In these troubled times of economic crisis, political activism is back in style. But it's not always easy being an outspoken singer-activist as Manu Chao recently discovered to his cost in Mexico. During a visit to the Guadalajara International Film Festival, Chao discussed the 2006 uprising in San Salvador Atenco, near Mexico City, referring to the police intervention there as a form of "state terrorism." As a result of his comments, the world music star "faced deportation from Mexico", because his comments may have been anti-constructional. British newspaper The Guardian (9/4) reported that "Article 33 of the Mexican constitution states that 'foreigners cannot in any manner interfere in internal political affairs.'" The Mexican authorities' reaction to Chao's declaration stirred an uprising amongst Mexican journalists who waded in to defend the singer's fundamental right to free speech. A journalist writing in the national daily newspaper La Jornada (6/4) regretted the fact that "in attempting to limit Manu Chao's freedom of speech, what the federal government is actually demonstrating is that human rights are being violated in our country once again. (…) The government should take a look at what is really happening here rather than harassing an artist like Manu Chao."
Luckily, not all French music stars are so divisive. Take
Patricia Kaas, for instance. The French chanson star - currently preparing to represent her country at the Eurovision Song Contest in Moscow on 16 May - has assured a hectic international schedule, presenting her new album,
Kabaret, to fans around the world. A journalist from Quebec's
Le Soleil (25/4) noted that
"during the initial seconds (of our interview) Patricia Kaas's voice sounded distinctly weary, but the singer explained that she was just tired from all the travelling." And understandably so!
"The 'last international star of French chanson' jetted in to play a concert in Estonia whilst only the night before she had performed in Finland. Patricia Kaas is in the midst of an extensive tour which takes her to twenty different countries including Germany, Turkey, Israel and Latvia. During the winter of last year she performed no less than 17 times in Russia, giving a special one-off performance at the Kremlin Palace, in Moscow." But the latest challenge on Ms. Kaas's horizon is Eurovision.
"This year's Eurovision is in Moscow," she says,
"a city where I have a lot of fans. The contest is going to be held in the venue where I sang when I performed in Russia for the first time. What's more, the date coincides with the anniversary of my mother's death. For twenty years now, I've always refused to sing on that day, but this time round there were just too many signs!"Meanwhile, after several years' absence on the recording front, the Algerian Rai star
Khaled made a comeback earlier this year with a new album,
Liberté, and the single
Même pas fatigué (recorded with the hottest group from Ivory Coast: Magic System). Khaled's popularity in Europe is not what it once was, but he continues to play the international circuit nevertheless. Performing at the Womad festival in Abu Dhabi, the singer gave an interview to the United Arab Emirates' newspaper
The National (19/4)
, revealing that
"For me, it is very important to sing in Arabic.
OK, so it's not classical Arabic and there are lots of plays on words, but it is an important tradition. I believe that Rai has such a big following around the world, as there are lots of influences in the music – like rock and roll. It's very open music and there is a lot of joy in the music I play. Rai is basically the rock and roll of Algeria!"Khaled took his first steps towards international fame performing in the renowned world music capital, Paris. Proving that the French capital's world scene is still alive and kicking, London's Cargo recently organised its own 'French world music' festival with mitigated success. A critic from
The Guardian (6/4) noted that
"the first night of Cargo's Live Boutique Festival of 'music from the French world scene' was marred by problems, from the non-appearance of Senegal's El Hadj N’Diaye to a lack of promotion." And that lack of promotion inevitably meant reduced turn-out. Thus it was that
"the celebrated instrumentalist Titi Robin began his London return by playing to a sadly empty room." The unexpected star of the Cargo show turned out to be
Soha,
"a glamorous Algerian-French singer-songwriter who was backed by accordion and guitars" and
"looked tremendous covering anything from French pop to reggae and soulful Latin ballads." Meanwhile, over in the fashion world, there are rumours of a stage musical based on the life of the iconic French designer Yves Saint-Laurent. "While the life of Chanel is depicted on the big screen", reports Vogue U.K. (April 2009), "French singer Alain Chamfort and songwriter Pierre-Dominique Burgaud are working on a musical based on the designer's successful rise through the fashion ranks, from his time at Christian Dior through to his own couture career." Saint-Laurent's partner Pierre Bergé is reported to have described the first songs as "moving." An initial victory which bodes well for the success of Saint-Laurent the musical!
