Friday's French music break - Calogero, "Le portrait"

Friday's French music break this week comes from an artist who needs little or no introduction to the French.

It's Calogero (Calogero Maurici) with his latest single "Le portrait".

Calogero (screenshot live performance of "Un jour au mauvais endroit" le Grand Studio RTL)

The song is another melodic masterpiece from a man who has well and truly made his mark on the French music scene.

Once again, Calogero delivers an instantly recognisable tune which is more than pleasing to the ear with a voice that matches perfectly.

It's in the tradition of what he describes as pop-rock: another memorable and moving melody along the lines of  "En apesanteur", released in 2002, "Si seulement je pouvais lui manquer" (2004) "Pomme C" (2007) a couple of duos,  "Face à la mer" (2004 with rapper Passi) and "La débâcle des sentiments" (2008 with co Circus band member Stanislas), and, and, and.

Hit on the links to take a listen.

Now, there's a lot of material out there about Calogero and his career including inevitably Wikpedia in French and English (it's worth comparing the two, if you can).

From his beginnings as Charlie, lead singer of the 1980s band Les Charts, his re-emergence at in 2000 as a solo singer and the path which has seen him become an established member of mainstream French music scene.

So there's no need to repeat it all here.

You can simply search the Net, and you'll come up with something.

But it's worth perhaps pointing out just how respected and prominent Calogero has become over the years.

He has written for a number of artists including, Jenifer, Patrick Fiori, Françoise Hardy, Pascal Obispo, Florent Pagny and...of course (because just about every French composer has)...Johnny Hallyday.

And a fair number showed up for a recent edition of the France 2 Saturday evening entertainment programme "Le Grand Show", dedicated to to the 43-year-old and to celebrate 15 years (as a solo artist) as well as the release of his most recent album, "Les Feux d'artifice".

Which brings us back nicely to this week's Friday's French music break - "Le portrait" - the fourth track from the album to be released as a single.

Enough words.

Just listen - and enjoy.

Oh yes...and if you get the chance, try to see him live. He's on tour until April 2015.

Star Academy's Manika Auxire - the voice that could sink a thousand ships

A couple of familiar formats have returned to French TV screens recently and both of them are searching, or supposedly acting as launching pads, for musical "talent".

Star Academy, the show that "discovered" Jenifer, Nolwenn Leroy and Magalie Vaé (who?) during its nine seasons on TF1, and the Pop Idol-inspired Nouvelle Star which over eight years on M6 gave France the likes of Christophe Willem, Julien Doré, Amel Bent and Jonatan Cerrada (another "who"?) are back after an unregrettable absence.

Manika Auxire (screenshot profile on Star Academy)

You might have a little difficulty finding either of them as there was a reason why TF1 and M6 cancelled the shows.

But that hasn't stopped two of the country's digital terrestrial television (TNT) channels, repackaging clapped-out concepts in an effort to attract viewers.

While Nouvelle Star is still in the audition phase on the newly-relaunched D8, owned by the Canal + Group, Star Academy is well underway on NRJ 12.

There have already been two live prime time shows: the first to introduce the contestants to the viewing public, and the second to begin the process of weekly elimination.

And on the evidence so far, the least that can be said is there's far from being a bottomless pit of musical talent in France.

Well, that can surely be the only conclusion to be drawn by the inclusion among the 14 Star Academy competitors of a certain Manika Auxire.

The 22-year-old put in a show-stopping performance of the Carly-Rae Jepsen smash hit "Call me maybe" (Jepsen was herself the product of a TV talent show in Canada) during the opening programme.

Obviously not content with brutalising Jepsen's song, the former Miss Poitou-Charentes (aha...the real reason for her inclusion - to add "une touche de glamour" to the proceedings?) found herself among the three nominees threatened with elimination the following week and promptly massacred another tune...Zaz's 2010 hit, "Je veux".

Now for those of you with strong constitutions, you can hear just how talentless Auxire really is - well at least when it comes to singing.

Here's her version of "Call me maybe" followed by Jepsen's just for comparison.





And if you're a real glutton for punishment, speed through the whole of the second programme to discover her - thankfully - last TV warbling performance (for now) at one hour 21 minutes and 47 seconds - almost two minutes of aural torture.

Or you could always listen to Zaz.



A word of warning. Dowloading the full replay programme will take a while, so you've more than enough time to peel the spuds, wash the kitchen floor or wrap some Christmas presents.

But if you have both the patience and the masochistic tendency to hear how awful she is, you might want to dull the pain with a very stiff something-or-other beforehand.

The woman can't sing - in tune at least - and perhaps it's not surprising the French have the expression "chante comme une casserole", although that's being a little unkind to saucepans.

France has found its Voice

Well at least it has chosen the winner of the first edition in this country of  “The Voice” or perhaps that should be “Ze Voice” as that’s the way many involved with the show seems to have been pronouncing it.
 

It is of course the latest prime time fast food show masquerading as a search for singing talent and uses a formula that seems to be working well in every country in which it has been adapted.

In France apparently seven million plus tuned in regularly to watch a show which many remarked “exuded positive vibes” with the judges – sorry coaches – praising their chosen protégés and sad to see them eliminated over the course of the weeks.

Oh yes it was really different from the backstabbing criticisms of the now defunct Star Academy or Nouvelle Star both of which had been the launching pad for innumerable short-lived careers among the very few that managed to build up a real following.

“Se Voice” only had participants who could really sing and was based on the premise that, at the auditions, coaches didn’t get to see who was singing and “chose” based on voice alone.

That meant a frump or freak could win the whole shebang as long as they had stunning vocal cords – right?

Quality would win out over image.

Except that didn’t appear to be the case for the final as one slightly off key performance followed another and the two favourites (both teenagers) had a distinctive visual appeal apart from their youth; ie they looked like stars in the making.

Anyway Stéphan Rizon the man with the big voice was the unexpected winner on Saturday even though some sort of wailing woman with a silly name Al Hy had widely been expected to walk it Or squawk it. She finished third.

Each finalist got the chance to sing solo twice and a duet with an internationally acclaimed star – well world famous in France at least.

There was Johnny Hallyday who obviously needed the money, Véronique Sanson, Yannick Noah (yes he of tennis fame) and Lenny Kravitz – heavens,  someone known outside of France.

They provided some of those typically cheesy TV moments  with Hallyday “doing battle” with Rizon or Sanson warblingly accompanying another contestant to one of her songs

All the “stars” were either signed to Universal Music (of which TF1 is part) or just happened to have a new album to promote present  – or both.  Yep the channel really takes the proverbial biscuit for imagining viewers are that dumb.

Not content with the yawnathon nature of the show, the producers decided there had to be one last song from each of the four contestants before the votes were tallied.

And guess who was dragged up on stage to perform alongside  their acolytes. Whoops, that rather gives the game away doesn't it, as of course it was the turn of the judges, coaches, call them what you will.

Well at least it gave viewers a laugh and the chance to see just how far Jenifer hadn’t progressed since winning Star Academy a decade ago and how out of place ex-Téléphone member Louis Bertignac was in the whole set up.

Results time – surprise all round as Rizon was announced the winner and presenter Nikos Aliagas rounding everything off by saying the France had chosen its “best singer”.

What exactly does that mean – that the rest were pants?  Of course not, just that Rizon was the crème de la crème (snort) at least until The Voice 2 begins airing.

On that note doesn’t it all seem a bit rich and something of an insult to try calling the latest non-entity “The Voice “when that has been  a label deservedly earned used to describe the likes of real singers such as Frank Sinatra and Whitney Houston.

Just a thought.