Lara Fabian
When we think of the 33rd Eurovision song contest held in Dublin 1988 as a result of Johnny Logans win the year before with ‘Hold me now’ we mostly dwell on one event, the emergence of Celine Dion who went on to win the competition with ‘Ne partez pas sans moi’. With a high energy vocal performance she lit up the stage and set fire to our hearts. Now she can is often bracketed amongst the great diva’s of our time including Whitney, Barbara and Mariah. However there was another great diva graced the stage of the 33rd Eurovision contest and she did so with great poise and quiet dignity. Her blossoming would take longer than Celine but blossom she did and now her star is fixed amongst the greats. Phil Collins has referred to her as ‘the best voice in the world’ and I for one am inclined to agree. Representing Luxemburg singing ‘Croire’ (Trust) was the Belgian born Lara Fabian.
Coming a very respectable fourth and selling over 500,000 copies of the single Lara’s path to stardom was almost assured.
In 1991 she and her musical partner Rick Allison moved to the French speaking province of Quebec, Canada . There she released a self entitled French album which was certified Gold in 1993 and Platinum the following year. In 1995 she was voted the best female singer of the year at the Felix awards. In 1997 her album ‘Pure’ sold over two million copied in France and went platinum after two weeks. ‘Pure’ also contained a very unique song, an anti homophobia anthem called ‘La Difference’. She won the World music award for best album of the year. Soon America was calling and she answered going on to produce her first English speaking album which again was self entitled. Her dance song ‘I will love again’ reached number 1 on the USA billboard dance charts. Her follow up ballad ‘Love by grace’ peaked in the billboard chart at 24 and went to number 1 in Brazil and Portugal. Her next single ‘Adagio’ charted at number 3 in Europe while the Album debuted at number 1. Her next French album in 2001 ‘Nue’ went to number 1 in France and even reached the top ten in Portugal. 2004 saw her next English speaking album ‘A wonderful life’ gain a lot of critical respect however due to conflicts with Sony the album was pulled from an American release.
On the brighter side 2004 also saw Lara appear in her first movie role in Cole Porters ‘De Lovely’ opposite Kevin Kline, Ashley Judd and other singers such as Alanis Morissette, Robbie Williams and Sheryl Crow.
Another French album followed called ‘9’ and showcased a more mature vocal. A live version of the album was released containing two Barbara Streisand covers.
Taking a well deserved break after the birth of her daughter in 2007 Lara returned in 2009 with back to back albums one in French and one in English. Both albums are filled with cover versions of her personal favourite songs by female artists. ‘Toutes les femmes en moi’ covers songs from Nana Mouskouri, Maurane to Celine Dion. Her English album covers songs from Bette Midler, Joni Mitchell, Karen Carpenter, Kate Bush and Sarah McLachlan.
Lara Fabian has often been compared to Celine Dion with fans of both often getting quite aggressive in defence of their chanteuse preferee. However with the ability to sing and speak fluently in English, French, Italian and Spanish and with a classically trained vocal I believe Lara has the edge while not the same opportunities. It seems as the Eurovision judged, Lara will always exist in Celine’s shadow. I’m just waiting for that day when the sun comes out and it will.
