[2010-03-06] Alizée in LIBÉRATION NEXT Magazine

[Bigdan]

Originally Posted by wasabi622

Um.. who is that other woman? Not Mylene is it?

sure it is.

[wasabi622]

Originally Posted by pepelepew

Yep it is!

Originally Posted by Bigdan

sure it is.

See, that there is why her lolita image(you know, her Mylene influenced style) still, to some degree, has an affect on her even today.

I'm not saying that she's going back and trying to do exactly what Mylene did, but at the same time, you can't really deny the similarities.

[pepelepew]

Her collaboration with MF/LB was a huge gift. Today it is somewhat of a curse as it relates to her current image. No matter what she does there will be a comparison with those days and some of it is probably accurate. Why try and completely reinvent the wheel. If it works don't fix it. Unfortunately in the pop world the successful acts are 80% visual effect and 20% talent in terms of what the industries priorities reveal. Not only is the available talent today minute compared to 50's-80's, but there has been a steady decline in talent since the advent of the video via MTV/VH1. Prior to that the focus was on over all musical talent. If you didn't sound good you had no chance at success. Today it is much more important to look good than sound good.

[Deepwaters]

Originally Posted by wasabi622

See, that there is why her lolita image(you know, her Mylene influenced style) still, to some degree, has an affect on her even today.

The Lolita image, although Mylène-designed, is radically different from Mylène's OWN image, which has never been that of a sexy ingenue.

[wasabi622]

Originally Posted by Deepwaters

The Lolita image, although Mylène-designed, is radically different from Mylène's OWN image, which has never been that of a sexy ingenue.

Of course, don't get me wrong. I didn't mean to say that Alizée was copying or trying to emulate Mylene, but that she is influenced by her days as the lolita.

Similiar to how Jackie Chan and Jet Li can be linked to Bruce Lee. All three of them have radically different styles, but they are all somewhat influenced by Bruce Lee.

[Deepwaters]

The current style of Alizée insofar as we can tell what it is, does seem to have some things in common with Mylène Farmer. Mylène always tells a story, she's very sexy, and she has a dark undercurrent. Alizée seems to be telling a story in this new album, which has a dark undercurrent, and in some of her recent photos she's shown a more risqué streak than in the past. But it is still very, very different from her past under Mylène's tutelage, especially in the time of her first album. The Lolita image wasn't just sexy, it was a sexy-innocent TEENAGE girl, and that is something Alizée most certainly is not now.

I'm not sure I'd say that she's imitating Mylène, either, because that dark-and-sexy feel with a hint of self-destruction is to be expected around the story of Edie Sedgwick.

I'm just enjoying this a lot. She seems to be following exactly the path that I had suggested to her that she should (not that I'm saying she did so on my advice alone): to create an album with a more unified theme and style rather than a smorgasborg like Psychédélices, and to allow herself to be sexy in performance. That's exactly what I see her doing. I think it's fantastic.

[FanDeAliFee]

Originally Posted by pepelepew

Her collaboration with MF/LB was a huge gift. Today it is somewhat of a curse as it relates to her current image. No matter what she does there will be a comparison with those days and some of it is probably accurate. Why try and completely reinvent the wheel. If it works don't fix it.

I've already said that, over time, what one does during a short span of years may indicate potential, but need not forever weigh down one's image as long as there is a lengthy trail of new stuff of comparable impact. The key phrase is "as long as."

Of course, there is a "typecasting" effect in a visual medium, as many film and TV actors have found to their great regret. And Alizée has said she thinks that the French music scene subjects one to a typecasting straitjacket as well, while the USA market is less constricting. That's why I think she'd like to break into the USA market, if possible, and why I think <i>Psychédélices</i> was so eclectic - and very enjoyable to me.

Originally Posted by pepelepew

Unfortunately in the pop world the successful acts are 80% visual effect and 20% talent in terms of what the industries priorities reveal. Not only is the available talent today minute compared to 50's-80's, but there has been a steady decline in talent since the advent of the video via MTV/VH1. Prior to that the focus was on over all musical talent. If you didn't sound good you had no chance at success. Today it is much more important to look good than sound good.

You mean that Billy "Fernando" Crystal would opine that:
<big><big><big><I>Dahling... eet's not how you sound... eet's HOW YOU LOOK!!!</i></big></big></big>

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From Alizée's recent <i>Teknikart</i> magazine cover, it would seem that people <i>still</i> admire Madonna's "bellybutton"!

<small>(Small high five to the other aging folks here...)</small>