Cass (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} tearfulsolitude) wrote in ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif){kind=small} ohnotheydidnt,@ 2007-03-11 12:35:00 |
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Avril Lavigne's "Girlfriend" Recorded In 8 Different Languages
Manga marketing, singing Chinese and learning how to dance - the Canadian phenomenon has come a long way from her punk-lite Skater Girl days
CASSANDRA SZKLARSKI
TORONTO (Mar 10, 2007)
Avril Lavigne's preppy and poppy new single will be incomprehensible to some, but not because of her surprising cheerleader turn.
The chorus to her boppy anthem Girlfriend has been recorded in eight different languages, including Mandarin and Japanese for her largest fan base in Asia.
Lavigne's song is also available in Spanish, French, German, Italian and Portuguese, but attempts at Hindi proved too difficult, says her manager, Terry McBride.
"We tried Hindi twice but the diction and the meter of how you sing Hindi versus the western rhythms just didn't match and we just couldn't pull it off,'' McBride said in an interview this week following a keynote address at Canadian Music Week.
"The hardest one next to that was actually Portuguese.''
The former skater girl doesn't speak a second language, McBride said. In order to get the intonation and meter just right, she spent hours studying recordings by foreign language singers. Once Lavigne felt comfortable, she headed into the studio with a tutor and spent "a couple of hours nailing it,'' McBride said.
"It's not perfect, you don't want it to be perfect. You want it to be her interpretation of it,'' he said.
Lavigne, who isn't slated to tour until February 2008, will have the option now of singing in Mandarin for a Chinese audience, said McBride, chief executive of Nettwerk Music Group.
Appealing to China and its massive market is of particular concern for those who manage the 22-year-old's career. McBride said analysis of online traffic suggests the largest chunk of her fans is in Beijing and two other Chinese cities.
"Her consumption is greater in Asia than what it is in all of the Western Hemisphere combined,'' McBride told an audience earlier yesterday at the annual music industry conference. "And some of those cities outweigh some of the biggest countries as far as the demand of consumption.''
Lavigne's Japanese-flavoured single Girlfriend debuted at number 1 on Japan's international and domestic charts, something McBride said was previously unheard of for an English-speaking artist.
"Normally you'd only get the international chart, you wouldn't get the domestic chart. She got both.''
Lavigne's music is also being marketed through a Japanese-style manga comic called Make 5 Wishes. McBride said the episodic story, about the trials of a lonely teenage girl, features Lavigne as a recurring character and was put together with the help of writers from DC comics and The Simpsons.
The weekly stories will soon be available as two-minute clips that can be watched online or downloaded to cellphones and will feature otherwise unavailable Lavigne songs.
McBride said he hopes that kids will take images in the comic and make their own "sub-manga sites'' which could help determine the storylines of later episodes.
"If we do it right, we'll have millions of people consuming it on a weekly basis. That behaviour can be monetized,'' he said.
Lavigne returned to the spotlight earlier this month with a party-girl image to go with the single Girlfriend.
The video featured high heels, short-shorts and a hand-clapping dance routine that caught many fans off guard.
"I just watched Avril's new video featuring the new single Girl Friend and, I must confess, I am really disappointed,'' Farllen writes at teamsugar .com. "I've always thought of Avril as a sort of punk tomboy, not a sexy, hiphopish.''
"Yeah, I've always known she was faking the punk thing,'' Lindsb adds.
McBride said a lot has changed for the Napanee singer since 2004's Under My Skin and that people shouldn't be surprised if she's changed.
"The last time you would have seen Avril in a video she would have been 19. She's now 22. The difference between a 19-year-old and a 22-year-old is drastic. So people think, 'Oh, she's got a whole new look.' No, that's just the look that she's evolved to.''
McBride said Lavigne gained a new appreciation for choreography after seeing fellow Canuck Nelly Furtado strut her stuff on stage. After seeing how much fun the Promiscuous girl had with her fans, Lavigne decided to inject a bit of the party atmosphere into her own performances, McBride said. It started with a lighthearted video for Girlfriend, which includes a choreographed sequence that was harder than it looks, he said.
"She was getting up and going to dance class for two hours, coming and doing interviews -- oh yeah, she worked her ass off,'' McBride said.
Lavigne fans can get a peek at her new material on April 2 when CBC-TV airs the 90-minute variety special Avril Lavigne: Exclusive.
It includes a Calgary concert and a visit to Los Angeles as Lavigne rehearses for her new album The Best Damn Thing, due for release April 17.
SOURCE 1
SOURCE 2
Avril Lavigne's Official "Girlfriend" Music Video:
The various versions of Avril Lavigne's "Girlfriend" on YouTube:
Packaging Avril Lavigne
Manga marketing, singing Chinese and learning how to dance - the Canadian phenomenon has come a long way from her punk-lite Skater Girl days
CASSANDRA SZKLARSKI
TORONTO (Mar 10, 2007)
Avril Lavigne's preppy and poppy new single will be incomprehensible to some, but not because of her surprising cheerleader turn.
