ANNOUNCEMENT - Best of Alizée America

[FanDeAliFee]

It seems that Alizée America has been around about half a decade, and in that time about 180,000 forum posts have been made - an average of roughly 100 daily. I hope no one's feelings are hurt if I opine that not each posting is worthy of equal attention.

As proud as the record of Alizée America may be, it is hardly the only online "fan club" devoted to the Corsican Fairy. Is it impossible to believe that a thousand or more forum postings may have been made daily for her, in the past, even if not at present?

Should Alizée and her compatriots be so bored that they make time to see what people are writing about her online, how would they make the best use of their limited time? The hypothetical answer is reliance upon an editorial staff, which would reliably separate the wheat from the chaff, and at no financial expense, if possible.

That is why, early this year, I advocated to the Alizée America Gods that they undertake the creation of a forum to which they alone post the Best of Alizée America. This might work in a variety of ways. Forum moderators might themselves make recommendations, or solicit same from ordinary forum members. At the end of a regular period, such as a month, these nominations could be re-examined for their merits and from them selected the actual contributions the administration of the site publishes as the BEST of the month. The Web address of that posting could be advertised by a Twitter tweet, FaceBook wall posting, and so on. That would make it easy for the casual reader of this site, whether an ordinary person, or Alizée herself, to keep abreast of things here.

Sadly, I have not noticed that my suggestion has ever been taken up!. To encourage such an innovation, I invite you to nominate the forum postings of your fellow site members. Feel free to nominate both postings made during the current calendar month and in the past, even if distant. Some of the latter may remain of great interest, and indeed, the passage of time may have even ratified their value beyond that evident upon their genesis.

If enough of you participate, sufficient good material may aggregate here to prod the site administrators to start publishing and advertising a Best of Alizée America forum, merely at the peril of Alizée America's reputation.

Please also feel free to frankly comment upon the merits and follies of the concept proposed here, preferably with an eye to suggesting a scheme worthy of regular attention by both editors and readers!

Thank you for your very kind attention.

[severianb]

Let me give a perspective on this from a "Newbie" point of view, since this is the group that would benefit the most from an idea like this. And I'm still a newbie.

When I first got onto this site, I really was taken aback and almost didn't join. The main reason for this is that most of the posters are speaking a language newbies just can't understand. Newbies often know of nothing but the JEAM dance or La Isla Bonita. To them, Alizée is an ageless angel who they want to know more about. When you get on this board, they are often in for a rude shock.

Not because of Alizée. Yes, she has changed, but she is still a beautiful young woman and talented singer.

No, the main problem is many of the posters here have fallen IN love with Lilly, OUT of love with her, written vast tomes of opinions, travelled thousands of miles to see her, inked themselves and probably know the location of her beauty marks better than she does! As a newb, when I came in here and heard people saying things like, "Lilly doesn't try hard enough", "she's not sexy anymore" or "Her stage presence was awful, she no longer connects with the crowd and is a terrible live singer"... It was a REAL downer. It made me want to leave and not come back.

HOWEVER. I had The Bug. I'm no newbie to forums. I know the loudest voices in a forum are not always the ones to be respected the most... in fact, it's usually the opposite. I saw some nice threads, the kinds a newbie finds comforting. "Alizee is awesome"... "Wonderful new interview". And then I started digging into the Archives.... and THAT'S when I became ADDICTED to this site. Roman showing Alizée his tat, Scruffydog and friends getting CD's signed. The great magazine interview where she opens up about being giant computer geek. Stories about crazy trips to France and Mexico to see her perform. Links to videos of fantastic recent live performances like "Acoustic" & Israel that prove she can still perform, and interviews like this one, http://vimeo.com/14380611 that show she is as beautiful as ever.

Anyway, I just wanted to say I like this idea, and maybe as an addition (or totally seperate) a STICKY thread that says: "WONDERFUL threads for newbies to read!" with links in it to some of the old great adventures and positive stories and feelings. That really will make someone want to stick around Alizée America for the chance to be part of those things themselves.

I'll volunteeer to make the thread and update it, but it's not going to be of much use to newbs unless it's a sticky, I'll need a mods help with that!

[BlackAnthem]

I nominate Chuck. He's had some really good ideas. Some that really put the main goal of this site into action.

[Jake04]

I totally agree with both of you. Kind of like a Quick Guide to newbies (including those who don't have that much time to dig around - like Lilly). Maybe a tab or a link at the home page that would give them a quick link to really get to know Alizee better.

