A question of etiquette or..
 

..how to keep one's cool.

O.k. here's the thing.I'm looking for some advice on an Alizee-related dilemma (I've put this off-topic as it does wander).

As some of you may know I make my living as a football writer and I'm leaving for the Euro 2008 finals on Thursday.My first assignment is going to be with the French squad conducting a few one-to-one interviews for various publications.

Now in the course of my background research I have learned that one of my interviewees played for AC Ajaccio , Alizee's hometown team, at the height of Alizee's first flush of success between her first two albums.

My question is , should I turn the conversation on to Lili's music , whether she ever attended any matches and whether he was aware of the phenomenon in the midst of his adopted town or instead stick to my planned script.

Now usually my interview style leads on to other topics anyway and ordinarily I have no qualms about that.However on subjects that I am passionate about (and yes Alizee is clearly a passion ;)) I have a tendancy to gush and lapse into purple prose.

As it is , I get pretty good assignments for precisely the reason that I don't gush or get intimidated into avoiding difficult question ( being able to speak other languages , a rarity in the British sports press , also helps I guess).Clearly I'd rather not blow this rep by blathering like an idiot but we'll see.

Now as I can't decide how to play this one , and in the interests of forum democracy , I'll leave it up to you guys'n'gals to decide for me.

I'll check back before I leave on Thursday and I'll let the majority rule decide my actions.

Thanks in advance.

Would asking about Alizée have any relevance to the publications you're witting for? I.e., are these more personal or professional profiles of the athletes? I suppose there's no harm in asking a question or two, as long as you mind your tendency to gush. Congrats, have fun, and good luck with assignment!

Well you don't have to print everything you interview people on right? You could try to make an effective transition, or sneak in a question about Alizée and if he knows about or likes her then you'd have accomplished both your goals, and if he doesn't then you could just leave that part out of the interview.

who knows it may be the beginnings of a beautiful friendship!! Just out of curiosity I would ask if he was aware of her, being so close to her home and all.
We inject all of ourselves in whatever we do. Go for it!!!

i probably ask a couple of questions about Alizee - i would assume she is one of the more famous individuals from Corsica. The football player probably has a crush on her too

maybe you could easy the question in like:

so Corsica is your hown island
so what's your favorite food from Corisca?
your favorite music?
how about that Alizee
isn't she something or what?
have you ever met her?
have you ever seen her on the beach?
and in that bikini? :D my god she's quite the attractive young lady isn't she?
and then ask all different things about Alizee from thereon :D

I'm sorry, wish I had something smarter to say, but ROFLMAO!

lol, yeah I think the way you can approach dropping an Alizee in depends if you can edit out things later or not.

ZOMG he dropped the ROFLMAO bomb, add some lollerskates and some roflcopter and you got yourself a lmaonaise sandwich.
You gotta approach the situation in the right manner i think. maybe talk about the history of corisica, then go on talking about famous ppl from the area and such. Eventually you will get to Alizée... it always happens.

I say go for it ! Maybe he knows her , how awesome would that be :p

Also if you see Malouda , tell him he's cr*p.Thanks :D

I think i would ask them about her. If from the first question they seem uncomfortable about it, then maybe you could back off the Alizée-related topic.

If it doesn't harm the integrity of your job too much, might i ask which player(s) on the current squad used to play for Ajaccio? Or more specifically who are you interviewing for Les Bleus?