Friday's French music break - Calogero, "La fin de la fin du monde"

Friday's French music break this week is far from being a recent song, but over the past couple of weeks it has been receiving a fair bit of air play - and not just because it's a spirited little number with a catchy riff.

It's the 2009 single "La fin de la fin du monde" by Calogero, taken from his album of the same year "L'embellie"

Mayan predictions aside, the sound is quite typical of Calogero's "pop rock" musical style as a solo artist.

Calogero (screenshot YouTube video)

He has had a string of hits over the years such as the 2001 "En apesanteur" "covered recently by Shy'm), his 2003 homage to Soeur Emmanuelle "Yalla", "Face à la mer" in 2004 with hip hop artist and rapper Passi and another duet in 2007 with fellow composer and singer, Stanislas, "La débâcle des sentiments".

Calogero's bio on his official site doesn't exactly tell you much about the man (although there is quite a revealing video interview which focuses mainly on his new project "Circus") apart from promoting his most recent album and tour in which he re-interpreted some of his own songs with a symphony orchestra.

But pop over to the ever faithful and admittedly not always entirely accurate Wikipedia and you'll discover a rather sketchy profile of a man whose, "Moving lyrics and tender voice (in other words he can sing but it's nothing extraordinary) have made him one of France's top pop/rock singers."

For a more complete profile you can check out Radio France International's biography of Calogero (in English) or the TV5 Monde's archives (in French)

It's perhaps not so much the "tender voice" that has guaranteed Calogero a faithful fan base, but rather the instantly appealing and memorable melodies he composes as well as lyrics that are far from being banal.

Both have contributed to his success and helped him pick up the best male singer award at the 2004 Victoires de la Musique - the French equivalent of the Grammys.

Next up for the 41-year-old is the "Circus" project: a band of sorts made up of fellow established artists, Stanislas, Philippe Uminski, Elsa Fourlon and Karen Brunon.

If you want to see them in concert watch out for them next year when they'll be performing songs from their debut album written by the likes of Jean-Jacques Goldman (don't barf - even if you don't like him, you have to admit he's talented and successful), Dominique A and Marc Lavoine.

There again we might not all live that long...which brings us back nicely to this week's Friday's French Music break, "La fin de la fin du monde".

See ya around again soon...or maybe not.

Friday's French music break - Daniel Lévi, "Là bas"

Friday's French music break this week is surely a lesson to any aspiring singer to learn the lyrics and, if performing a popular modern standard, try at least to stick to something resembling the original tune.

Daniel Lévi (screenshot from video of July 14 SOS Racisme concert)

Sadly that's something French singer-song writer Daniel Lévi must wish he had done at the July 14 concert for equality organised by the French anti-racist non-governmental organisation SOS Racisme at the foot of the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

The soon-to-be 50-year-old (he was born on August 26, 1961) was just one of a host of French singers to perform live in front of tens of thousands crammed on to the Champs de Mars, and the many millions watching the event live on France 2 television.

A chance for Lévi to shine and show-off that exceptional and powerful voice which won him so much acclaim when he performed as Moses in Pascal Obispo's 2000 musical "Les dix commandements" (The ten commandments).

But it wasn't to be, as Lévi took to the stage with Indonesian-born French singer-songwriter Anggun and Judith, a former contestant on the TV talent show Star Academy.

The trio were to interpret Jean-Jacques Goldman's "Là bas" in a manner which can only be described as awful.

Now even if you don't like Goldman - and there are plenty who don't - there's no denying the immense talent of the man and the impact he has had over the years on French music.

Many of his songs have become modern French standards and perhaps one that stands out is "Là bas", the 1987 hit he sang with the late Sri Lankan-born British singer Sirima.

It has been covered by many artists throughout the years but none can have been quite as embarrassing and appalling as Lévi's in what turned out to be surely the worst rendition - ever.

During the performance the teleprompter reportedly broke and that - to put it mildly - rather threw Lévi.