As far as the collection of threads: Even the best threads sometimes contain or include some party-poopers who have fallen out of love with Alizee but decided to stick around on this forum to bad mouth her. (This does not include a real difference of opinion, just like whether she performs better live, for example). I believe in free speech, but maybe we can "clean it up" a little bit. We can leave the original thread untouched. I'm talking about a "SANITIZED" version for newbies. (Kind of like movies where you have EDITED and UNEDITED versions.) This may also include removing the off-topic posts or those that contain vulgarities).
I know this involves hard work as some threads have hundreds of pages in them. But, if we all pitch in, I think it won't be impossible.

On a side note: How come when I searched for Alizee on our FAQ, no result was given!

[BlackAnthem]

Originally Posted by severianb

Let me give a perspective on this from a "Newbie" point of view, since this is the group that would benefit the most from an idea like this. And I'm still a newbie.

When I first got onto this site, I really was taken aback and almost didn't join. The main reason for this is that most of the posters are speaking a language newbies just can't understand. Newbies often know of nothing but the JEAM dance or La Isla Bonita. To them, Alizée is an ageless angel who they want to know more about. When you get on this board, they are often in for a rude shock.

Not because of Alizée. Yes, she has changed, but she is still a beautiful young woman and talented singer.

No, the main problem is many of the posters here have fallen IN love with Lilly, OUT of love with her, written vast tomes of opinions, travelled thousands of miles to see her, inked themselves and probably know the location of her beauty marks better than she does! As a newb, when I came in here and heard people saying things like, "Lilly doesn't try hard enough", "she's not sexy anymore" or "Her stage presence was awful, she no longer connects with the crowd and is a terrible live singer"... It was a REAL downer. It made me want to leave and not come back.

HOWEVER. I had The Bug. I'm no newbie to forums. I know the loudest voices in a forum are not always the ones to be respected the most... in fact, it's usually the opposite. I saw some nice threads, the kinds a newbie finds comforting. "Alizee is awesome"... "Wonderful new interview". And then I started digging into the Archives.... and THAT'S when I became ADDICTED to this site. Roman showing Alizée his tat, Scruffydog and friends getting CD's signed. The great magazine interview where she opens up about being giant computer geek. Stories about crazy trips to France and Mexico to see her perform. Links to videos of fantastic recent live performances like "Acoustic" & Israel that prove she can still perform, and interviews like this one, http://vimeo.com/14380611 that show she is as beautiful as ever.

Anyway, I just wanted to say I like this idea, and maybe as an addition (or totally seperate) a STICKY thread that says: "WONDERFUL threads for newbies to read!" with links in it to some of the old great adventures and positive stories and feelings. That really will make someone want to stick around Alizée America for the chance to be part of those things themselves.

I'll volunteeer to make the thread and update it, but it's not going to be of much use to newbs unless it's a sticky, I'll need a mods help with that!

Wow. That was touching. Really. I give you many kudos for that. I'm going to take a similar approach:

1. When I came I was eager to get into this. I wanted to be able to consider myself a valuable asset to this team. I don't think I've gotten to that point yet. I have come up with many ideas, taken the first steps in many good ideas (and not so good.)

2. Newbs have become a vital part of this site. They join at different times for different reasons. I have the utmost respect for them. They come in with a fresh perspective on ideas and promotional ideas. Some of them cause a stir and get the attention of big posters (There lookin' at you Azhiri, nice job!)

3. I want to apologize to severianb because I am one of the people who have been disappointed in Alizée's path these past months. I'm sorry we're such downers.

If newbs can take the steps that will get this job of Alizée in America, kudos to you. I know I've tried many ideas and only some have partially worked.

Good Luck.

[Scruffydog777]

Originally Posted by severianb

Let me give a perspective on this from a "Newbie" point of view, since this is the group that would benefit the most from an idea like this. And I'm still a newbie.

When I first got onto this site, I really was taken aback and almost didn't join. The main reason for this is that most of the posters are speaking a language newbies just can't understand. Newbies often know of nothing but the JEAM dance or La Isla Bonita. To them, Alizée is an ageless angel who they want to know more about. When you get on this board, they are often in for a rude shock.

Not because of Alizée. Yes, she has changed, but she is still a beautiful young woman and talented singer.

No, the main problem is many of the posters here have fallen IN love with Lilly, OUT of love with her, written vast tomes of opinions, travelled thousands of miles to see her, inked themselves and probably know the location of her beauty marks better than she does! As a newb, when I came in here and heard people saying things like, "Lilly doesn't try hard enough", "she's not sexy anymore" or "Her stage presence was awful, she no longer connects with the crowd and is a terrible live singer"... It was a REAL downer. It made me want to leave and not come back.

