Irelande douze pointe" and Finland's Lordi head banging their way to victory in 2006 with "Hard Rock Hallelujah" (you can click on the links to jog your memory).
What chance does Anggun's "Echo (You and I)" stand especially when up against the gramps and grans of the UK and Russia?
There has been no messing around by France in deciding who'll represent the country at the Eurovision Song Contest in 2012, that annual jamboree that brings together the very cheesiest of what Europe has to offer "musically" speaking.
France 3 television, which chooses the act every year - none of that ineffectual allowing the public to decide - has plumped for Indonesian-born singer Anggun.
The 37-year-old will carry the hopes of her adopted homeland when she takes to the stage in the final to be held on May 26 in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, that country well-known to be at the heart of Europe.
Get hold of a map to see just how far east of most of the rest of the continent it really is.
Azerbaijan won the right to stage next year's contest when it beat all the other entries at Eurovision 2011 with the never-to-be-remembered "Running Scared" by duo Eldar & Nigar (Eldar Gasimov and Nigar Jamal).
Anyway, back to Anggun, who's clearly as pleased as punch that she has been chosen.
"It's a wonderful present for someone like me who only became a naturalised French citizen in 2000," she told the national daily Aujourd'hui en France - Le Parisien.
"Without doubt I symbolise a modern-day France; a country that is a mix of races and cultures," she continued.
"When I was growing up the contest was always considered a bit tacky and rather old fashioned, but it's a great show and very important for many countries," she added.
"Secretly we all want to win. I'm going to shine for France."
Ho hum. Famous last words.
Choosing Anggun might well be considered strategically clever as she has had sizeable international success apparently.
You might not have heard of her, but plenty have according to her official website.
But the same sort of reasoning was behind the choice of Patricia Kaas when she sang the French entry in Moscow in 2009. Kaas only managed eighth place.
And then there was the fiasco that was such a "shitty finish" for last year's representative Amaury Vassili who for some inexplicable reason went into the competition as the bookmakers' favourite.
His dire "Sognu" could only manage a lowly 15th spot with a mighty 82 points.
Anggun told LCI television that she knew the responsibility that lay on her shoulders was a "heavy one" especially as the last time France won the contest was back in 1977 when Marie Myriam sang "L'Oiseau Et L'Enfant".
And of the song she'll be singing?
"It hasn't been chosen yet," she told LCI television.
Under his given name of Tom Eeckhout, he finished runner-up in the Flemish Belgian version of the TV talent show the X Factor in 2008.
But as Tom Dice, his name might be familiar to some Eurovision song contest fans as the 22-year-old sang his country's entry in 2010 in Oslo.
The song "Me and my guitar" finished a creditable sixth and didn't go unnoticed here in France picking up plenty of airplay.
Anyway back to the pairing of Tovati and Dice on "Il nous faut - and it's simply inspired.
Elisa Tovati and Tom Dice (screenshot from France 5 performance)
Neither of them has what you might call an outstanding voice; good certainly, pleasant to listen to and melodious. But not the sort that will make your jaw drop in admiration.
That doesn't matter though. The combination is a delight to listen to as their voices blend and they sing alternately in French and English.
From the opening bars of the guitar strings being plucked and strummed through to the violin and folksy feel of the melody, Tovati and Dice treat you to an almost perfect pairing.
If you liked, for example, the 2009 hit "Lucky" by Jason Mraz and Colbie Caillat, the chances are you'll feel the same about Tovati and Dice singing "Il nous faut". There are definite similarities in the effect both the song and the voices have.
"Il nous faut" is perhaps very easy-listening, but that doesn't make it any the less enjoyable.
Just as a treat, here are two versions; the first is the official video and the second is a live performance they gave on France 5 television - proof that they can after all sing and reproduce the studio sound in front of an audience.
Friday's French music break this week is something of a surprise - and a welcome one at that given the failure, once again, of the country's entry at this year's Eurovision Song Contest.
It's proof that French music isn't so bad after all and comes from one of the country's ageing rockers in the proverbial twilight of his career.
Eddy Mitchell's "Avoir 16 ans aujourd’hui" is a delicious touch of nostalgia.
Eddy Mitchell (screenshot from YouTube video of duet "On veut des légendes" with Johnny Hallyday)
Eddy Mitchell (it isn't his real name of course but perhaps Claude Moine didn't have the same potential ring of fame to it) has been around the block - and then some for more decades than he probably cares to count.
Singer, songwriter and actor, his music - and there's been a lot of it since the 1960s with over 30 studio albums - is a combination of rock 'n' roll, country, country rock, variété française (French popular music) and ballads.
