Quote:
Originally Posted by Corsaire
The problem I see with your line of reasoning is that those YouTube numbers for Alizée are/were mainly generated by days gone by dance moves, panties display, sexy look and bathing suit pictures. I am all for promoting Alizée, but let us be realistic, if you were to subtract the views and comments that relate to her teenage beauty and sexy moves, those numbers might not even be 5% of what they are. I have introduced Alizée to countless people and although every single one of them (male and female) commented on her exceptional beauty and grace, I doubt very much that a single one would care to see one of her shows, let alone stand in line for an autograph.
I can’t speak for other countries, but one can easily list 5-10 French female singers (Mylène Farmer, Patricia Kaas, Vanessa Paradis, Véronique Sanson, Mireille Mathieu...) that could show up in Canada tomorrow and get way more interest generated than Alizée can. The potential might be there, but I really doubt she is the most popular female French singer in the world right now, not even close.
And that is not counting other female francophone artists that are not of French nationality, like Céline Dion or Lara Fabian.
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I agree with you, which is why the thread title is "What Could've Been for Alizee in the U.S." (past tense). Considering Youtube only came into existence about 2006 or 2007 - well past Alizee's success with Gourmandises and MCE in 2001 through 2004 - it's pretty impressive that Alizee got so many views after her glory days. A lot of Americans are only discovering her today, so I imagine sales of her first 2 albums may eventually double or triple from the initial 5 million back in 2001-2004. I think they just added Alizee to iTunes, but unfortunately, only her first 2 albums. If Alizee's mgmt had any brains, they'd put Psychedelices and UEDS there too and hope for some trickle down effect. Right now, everyone is just lining the pockets of Mylene Farmer.
And you are right. The initial draw to Alizee is her incredible beauty during her early days. But which artists don't sell a bit of skin to get attention? It's like a bread crumb trail, and before you know it, you've seen and heard every song on Gourmandises and MCE as well as Psychedilices and UEDS. But the music and vocals also have to be strong for people to stay interested, which is Alizee's problem now.
BTW, you really shouldn't belittle Alizee's voice and talents. It's unfortunate that her incredible sex appeal overshadows her voice, but I'd like to note that 2 of her top 4 videos on Youtube are La Isla Bonita and Ella Elle L'a with 12 million and 8 million views respectively. And she isn't exactly stripping for the cameras in those 2 videos. She's wearing sweatpants as more than one comment on those vids stated. She can't help that she's incredibly sexy. It's a curse!
And most importantly, neither of those 2 songs are from the Mylene/LB team who gets most of the credit for Alizee's success.
If you were to ask 100 Americans to name a famous French singer, I'm pretty sure Alizee would top that list regardless if they are fans or not.