HOWEVER. I had The Bug. I'm no newbie to forums. I know the loudest voices in a forum are not always the ones to be respected the most... in fact, it's usually the opposite. I saw some nice threads, the kinds a newbie finds comforting. "Alizee is awesome"... "Wonderful new interview". And then I started digging into the Archives.... and THAT'S when I became ADDICTED to this site. Roman showing Alizée his tat, Scruffydog and friends getting CD's signed. The great magazine interview where she opens up about being giant computer geek. Stories about crazy trips to France and Mexico to see her perform. Links to videos of fantastic recent live performances like "Acoustic" & Israel that prove she can still perform, and interviews like this one, http://vimeo.com/14380611 that show she is as beautiful as ever.

Anyway, I just wanted to say I like this idea, and maybe as an addition (or totally seperate) a STICKY thread that says: "WONDERFUL threads for newbies to read!" with links in it to some of the old great adventures and positive stories and feelings. That really will make someone want to stick around Alizée America for the chance to be part of those things themselves.

I'll volunteeer to make the thread and update it, but it's not going to be of much use to newbs unless it's a sticky, I'll need a mods help with that!

I've been in addition to being a big fan over the years, her biggest critic in here. Back when I first found out about her, I was pretty much new to forums. Had gone to different ones when I needed some info on things such as computer or automotive problems, but never had cared about anything or anyone enough to join one, until Alizée came along.

When I first joined, I didn't know how to act really. I guess I really didn't take things seriously, kidded around too much, but I learned over time to be more respectful of other members and their feelings. Still I was a big critic of her Psych album and her stage appearences after it was written. I tried often and in different ways to get my point across. I thought back then that maybe someone from her camp is listening, maybe it's not too late for changes to be made.

Well it didn't do any good back then and though I still have criticisms of her, I seldom express them except on some occassions where I get into discussions ( or are they arguements?) about different things and I can't help but state my views and I think sometimes because I've kept them penned up inside me, I let go with an intensity that goes overboard.

So what shoud a fan forum be? Should it be a place where a celebrity goes to hear nothing but positive things about him or herself to boost their own moral; or should it be a place where they should go to find out what the fans that love them, think deep down inside, that they are doing right or wrong with their career? No sugar coating anything, no pulling punches because it is a celebrity they love, just honest undiluted opinions or criticisms.

Sorry to get off topic FanDeAliFee. I think you have a very good idea and will try to give it some thought in between all the other Alizée things I'm working on.

[user472884]

Originally Posted by FanDeAliFee

I hope no one's feelings are hurt if I opine that not each posting is worthy of equal attention.

Yeah,

[Azhiri]

Originally Posted by severianb

No, the main problem is many of the posters here have fallen IN love with Lilly, OUT of love with her, written vast tomes of opinions, travelled thousands of miles to see her, inked themselves and probably know the location of her beauty marks better than she does!

I know it's not what you were getting at, but one thing that almost caused me not to join was that some of the things mentioned above sort of scared me, just a bit. I mean, I was seeing (and still see, though it doesn't bother me anymore) grown men swooning over a girl/woman (depending on which era was being discussed) young enough to be their daughter. It was a little.. I don't want to say creepy, but I'm sure you guys get the picture.

Basically where I'm going with this is that we should take great care to avoid actually scaring away any potential new members (or otherwise important individuals!) with discussions like those, should this idea come to fruition. It probably goes without saying, but I just want to make sure it's clear.

Anyways, what an awesome idea! I can't wait to see where this goes.

[rcs]

Sounds like a good idea. Go for it!

[severianb]

Originally Posted by Jake04

I totally agree with both of you. Kind of like a Quick Guide to newbies (including those who don't have that much time to dig around - like Lilly). Maybe a tab or a link at the home page that would give them a quick link to really get to know Alizee better.

Well, I think the homepage of this site is pretty sweet in that regard. It has a nice summary, and the pic of Lilly signing autographs for us American fans is a really wonderful, touching thing.

As far as the collection of threads: Even the best threads sometimes contain or include some party-poopers who have fallen out of love with Alizee but decided to stick around on this forum to bad mouth her. (This does not include a real difference of opinion, just like whether she performs better live, for example). I believe in free speech, but maybe we can "clean it up" a little bit. We can leave the original thread untouched. I'm talking about a "SANITIZED" version for newbies. (Kind of like movies where you have EDITED and UNEDITED versions.) This may also include removing the off-topic posts or those that contain vulgarities).
I know this involves hard work as some threads have hundreds of pages in them. But, if we all pitch in, I think it won't be impossible.

