Alizée Trivia

[Bamagirl]

Hi everyone,

I have an Alizée trivia question for you all to think about!
In this year's Les Enfoires show, one of the songs was Envole Moi. Who can tell me what connection Alizée has to this song?

[Aragorn97]

Hi, Bamagirl!
I know almost nothing about French music (except for Alizée obviously), so the only thing I could do was to read this song translation and the only thing I can think of is that it may represent the opposite of Alizée's view. I mean, she would never fly away from Ajaccio. You know, her Paradisula.

Anyway, it's a good song.

[CleverCowboy]

Well, I did find this. Otherwise, I draw a blank.

[Scruffydog777]

Originally Posted by CleverCowboy

Well, I did find this. Otherwise, I draw a blank.

We have a winner!

I think this really demonstrates what a good voice she does have and I think after she left MF, she did not spend enough time working on that voice. I think the thing she missed the most when she left them was their management skills, someone to tell her whether it was to do with her own albums or Les Enfoires or guest shows, to not to sing such and such a song or put more emphasis on certain songs.

[CleverCowboy]

Originally Posted by Scruffydog777

I think this really demonstrates what a good voice she does have and I think after she left MF, she did not spend enough time working on that voice.

I agree. Her voice was a very strong alto at this age or maybe at the lower range of soprano. MCE was such a standout because LB wrote the music to fit her voice. As you said, I don't think Alizee spent much time expanding her range. Her later albums needed her to be as strong in soprano, but it turned out her voice was softer on each subsequent album. Her soft voice worked for her because it sounded sexy, but in Les Enfoires I notice when she struggles with the high notes. They come out but weak.

Then again, we all have consistently graded Alizee's singing ability as "good" or "very good", but never "great", and that is fine with me.

[Bamagirl]

Originally Posted by CleverCowboy

Well, I did find this. Otherwise, I draw a blank.

Nice job, CleverCowboy!

Edit:

Originally Posted by Scruffydog777

We have a winner!

I think this really demonstrates what a good voice she does have and I think after she left MF, she did not spend enough time working on that voice. I think the thing she missed the most when she left them was their management skills, someone to tell her whether it was to do with her own albums or Les Enfoires or guest shows, to not to sing such and such a song or put more emphasis on certain songs.

I completely agree, Scruffydog. Singers, no matter how naturally talented, need to be trained to get the best from their voices and to avoid damaging their voices over time. I don’t think Alizée got the highest level of professional guidance and vocal training she could have. This clip of her singing a-cappella is really stunning, as it shows her true, raw singing ability.

[Aragorn97]

I've always thought that Alizée has a specific voice like, for example, Michael Bublé, Springsteen or Sting. I'm not comparing Alizée to living legends like the last two of them but by this I mean that this type of singers can obviously sing a lot of different songs and be "ok" with them, but they do their very best in their "range". For example Sting is awesome in slow songs.
This is what I saw from her performances in which she is not singing her songs. Sometimes she does not sound that great (for example in English songs, even though I really like her accent), but when she finds the song that fits her, she is amazing as always.
Even though I listen to many different singers, I've never studied anything about music or voice-related things, but you seem very interested in the subject matter, so could you tell me more specifically about her voice and if I'm correct?

Originally Posted by Bamagirl

I completely agree, Scruffydog. Singers, no matter how naturally talented, need to be trained to get the best from their voices and to avoid damaging their voices over time. I don’t think Alizée got the highest level of professional guidance and vocal training she could have. This clip of her singing a-cappella is really stunning, as it shows her true, raw singing ability.

In my opinion the only good thing about her (I hope) temporary retirement is that her voice is preserved. Her voice won't change that much over time, because she is not using it (to sing).
In fact in Italy we have a singer called Mina, which in my opinion is the best female voice we have (don't know if she is famous out of Italy), that at one point of her career decided to leave TV shows and concerts. Now her voice is amazing and untouched by time (this should be sure because I also heard it from experts in some documentaries).

[CleverCowboy]

Originally Posted by Aragorn97

Even though I listen to many different singers, I've never studied anything about music or voice-related things, but you seem very interested in the subject matter, so could you tell me more specifically about her voice and if I'm correct?