So something for everyone, although not always particularly appealing.
Indeed one track on 2009 album Grand Écran was a particular awful rendition of "Over the rainbow" with Melody Gardot (only click on the link with your hands clapped firmly over your lugholes).
But the 68-year-old more than makes up for that "earache" with "Avoir 16 ans aujourd’hui", a track from his confusingly-titled 2010 album "Come back".
Confusing, because as Radio France Internationale points out in its biography of Mitchell (long but well worth the read if you have a few moments) the "Brillcreamed Hair Rock'n'Roller" announced his tour, which began in October last year and wound up in April, would be his farewell one.
Hmm. How often have we heard that from someone in showbiz?
Anyway, treat yourself to a little nostalgia and take a listen to "Avoir 16 ans aujourd’hui".
Now there's a headline to knock the stuffing out of a country's national pride.
France had gone into Saturday's Eurovision Song Contest in the German city of Düsseldorf with high hopes that its singing "hairdon't" Amaury Vassili would seduce television viewers and professional judges across the continent in the annual musical jamboree that brings pleasure to millions.
Amaury Vassili (screenshot from France 3 television)
Indeed bookmakers had for some reason made the 21-year-old the favourite and somehow the French media wanted to believe it so much that it was carrying reports on how other contestants were telling Vassili, "See you in Paris next year."
"Amaury Vassili represents France's best shot at topping Eurovision since Marie Myriam won back in 1977," said the national daily Aujourd'hui en France - Le Parisien before the competition,
Instead as we all know by now the couple Ell and Nikki from Azerbaijan - and don't ask Azerbai-where - won, and Vassili finished a lowly 15 with a mighty 82 points.
Only two countries gave the Gallic warbler that much prized "douze points"; neighbours Belgium and (presumably equally tone deaf) Greece (well Cyprus hadn't made it through to the finals so they had to hunt around for another country to whom they could give their votes).
All the pre-competition hype had come to nothing and the less-than exquisite "Songu", sung in a Corsican dialect that not even the French could understand, finished with the same number of points as France's 2010 entry from Jessy Matador (who?) bopping along to "Allez Ola Olé", although three places lower.
Now there's a compliment.
Was it perhaps a case of the French believing in their own publicity? After all what were the chances of a pseudo-operatic voice having widespread appeal when up against the tra-la-la-ing expertise of Nordic, Baltic, Balkan and Eastern European blocs?
Vassili had urged caution in the run-up to the contest and was disappointed not to have done better.
"15th place is a shitty position but it doesn't matter," he said afterwards.
"I gave it everything I had but it wasn't convincing enough. It was a gamble choosing a song like this and in the end we just didn't pull it off."
And when it came to the winners, he had less than tender words.
"For me the Azerbaijan song was completely trite and syrupy and I didn't believe for one moment the performance the two gave as a couple or a duo," he said.
"Besides I think it shows a lack of balls to sing in English (as most of the 43 finalists did) rather than the language of your country or - as I did - a region."
So France won't be shelling out millions of euros to hold next year's contest.
Instead that honour will go to Azerbaijan when the world will discover just how European it is - or isn't - what the capital is called, and who knows, they might actually be able to locate it on a map.
Oh yes, and it'll probably be the only other time most of us will get to hear Eli and Nikki's "Running scared".
Shame!
But for all those who want a reminder of what real Eurovision was - as far as the French are concerned - here's that 1977 triumph once again from Marie Myriam.
And as a special for all you Eurovision enthusiasts - Vassili and Myriam tackled her one hit on French television just weeks before the Düsseldorf disappointment.
A new feature and an excuse to share with readers some popular French music - a mixture of proven standards that just about everyone in France knows, covers that add that little extra to what has gone before, and brand spanking new songs from "upcoming artists" as they're usually described.
After all, what better way is there to start the weekend?
Catherine Lara (screenshot from video on official website and OFF TV)
And it's proof, as if anyone really needed it, that the world of popular music has more - much more - to offer than songs sung in English.
Yes of course we all know that, but it's easy to forget when the airwaves are choc-a-bloc of songs influenced by, or sung primarily in, English.
There's nowt wrong with them - far from it. But it's almost as though for many nothing exists outside.
This won't redress the imbalance: it's not really meant to.
But it'll highlight some of what France has had, and continues, to offer.
To get things rolling - a remake. And a rather surprising one at that.
It comes from Catherine Lara, a singer-songwriter whose main success came from hits in the 1980s.
That doesn't mean she has slipped into musical oblivion since - far from it.
Lara has released over 20 studio albums, continued arranging and composing for both television and theatre and appears regularly along with a host of other French singers and performers on the annual charity show Les Restos du coeur.