I love your passion, but I'm way, way to lazy for that. I'm just going to start posting links to (What I think are) great threads.

On a side note: How come when I searched for Alizee on our FAQ, no result was given!

It seems to be one of those features that is never set up on these type of boards, but always there to click on... then LOL.

Originally Posted by BlackAnthem

Wow. That was touching. Really. I give you many kudos for that. I'm going to take a similar approach:

Awww, thank you.

1. When I came I was eager to get into this. I wanted to be able to consider myself a valuable asset to this team. I don't think I've gotten to that point yet. I have come up with many ideas, taken the first steps in many good ideas (and not so good.)

I'm at that point now. Full of ideas, but don't want to be annoying putz.

2. Newbs have become a vital part of this site. They join at different times for different reasons. I have the utmost respect for them. They come in with a fresh perspective on ideas and promotional ideas. Some of them cause a stir and get the attention of big posters (There lookin' at you Azhiri, nice job!)

Newbs are awesome! (pats self and other newbs on the back)

3. I want to apologize to severianb because I am one of the people who have been disappointed in Alizée's path these past months. I'm sorry we're such downers.

You better be sorry. I'm a pretty tough guy, and I don't take kindly to people being downers on Alizee. In fact, I aim to misbehave. Seriously, though, I can't think of any way around it. It's a free place. I know I'm seriously at odds with some folks ideas of proper postings on here already, but it's how I truly feel.

Originally Posted by Scruffydog777

I've been in addition to being a big fan over the years, her biggest critic in here. Back when I first found out about her, I was pretty much new to forums. Had gone to different ones when I needed some info on things such as computer or automotive problems, but never had cared about anything or anyone enough to join one, until Alizée came along.

Yeah, that's sort of been my experience also. I have absolutley NO IDEA what I'm doing on some American forum about a French singer. Oh wait, I do: Alizée is awesome.

When I first joined, I didn't know how to act really. I guess I really didn't take things seriously, kidded around too much, but I learned over time to be more respectful of other members and their feelings. Still I was a big critic of her Psych album and her stage appearences after it was written. I tried often and in different ways to get my point across. I thought back then that maybe someone from her camp is listening, maybe it's not too late for changes to be made.

Well it didn't do any good back then and though I still have criticisms of her, I seldom express them except on some occassions where I get into discussions ( or are they arguements?) about different things and I can't help but state my views and I think sometimes because I've kept them penned up inside me, I let go with an intensity that goes overboard.

The word "Fan" is a short form of the word "Fanatic"... which is what you are. Some people are going to find that intensity frightening, but it can also be inspiring. Reading the thread(s) about your trip to France to get the CDs was one of the reasons I joined this site, and that would have never happened unless you were the fan you are.

So what shoud a fan forum be? Should it be a place where a celebrity goes to hear nothing but positive things about him or herself to boost their own moral; or should it be a place where they should go to find out what the fans that love them, think deep down inside, that they are doing right or wrong with their career? No sugar coating anything, no pulling punches because it is a celebrity they love, just honest undiluted opinions or criticisms.

I think true fans should post whatever they really feel and think. If they can't do it here, where can they? It's also a good form of free therapy for bonkers fans. I just feel as a newbie, I'd like to see a nice list of cool threads to look through without having to process the hopes and fears of fans who are in real, real, real deep.

Originally Posted by Azhiri

I know it's not what you were getting at, but one thing that almost caused me not to join was that some of the things mentioned above sort of scared me, just a bit. I mean, I was seeing (and still see, though it doesn't bother me anymore) grown men swooning over a girl/woman (depending on which era was being discussed) young enough to be their daughter. It was a little.. I don't want to say creepy, but I'm sure you guys get the picture.

Creepy is a perfectly good word. I'll admit one of the big reasons I wasn't a huge Lilly fan back in the day was her age. I just saw the dancing, heard the music, got interested... then found out she was a kid. Felt creepy and stopped watching. Now that she's older and has toned it down, I can enjoy some of her older work and appreciate what a wonder she was then and now, all or nothing.

Basically where I'm going with this is that we should take great care to avoid actually scaring away any potential new members (or otherwise important individuals!) with discussions like those, should this idea come to fruition. It probably goes without saying, but I just want to make sure it's clear.

Anyways, what an awesome idea! I can't wait to see where this goes.

The only thing that scared me away was the super negative people, who had /have nothing but bad stuff to say about Alizée. Obviously, they didn't do the job properly, and now you folks have to deal with me!

WAHOOOO!!!

In fact, this thread inspired me to do what I've been thinking of doing for a few weeks, make a list of MY favorite threads! It'll be in my sig.