I have some music background. I can read music and play several instruments and have performed in an orchestra, but that was when I was much younger. I also sang in a choir once upon a time long ago, but my singing voice is awful now. It just goes to show if you don't exercise your voice, you lose it. I know I sang in baritone, which is one step above bass and just below tenor. I was stuck in this octave and had trouble with higher (or lower) octaves.

I had mentioned that Alizee seems most comfortable in the alto or low soprano octaves. I remembered there was a name for low soprano and I had to Google it, and it is called mezzo-soprano. Guess who sings mezzo-soprano? Madonna. That's why Alizee sings La Isla Bonita so well. I would venture to say that Alizee could sing all of Madonna's songs and sound great. Being that Madonna was her favorite artist as a kid, I can imagine Alizee was singing and dancing along with Madonna videos.

[Aragorn97]

Originally Posted by CleverCowboy

I have some music background. I can read music and play several instruments and have performed in an orchestra, but that was when I was much younger. I also sang in a choir once upon a time long ago

Oh I see. Cool thing. I suppose that when you speak the language of music, you are able to observe everything from a different perspective, which make you analyze every detail.

Originally Posted by CleverCowboy

I know I sang in baritone, which is one step above bass and just below tenor. I was stuck in this octave and had trouble with higher (or lower) octaves.

I had mentioned that Alizee seems most comfortable in the alto or low soprano octaves. I remembered there was a name for low soprano and I had to Google it, and it is called mezzo-soprano.

Now, I don't know what you are talking about. Lol
From what I know, you are referring to her timbre, but that's probably something too specific for me. Once I read that she is a mezzo soprano, but didn't know what that could mean. Thanks to your comparison to Madonna now I have understood. At least, a little bit of the thing.

Originally Posted by CleverCowboy

Guess who sings mezzo-soprano? Madonna. That's why Alizee sings La Isla Bonita so well. I would venture to say that Alizee could sing all of Madonna's songs and sound great. Being that Madonna was her favorite artist as a kid, I can imagine Alizee was singing and dancing along with Madonna videos.

Exactly, she is amazing in that performance (in English!). I think that the fact she has been fan of Madonna since she was a kid helped her to develop her attitude in that direction. I mean, I suppose she feel very comfortable singing Madonna's songs.
But for example, I find that "Hung up" isn't the best of her covers. I think because it is too fast. On the other hand she is great with slower songs like la Déclaration d'amour (and obviously La Isla Bonita)

Edit:

Originally Posted by Scruffydog777

I'm far from knowledgeable about music or voices, but what I can offer opinions on is what pleases me and what impresses me and what doesn't and I'm quick to offer both sides of those opinions, even with Alizée.

Unfortunately, time limits me in what I can say, especially on days when I work such as today but one example I want to point out was a performance of Tal's Le Sens de la Vie that she sang with Jenifer in Les Enfoires.

This was I think a fairly good fit for her voice. Still, I think Jenifer's performance might have been better, until a point at about the: 37 to the: 42-second mark where her voice shows a beauty, a specialness that she has, that we don't see often enough and that far surpasses Jenifer's.

Unfortunately, I couldn't find the video on Youtube, but I added a Google drive video link to the whole performance and an audio link to the specific moment I'm talking about.

Tomorrow, I hope to add another example.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/19-j...ew?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-P-...ew?usp=sharing

Attachment 2784

Oh you answered while I was writing. I agree with you that here Alizée is better than the other singer, but I would put this performance on the same level of hung up (can't say which one is better, objectively speaking).
It seems to me that her voice is too delicate for this song. But I don't know if this is because I know the original version of the song, where Tal's voice is stronger and in my opinion more suitable.
Anyway, it is as if Alizée's voice isn't able to prevail in this kind of songs

[Scruffydog777]

I bought this years Les Enfoires dvd and I enjoyed the show. They had some new faces with very good voices, but at this point, I don't know if I'll add any of those songs to my play list. Sometimes it takes listening to a song 2 or 3 songs before it really grabs you.

This is a show I'd really like to see again even with Alizee not in it, but then again, seeing so many artists who have performed with Alizee would remind me she isn't in it and for that reason, I could not do it.