With her trademark tinted glasses and shock of silver white hair, the 65-year-old has never made any secret of her sexuality and was one of the first artists in France to declare openly that she was a lesbian.
Never far from Lara's side is her violin, an instrument she took up as a child and continued studying right through to her twenties at the conservatoire national de Paris.
Her most recent album, released in March 2011, pays tribute to one of France's most respected singer-songerwriters Léo Ferré, whose songs are among the best known and most often covered in this country.
"Avec le temps" is one such song and even though countless artists have tried to recapture the magic of the original, often with mixed results, Lara adds something...different.
Lara will next be heard by millions in France when she sits alongside TV and radio presenter Laurent Boyer next weekend as a co-commentator for French viewers of that annual "musical" (use the term very lightly) fest the Eurovision Song Contest.
It should be interesting to hear what the 1986 winner of the French equivalent of a Grammy, Le Victoire de la musique, makes of Amaury Vassili - this country's entry - and the other 24 finalists.
For the moment though, sit back and listen to Lara's interpretation of Ferré's "Avec le temps" and enjoy.
If you thought the tale of the French entry at this year's annual "musical" (the term has to be used lightly) jamboree that is the Eurovision Song Contest was over - think again.
After deciding who would represent the country a couple of months ago, the choice of song has now been made.
Back in February the Powers that Be at France Television decided who would sing the French entry at this year's bash.
None of that namby-pamby, letting-the-public-choose nonsense in France.
TV execs "wield the stick" and they plumped for 21-year-old Amaury Vassili, a singer with a "fine lyric tenor voice" (and lots of hair).
You know the sort of thing: not quite classical and certainly ill-suited for opera, but pleasant enough to listen to - if you're into that sort of tra-la-la-ing.
When the choice was announced, the promise was made that the song would be especially written for him and would be sung in the Corsican dialect*, which makes a great deal of sense for someone born in the northeast of the country.
Whatever.
That commitment has been honoured and Vassili will be singing his lungs out next month with...wait for it...this.
YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!
Yes. France - one of the stalwarts of the competition has done itself...er...proud.
Dramatic - overly so - camp and tedious are three words that spring to mind.
And even though that might describe what Eurovision has become (and perhaps always was), with such an - ahem - "unusual" entry, does the France really stand any chance of lifting a title it hasn't won since 1977?
Maybe.
Over the years stranger songs have been entered and even won.
Who will ever forget Norway's 1995-winning ethereal nonsense "Nocturne" by Secret Garden or Finland's laughable head banging "Hard rock hallelujah" from Lordi 11 years later.
A rhetorical question.
So perhaps there's some hope for this year's Gallic entry.
Just don't put too much money on it winning.
You'll be able to find out for yourself on May 14 when the final will be broadcast live to millions from the German city of Düsseldorf.
* If English-speakers out there thought that they would have problems understanding France's entry, spare a thought for the French.
Not even the official Eurovision site has come up with a translation into French, although it has helpfully provided the original Corsican and English
So now you can sing along too!
"Sognu di ste labbre Di sta voce chjara è pura Mai spentu ricordu di tè Quella notte cui cun tè
I dream of those lips The voice, clear and pure I still think of you That night, there with you"
It might well be more than three months away, but France has already chosen who will be representing it at this year's Eurovision Song Contest; Amaury Vassili.
None of the leaving-it-up-to-the-public to choose an act and/or song as far as France is concerned.
It goes about things in quite a different way to many other countries.
France Television decides who'll be singing what - and basta.
Of course there were plenty of rumours before the weekend's decision was announced.
Names of past winners and participants of one of the country's talent shows such as the now defunct Star Academy (although French television has a tendency to live by the principle of "what goes around, comes around" so perhaps it'll be back on the small screen at a later date - but that's quite another story) or Nouvelle Star (the French version of "Pop Idol" and equally no longer with us) were mooted, but in the end the powers-that-be plumped for Vassili.
"In choosing the 21-year-old Amaury Vassili, France 3 wants to honour for the first time a great lyric tenor," Pierre Sled, the director of programming for France 3 - the channel which will broadcast Eurovision live in France - told the national daily Aujourd'hui en France - Le Parisien.
"He will also best represent French excellence."
As an added bonus, and in keeping with a somewhat on-off tradition in the choice of language in which the song will be sung, the channel also announced that it'll be in the Corsican dialect, "To use one of the largest stages in Europe to promote one of the many regional dialects for which France is famous."
A novel twist which well certainly ensure that even a majority of the domestic audience won't know what the blazes he's singing about.