The chorus to her boppy anthem Girlfriend has been recorded in eight different languages, including Mandarin and Japanese for her largest fan base in Asia.
Lavigne's song is also available in Spanish, French, German, Italian and Portuguese, but attempts at Hindi proved too difficult, says her manager, Terry McBride.
"We tried Hindi twice but the diction and the meter of how you sing Hindi versus the western rhythms just didn't match and we just couldn't pull it off,'' McBride said in an interview this week following a keynote address at Canadian Music Week.
"The hardest one next to that was actually Portuguese.''
The former skater girl doesn't speak a second language, McBride said. In order to get the intonation and meter just right, she spent hours studying recordings by foreign language singers. Once Lavigne felt comfortable, she headed into the studio with a tutor and spent "a couple of hours nailing it,'' McBride said.
"It's not perfect, you don't want it to be perfect. You want it to be her interpretation of it,'' he said.
Lavigne, who isn't slated to tour until February 2008, will have the option now of singing in Mandarin for a Chinese audience, said McBride, chief executive of Nettwerk Music Group.
Appealing to China and its massive market is of particular concern for those who manage the 22-year-old's career. McBride said analysis of online traffic suggests the largest chunk of her fans is in Beijing and two other Chinese cities.
"Her consumption is greater in Asia than what it is in all of the Western Hemisphere combined,'' McBride told an audience earlier yesterday at the annual music industry conference. "And some of those cities outweigh some of the biggest countries as far as the demand of consumption.''
Lavigne's Japanese-flavoured single Girlfriend debuted at number 1 on Japan's international and domestic charts, something McBride said was previously unheard of for an English-speaking artist.
"Normally you'd only get the international chart, you wouldn't get the domestic chart. She got both.''
Lavigne's music is also being marketed through a Japanese-style manga comic called Make 5 Wishes. McBride said the episodic story, about the trials of a lonely teenage girl, features Lavigne as a recurring character and was put together with the help of writers from DC comics and The Simpsons.
The weekly stories will soon be available as two-minute clips that can be watched online or downloaded to cellphones and will feature otherwise unavailable Lavigne songs.
McBride said he hopes that kids will take images in the comic and make their own "sub-manga sites'' which could help determine the storylines of later episodes.
"If we do it right, we'll have millions of people consuming it on a weekly basis. That behaviour can be monetized,'' he said.
Lavigne returned to the spotlight earlier this month with a party-girl image to go with the single Girlfriend.
The video featured high heels, short-shorts and a hand-clapping dance routine that caught many fans off guard.
"I just watched Avril's new video featuring the new single Girl Friend and, I must confess, I am really disappointed,'' Farllen writes at teamsugar .com. "I've always thought of Avril as a sort of punk tomboy, not a sexy, hiphopish.''
"Yeah, I've always known she was faking the punk thing,'' Lindsb adds.
McBride said a lot has changed for the Napanee singer since 2004's Under My Skin and that people shouldn't be surprised if she's changed.
"The last time you would have seen Avril in a video she would have been 19. She's now 22. The difference between a 19-year-old and a 22-year-old is drastic. So people think, 'Oh, she's got a whole new look.' No, that's just the look that she's evolved to.''
McBride said Lavigne gained a new appreciation for choreography after seeing fellow Canuck Nelly Furtado strut her stuff on stage. After seeing how much fun the Promiscuous girl had with her fans, Lavigne decided to inject a bit of the party atmosphere into her own performances, McBride said. It started with a lighthearted video for Girlfriend, which includes a choreographed sequence that was harder than it looks, he said.
"She was getting up and going to dance class for two hours, coming and doing interviews -- oh yeah, she worked her ass off,'' McBride said.
Lavigne fans can get a peek at her new material on April 2 when CBC-TV airs the 90-minute variety special Avril Lavigne: Exclusive.
It includes a Calgary concert and a visit to Los Angeles as Lavigne rehearses for her new album The Best Damn Thing, due for release April 17.
SOURCE 1
SOURCE 2
Avril Lavigne's Official "Girlfriend" Music Video:
The various versions of Avril Lavigne's "Girlfriend" on YouTube:
- Spanish: http://youtube.com/watch?v=gV18mZtToPs
- French: http://youtube.com/watch?v=erQjjiBKx-Y
(fixed) Italian: http://youtube.com/watch?v=9UtDEACSl7o- Portuguese: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0-8Kq2w
kdk (fixed) - German: http://youtube.com/watch?v=AFbkIrilZyI
(fixed) - Mandarin: http://youtube.com/watch?v=_N13DLrRdr4
- Japanese: http://youtube.com/watch?v=c6YhaDA6fNc
