The semester is nearing an end, with Thanksgiving right around the corner and finals soon after. French Studies is still going strong, and last week was particularly exciting. After a fascinating symposium on Gabrielle Roy (more on that later this week), French Club's Star Académie finished out the week on a high note. What's that you say? You missed it? Quel horreur, how could you! Those of us who did go were treated to a wide variety of song and dance numbers, ranging from classics like
La Mer by Charles Trenet all the way to some very intense rap. Some contestants sang their songs with simple accompaniment, like Kaylie (hope I spelled that right) with
La complainte de la butte (so beautiful!). Others put their own twist on things, like Zach and his sweet piano stylings for
La vie en rose. Evan and Valerie (I really hope that I'm getting all these names right) brought a little high culture to the evening with their respective performances of pieces by Camille Saint-Saëns and Georges Bizet. French songs were not the only to make an appearance; Tyler did his own translation of Michael Jackson's Beat It, and Adam blew us all away not only with his translation of
Mika's Grace Kelly, but also with his remarkable falsetto. In the end the audience and judges were faced with a tough decision; how does one decide between so many wonderful performances, and I didn't even mention the original composition by Bryson and Lundy, Amy's performance of
Tous les garçons (one of my all time favorites), or Kara's version of
J'ai demandé à la lune, and so many more! In the end it was Clarissa Lewis who won the day with incredible performances of both La vie en rose et
Non, je ne regrette rien by Edith Piaf.
Even if you missed all of that don't worry, because there's more going on this week. Tomorrow, 17 November at 3 pm there will be an info meeting in B032 of the JFSB for anyone interested in the
Spring 2011 Paris Study Abroad. By the way, you should be interested because it sounds incredible. I'm already jealous of everyone who gets to go. On Thursday 18 November at 11 am in B190 JFSB, there will be a panel discussion with BYU Humanities alumni to help us humanities students use our studies in the Humanities help us be more successful in reaching our dream careers. Be there or be square.
P.S. Since I'm such a huge Beatles fan I can't help but acknowledge that Apple announced this morning that the Beatles' music is finally available on iTunes. In honor of this wonderful news, sit back and listen to the Fab Four singing
Michelle.