Since it first began participating in the contest, France has only twice entered a song sung in a regional dialect.
It last won the competition back in 1977 when Marie Myriam sang "L'Oiseau Et L'Enfant".
France, along with the other so-called Big Five financial contributors to the jamboree (Germany, Italy - which is back in the contest after a 13-year absence - Spain and the United Kingdom) automatically qualify for the final of the Eurovision Song Contest, which will this year be held in the German city of Düsseldorf on May 14.
The 38 other countries that have confirmed their participation will battle it out in two semi-finals to be held in the same city on May 10 and May 12 to determine which 20 will qualify alongside the Big Five for the final showdown, which goes on and on and on and on.
Place your bets now for "France nul points" as it chooses a pap (sic) classical singer for Eurovision.
France is unhappy with the way voting is conducted at the Eurovision Song Contest.
And the head of entertainment at France television, Nicolas Pernikoff, is calling for a change in the system.
The singing might be over and the votes counted but once again it's the way the latter are tallied that is making the headlines.
According to a report in the weekly news magazine, Le Point, Nicolas Pernikoff, the head of entertainment at France Television, is unhappy with the current 50-50 split between national juries and the viewing public.
Apparently, says Le Point, there were negotiations going on in the corridors of the hotel at which various delegations were staying during last weekend's contest in the Norwegian capital Oslo.
Alliances were created to exchange points and Twitter used to influence the vote of juries in countries who would be allocating points at the end of the competition.
"It's a scandal and we'll bring it up at the next committee meeting of Eurovision," said Pernikoff.
"I'll also put forward a motion that only the vote of the viewing public be taken into consideration," he added.
"Why should there be juries involved?"
Voting at Eurovision has long been a subject of controversy with accusations of political bias, skulduggery and geographical and cultural blocs playing their part in influencing the outcome.
It's a complicated process, perhaps most clearly explained by this year's official website.
Put briefly, the vote last Saturday began as the first contestant took to the stage and finished after the last of the 25 entries had been sung.
The tallies were then announced from around Europe; each of the 39 participating countries (including those who had been knocked out in the semi-finals) awarding points (from one to twelve) based on a 50:50 based on a 50-50 combination of televoting and national juries.
The system was one introduced by the European Broadcasting Union, under whose auspices Eurovision is produced, for the 2009 final with Svante Stockselius, executive supervisor of the Eurovision Song Contest saying at the time that it would make the outcome of the competition "more interesting".
"Nothing is more democratic than the vote of the public," the official Eurovision website quotes Stockselius as saying when the decision to establish the mixed voting was announced.
"But a jury takes the opportunity to listen to the songs several times, before they make up their minds."
Just for the record, France finished 12th with Jesse Matador's "Allez Ola Olé"
Germany is still celebrating its win last weekend in the Eurovision Song Contest, when Lena sang her way to victory with "Satellite" and there's even talk of her representing the country again next year when it hosts the competition.
Anyone who followed the Eurovision Song Contest held in the Norwegian capital Oslo last weekend surely knows by now that the winner was the German entry "Satellite" sung by Lena.
As she gets used to the "Lena epidemic" as the early evening magazine Explosiv on RTL television describes the reaction within Germany, her mentor, television presenter Stefan Raab, is already suggesting that she should be the country's representative at next year's musical jamboree.
"And that of course is that this year's winner defends her title in her own country next year, "he added before turning to the winner and asking what she thought of the idea.
"Absolutely," she responded.
Whatever plans Lena and Raab might have for next year, right now the 19-year-old "Arbiturientin" (or high school graduate) as she's frequently referred to in the domestic media, and daughter of a former West German ambassador to the Soviet Union daughter, Andreas Meyer-Landrut, seems to be "enjoying the moment".
If Explosiv is to be believed the "Lena epidemic" is soon likely to spread to the rest of Europe.
With the title under her belt and her single already hitting number one in several countries, there has been praise for her performance from around the continent with some saying her win brought Eurovision into the 21st century.
"Her onstage manner was informal, at times gangly and awkward, and the lyrics of her song express a young person’s real-life experience of love rather than expected platitudes about beauty and world peace."
Even the BBC, far from sulking or smarting from the UK's plum last finish, had words of praise for the winning entry, saying that "Satellite" had "reclaimed the contest's musical credibility" and was "the first contemporary pop hit Eurovision has produced in decades."
"Lena had no complicated choreography, no inexplicable backing dancers and she wore a simple black dress - the sort of thing you could pick up tomorrow in any high street store," wrote Mark Savage, the BBC News entertainment reporter.
"Her refreshingly direct performance reflected a vivacious, playful personality."
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