The true professional that he clearly wasn't under the circumstances appeared lost without the prompter and, forgetting the lyrics, la-la-la-ed his way through great chunks of the song.

Worse still he was out of tune in both his solos and harmonies and even though he grinned inanely throughout, nobody listening and watching could have been impressed.

Anggun and Judith didn't fare much better and couldn't have been too chuffed about their own performances, but in comparison to Levi, their voices were tunefully angelic.

If you're feeling exceptionally brave and feel those lugholes are up to it, then you might - repeat, might - want to click on the accompanying video to listen and watch.

Be warned though. It really is terrible.

Perhaps you would be better advised to listen to the original which is, quite simply, beautiful.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xjx4mk_extrait-la-bas-daniel-levi-judith-et-anggun-page-facebook-welcome-with-paradispop_music


EXTRAIT : Là-Bas - Daniel Lévi , Judith et... par PARADISPOP

Gloria - Les Prêtres are back in the French charts

Just when you perhaps thought it was safe to turn on your radio - they're back.

France's singing priests, Les Prêtres, once again have a top-selling album with their second offering "Gloria".

Les Prêtres (screenshot from Glorificamus Te video clip)

It's the follow up to their 2010 chart topper "Spiritus Dei", which has sold 800,000 copies so far, spent 10 - very long - weeks at number one, and is ominously climbing the charts once again.

"Gloria" entered at number one when it was released at the end of April, stayed there for four weeks before slipping a notch and then topped the pile again a fortnight later.

With the tried and tested formula used on their first album, Les Prêtres once again treat record-buyers to a mix of popular French standards and classical music with holy-ish lyrics.

The groups consists of two real life priests Jean-Michel Bardet and Charles Troesch and a former seminarist, Joseph Dinh Nguyen Nguyen, who has since decided not to follow his calling or studies, but pursue his faith by starting a family.

The voices of the warbling men of the cloth might not have improved much since their first album, but studio production has once again made up for any vocal failings they might have.

And the public seems to love it.

There are 14 tracks on the latest album including the annoying "Glorificamus Te" from Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake.

Perhaps we should be more thankful that they didn't don tutus and tights and pirouette their way through the accompanying video.



Other classical pieces given the religious "treatment" include Beethoven's "Ode to joy" or " Le Vent de l'Espoir" in French; a rendition which makes the version from Greek singer Nana Mouskouri sound almost sublime by comparison.

Oh all right let's not exaggerate. That was pretty awful too.

Ravel's "Bolero" becomes a whiny and thin "Au commencement" and poor old Beethoven (what did he do to deserve it?) has his piano sonata no. 8 in C minor, Op. 13 - more commonly known as Sonata Pathétique - magnificently cheesy-fied into "Mon enfant est parti".

If the classical tracks are awful, you might hope that the popular French standards would get off a little more lightly.

No such luck.

Jean-Jaques Goldman is a prolific singer-song writer and has scored hits for himself and others over the year (including a whole album for Céline Dion).

While his 1988 hit "Puisque tu pars" was hardly one to go down in the annals of music history, Les Prêtres manage a cover version that is truly hideous.

And when they turn their vocal cords to French singer Michel Sardou's emblematic "Les lacs du Connemara" it just sounds as though someone has been messing around with the turntable speeds.



And the rest of the album - all 14 tracks - are in the same vein; French standards crucified as only Les Prêtres (and their producers) know how and classical music served up as powerful religious mush with a beat.

Oh well, there's no accounting for taste and the French - well certain album-buying segments anyway - seem to love Les Prêtres.

Should you not yet have succumbed to this ecclesiastical makeover of hits ancient and modern and want to hear snippets of each track, just click here.

Or you can catch the trio in concert in towns and cities around France later this year, including one date at le Palais des Congrès in Paris in November.



Thankfully the number one slot is currently filled by the British singer Adele.

Amen.

But how long before Les Prêtres knock her off the top?