A quiet week for Lara publicly, something we will probably be saying for most of the next two months, although surprises can always pop up. Instead, there was a potpourri of news items…
In lieu of concert activities on Lara’s part, the fans have organized a ‘fan’ meeting in Brussels for this coming Saturday night. You may remember that at the last event, Lara surprised everybody by showing up (potentially as a way to reassure long-term fans that her dalliance with Eastern Europe/Russia did not mean she had abandoned them). The 80+ fans scheduled for this meeting do not expect a repeat performance. It is to take place at the ‘House of Atilla’ in Brussels. The organizers are Nathalie , Jenny , and Valou with the ‘pure-lara’ website taking the leading role; there are also some contributing sponsors. People are coming in costumes (there will be a competition), and they can bring gifts/letters for Lara, which will be delivered the following day. There is no doubt that Lara’s ‘angels’ gain much from socializing with each other – after all, with whom else can one share one’s great appreciation of Lara… :)
Lara is attempting to reciprocate that appreciation in other ways…she put a message on her FB site expressing her gratitude at the wonderful notes people have written to her there. In particular, she wrote:
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“I finished reading your touching, sincere and moving messages…I am full of gratitude with respect to this link that unites us. Time passes and I grow before your eyes…I feel that a new part of my life has begun and is being accomplished with your support.
In all the countries where I sing, I take our history and I tell it. I sing to them these songs that you have already loved, and that you have made yours.
Always close to me .... See you soon somewhere ...”
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[It has been translated here because it appears that the FB site has already stopped giving Lara’s message in English as well; or perhaps she feels that this really only applies to French-speaking fans…]
When the Mlle. Zhivago CD came out in Russia and the Ukraine last year, Lara’s fans were somewhat shocked to find Igor Krutoi sharing the cover with Lara. ‘Myshka’ on the Russian site reported that in an article last year in the magazine HELLO, Krutoi indicated that it was Lara’s choice, that he was surprised by it, and went along because they thought it might help improve sales in Russia that way. There's no indication as to whether the cover will stay the same if it is released elsehwere...
In another magazine article, this time commenting on the “New Wave” show in Latvia, Krutoi said that the goal of the organizers was to reach not only the former Soviet Union but also western audiences, and to that regard, they were willing to switch to English to attract western stars. Actually they want it to rival ‘Eurovision’. The fact that the program is in Russian (which is not overly appreciated in Latvia) is because traditionally (and to this day) it has featured primarily Russian pop stars (pictures of whom, attending the show, can be found at: http://www.kasjauns.lv/lv...otne-notiks-anglu-valoda ). Lara’s presence thus perhaps highlighted the ‘new wave’ of the future for the program, which was held in Latvia for the tenth year.
Larafabiannews.com pointed out that there is a wonderful version of Lara singing the MIchael Jackson song ‘You Are Not Alone’ in a café in Belgium with ‘Macksuendell’. It was uploaded by ‘MichelleKarenLima’ who said her brother was doing a concert in the café, Lara was staying next door, was invited to sing with them and accepted! Apparently this was in October 2010. It can be found at:
It’s a real treasure!
Larafabianweb.com has reported that the CD project “Il etais une fois” of Thierry Gali, with Lara’s participation, has reached 100% of the required on-line funding. Lara’s websites played a big role in this, even if Lara never did get around to posting her own message encouraging fans to support it (she was on vacation for most of that time).
The LaraFabianRomanianFC channel has started adding English subtitles to another long program of Lara’s, this time FREQUENTSTAR from 1998. They do a great job!
Now for the last part of the ‘Good Works’ section in the biography of Lara Fabian, pp. 183-190:
**A listing of the various causes that Lara has worked for reinforces the impression that she is very serious about social topics she believes in, throws herself into them, and will not participate in anything that strikes her as unjust. As we know, she even includes social commentary in some of her songs, although they don’t get the ‘play’ that the titles concerned with relationships attract..
**Discussed in this section are her work for ‘Reporters without Frontiers’, where she and other artists were given a camera to take pictures of anything they liked, with the camera then sold at auction. Fans collected 1000 euros to buy it, but it actually went for 1900 euros; nevertheless, they decided to donate their collection to the heart association for children in Quebec with which Lara has been associated (“En Coeur”).
**Also noted is her participation in the Laurette Fugain association, named for the daughter of Michel and Stephanie Fugain who died of leukemia; you may remember Lara participated in the song “Le Coeur des femmes” and also sang “Je suis” on a TV broadcast.
**Of course, Lara’s association with AMTM, helping bring health, economic development and education benefits to women and children in Katmandu; she was sensitized to this cause by her friend and guitarist Laurent Roubach,
**Her work with the association ‘Paroles de Femmes’ aimed at making better known the plight of homeless women – Lara’s dressing up as a homeless person and spending some four hours out on the street (along with several other stars) was filmed and received a lot of publicity. Its purpose was to emphasize to the public how these people were generally ignored and shunned (Lara was only recognized by two people in that time). She participated only when they assured her that something concrete would come out of it – in this case, the building of several homes per year to house people in that state.
**And then there were “Les Enfoires”. Three different years (1998, 2001, 2005) Lara performed in this big media concert/event to help provide food to “Les Restos du Coeur”, a French charitable organization that distributes food to the needy. Ultimately she came to feel that the organization did not practice the principles it was supposedly standing for, in the way it treated its participants. So she quit, in a fairly public way. This is the other side of the passionate Lara – if she is crossed, disrespected or disillusioned, she takes that to heart as well, and acts on her emotions.
**Finally, the chapter ends with the author eulogizing Lara’s strong stand as a feminist, again fighting social injustices, in this case for women. It is definitely true that Lara admires strong women (she has said her family is full of them). In interviews, Lara herself makes the subtle distinction between her fight against the way men in power act, and men in general whom she loves.
There are no expectations of any appearances by Lara in this summer vacation time. We’ll see if the fan meeting in Brussels produces any surprises worth reporting.
David




