ADULT CONTEMPORARY
By Annette M. Lai

One thing that continues to enthrall me after all these years in the business is being able to see a performer on the brink of major stardom. That’s how I felt last month when I witnessed Lara Fabian showcase songs from her self-titled English-language debut set for release at the end of next month. Self-assured and incredibly articulate (she speaks four languages!)–not to mention beautiful and talented–the Belgian-born Fabian has already taken France and Quebec by storm. She tells me, "I was five years old and telling my father, ‘I am a singer.’ I was given this voice and this ability to express my emotions very clearly, so all I wanted was eventually to find a way to share this with an audience."

Her path toward success has not been an easy one. For one, it meant leaving home. "I grew up in a pretty conservative environment, the daughter of an Italian mother and a Belgian father, and being an ‘I know what I want’ kind of girl was not easy in these circumstances. I chose to move to Canada because they spoke my own language and this appeared to be the easiest way for me to cross from an unstable situation where I couldn’t be what I wanted to be." So with not much more than her raw talent, a few personal belongings, and then-boyfriend Rick Allison (who is now her chief collaborator and the one that she credits with "turning this chrysalis into a butterfly") she relocated to Quebec.

Fabian’s gamble paid off in 1991 when her first French-language album was released in Canada and sold 100,000 copies. A subsequent French-language album in 1994 sold 800,000. Her 1997 album, Pure, sold 2 million copies just in France, and her 1998 double live album debuted at Number One on the French album chart.

With the exception of the foreign hit "Adagio," Lara Fabian features 11 new songs, including the debut, multi-format single "I Will Love Again," co-produced by Brian Rawling, who helped revitalize Cher’s musical career last year with "Believe."

Fabian refers to herself as a "songwriter with a voice." She co-composed the bulk of the material and collaborates not only with Allison, but also with a powerhouse creative team that includes producers and songwriters Walter Afanasieff, Patrick Leonard, John Bettis, Carl Sturken & Evan Rogers, and Louis Biancaniello and Sam Watters.

Sturken & Rogers worked with Fabian on one of my favorite tracks, the forthright "I Am Who I Am," (she refers to this track as "the album’s anthem") and have this to say about the experience: "Lara’s voice is an amazing instrument. At times she stood six feet away from the microphone and still perfectly placed her voice in the track. Lara’s passion for her music is contagious and we were honored to work with her."

The album is rich in potential hits. Some of my other favorites include: "Part of Me," "Givin’ Up on You," "You Are My Heart," "Broken Vow," and "Till I Get Over You."

Of her songwriting ability, Fabian says, "This voice is a God-given thing that I really can’t brag about, but my songwriting–having the ability to express something that you deeply want to share with other human beings–appeared to me to be the most specific thing about who I was."

Columbia Vice President of A/C Promotion Elaine Locatelli says of Fabian’s universal appeal, "Lara Fabian is already a superstar in France, Belgium, and Quebec. Lara is not only an incredibly passionate vocalist, she also wrote most of her songs on her new album. The reaction from two showcases last month were so overwhelming that radio and music industry attendees left the showcases wanting to hear more."

So the stage is set and Fabian looks forward to success in the States, but is matter-of-fact about what lies ahead: "I don’t know if I’m ready for that ‘big thing.’ You’re never ready for what you don’t know; but what I can tell you is that I’ve worked for ten years to be ready for it. If success comes my way I will take it with my same personality, which is never losing the reality of where I come from–a working class family where love and working hard were the values. What I am hoping for and looking forward to is a love relationship with an audience that will evolve into something long-lasting."