Friday's French music break - Corson, "Raise me up (je respire)"

This week's Friday's French music break is "Raise me up (je respire)" from Alain Cordier, a singer from the north-eastern town of Thionville who goes by the stage name of Corson.

Corson (screenshot from "Raise me up (je respire)" official video)

It's the latest release from his debut album "The rainbow" and allows Corson, who has over the years sung in several musicals and operettas, to switch genres, using what is described as an "atypical" voice, to venture into the world of pure pop.

A fair bit has been written about his career. He's far from being an overnight sensation and has a solid, if unspectacular (in terms of commercial success) musical pedigree starting out with a classical training at the Conservatoire de Thionville.

The 34-year-old describes his music as "typically Anglo-Saxon mixed with French sensibility" and it's perhaps not surprising that among the groups and singers he cites as having influenced him the most, there's not one French act.

Instead, he says he draws his inspiration from the likes of Sting, U2, Nirvana, Pink Floyd, Radiohead and Rufus Wainwright.

Oh yes...and Depeche Mode, which perhaps explain the resemblance (don't you think?) to the group's lead singer Dave Gahan in the chorus of "Raise me up (je respire)" as Corson switches from French to English.

He has recently been the opening act for a few blasts from the past (who have not had the same sort of consistency or staying power over the years as Depeche Mode) including Boy George, Morten Harket (remember him? ) and Lisa Standsfield as they've each passed through Paris.

He's also scheduled to appear at the Cabenes festival in Metz on July

And following up on the interest there has been in "Raise me up (je respire)" as it has been receiving considerable airplay, he's also lined up to be interviewed on Virgin radio on Sunday evening complete with an acoustic performance.

Could well be worth a listen.


For the moment though, here's the single.

Enjoy and, as usual, have a great weekend.

Plagiarism claims levelled against French Eurovision hopefuls Twin Twin

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.

Twin Twin (screenshot from France 3 television)

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.