Music finds

I have never watched American Idol in the States. My mom tried to get me to watch it once, and I think the five minutes that I ended up seeing must have been tryout footage or something, because the people being featured were not particularly good singers. That turned me off of American Idol for good.

I try to watch as much television as possible in French here -- not dubbed programs that were originally written in English, but programs written in French that are intended principally for a French-speaking audience. My comprehension of French on the television is excellent, but there are always cultural references to be learned and subtle nuances to pick up. But with so much of the programming here imported from America (Bewitched, 7th Heaven, Boston Legal, CSI, NCIS, Without a Trace, Shark, House, The Bold and the Beautiful, Ugly Betty, ER, My Name is Earl, Everybody Hates Chris, Spongebob Squarepants, Prison Break, Deadwood, Grey's Anatomy, Dora the Explorer, Dawson's Creek, Malcolm in the Middle, The King of Queens, 24, The Simpson's, and many others have been broadcast on Swiss TV just this week), original programming in French is somewhat limited. The majority of French-language programming on Swiss TV comes in the form of the evening news, sports commentary, documentaries, game shows and reality TV.

That is how I came to start watching Star Academy. And surprise... once I started watching, I was hooked. I liked the contestants and thought they were talented, and I also liked discovering new music that is popular in Europe but not in America. Here is a short selection of some of the songs and artists I've discovered that I like:

Christophe Willem, "Jacques a dit" (with Maureen from Star Ac):




Olivia Ruiz, "J'traîne des pieds":




Yael Naim, "New Soul"




Enjoy!