[Chuck]

BEAUTIFUL JOB, ROMAN! (AS USUAL )

Roman, thanks so much for bringing this article to "the rest of us" by translating so expertly. I think Trax and the author give a good (realistic) objective view of Alizée, her career so far, U.E.D.S., and how they all are faring in the music scene of France today. Insights galore! Very enlightening. I think if we had a "required reading" list here at the forum, this article would have to be on it!

Then Roman said:

I for one would find it more interesting if she was more interested in show-biz in so far as one is talking about performance. Interesting music mixed with interesting dance or ... something. That is what people want, an experience. ...

True, true...

...It's no doubt hard to organize time and even more so training for events, but while she could just be a singer, she makes one dream a beautiful dream when one thinks of great music and her singing along with the beauty of dance. I know she can't probably do much of both at the same time, but for a music video, for instance... I think if she could do something really classy with dance and song, it would be within the realm of how we like to imagine her and bring her a lot of respect and adoration back.

But, it's one thing to say it and another to do it. That requires a certain talent, but also a certain amount of training. It's no doubt a lot easier to record for a video than do live, but people want Alizée to create a dream we can fall into and that's what creates the kind of fans that she initially attracted. ...

I'd argue that Lili is one person who HAS the talent, and has the training and discipline required... but she's more concerned with raising a child, at the moment.

... For whom is it enough in 2010 to put out an album of 10 songs and let people know it's there? I guess if it works, it works, but if it doesn't everyone will say there is something missing.

Yes, if it works, great! But if not, hey, at least she's still going, and she's proven to a lot of people that she's NOT just planning to fade away and become a schoolteacher. Rather, she's reaffirmed herself as a professional musician and artist. (Nobody called her an "artist" in the olden days.) I think at this point in her career, she's gotten to a very good point, lackluster sales figures be damned! She's still showing a lot of strength, vitality, viability, and still able to keep us all intrigued and wanting to hear more. In other words, she's proven to all of France that she's still got "it", but now with a more matured sensibility. And whether they're buying the records or not is secondary - the most important thing she's achieved now is a renewed credibility.

Raising a toddler isn't easy, it takes all of your time, patience, energy, emotions, and leaves you wiped out at the end of every day. Likewise, reinventing oneself and changing the course of one's career path is also difficult to do. And look-- Alizée has done both!

So I think it's great that she's now got ten new songs she can tour with. But I suspect she's planning to get more, before attempting to do any major solo (sans MF/LB) performing again. Say, maybe once Annilly's in school, perhaps? The article said "Show-biz? Not her thing / Alizée is a victim of her original success..." and I think that's all very true. She's fighting mightily to get rid of her former "hot pop-tart" image. If we truly support her, we've got to hope she wins this fight.