Alizee Dance & Vocals

Aug 01, 2008 15:05:53

 

Quite apart from the educational aspect of it, the fact is that an awful lot of good music is produced in non-English speaking countries and it seems a shame that British people are not given the opportunity to hear any of it, presumably because some bod or other has decided on our behalf that we're not interested in knowing about what's going on outside of the UK. For example, in my French studies I stumbled upon a young singer who appeared on a French talent show with a similar format to Fame Academy or Pop Idol (called Graines de Star), Alizée Jacotey. Although not everyone's cup of tea, the songs this singer / dancer has released thus far have demonstrated that she has a real vocal talent, despite they being very much in the 'pop' genre and, therefore, likely to be heard mostly by those in their early teens. The question is, though, why hasn't she and other European artists of all genres been marketed for British audiences (with the exception of classical music, that seems to be more blind to national and cultural borders)? My guess is that it comes back down to a traditional and ongoing xenophobia that, despite the relative ease of international travel and the rise of the World Wide Web in the early 21st Century, continues to flourish in this country thanks to the conservative attitudes of our press who wish to deny us of our right to be part of a larger European community. Who knows what the likes of Alizée might do in years to come once she has matured out of singing to teeny-boppers, but one thing's for sure : if our British media doesn't widen it's scope we might miss out on hearing about it!