OK, so I have been listening to the one Edith Piaf record I have (a live concert in Paris about a year before she died), and to me there is no way these could be the same person. The personalites are too different. The first time through right away I decided that she sounded terrible. We all know music in a general sense and have a feeling of what the notes should be in the context of where the song is going. She's not always getting to those notes, she makes the phrase like an 8-iron shot or slow pitch softball arc that sails up to the target pitch, then over and back down the other side without worrying about the detail of rhythm or pitch within the phrase. And she 'leans forward' and bears down at you in each phrase just like people talk loudly 'AT' you when they are drunk. This gets tiresome real fast. Then, it seemed to me that the pitch of her throat and chest resonance was not matched to the pitch of the note her vocal cords were singing. This makes the tone ugly in various ways. Finally she has a style of vibrato that seems intended to conceal the troubles mentioned above rather than as an ornamental device in the singer's tool box, to enhance the melody. To compare Anita's singing with Edith Piaf's is like comparing Anita's precise dance movements in the George Michael song in Final Concert to a Piaf version done "drunken boxing" style. The audience loves it though.

The next day I listened again, and I found she wasn't as bad as I thought the first day. The songs are very different, from another era, and have the flavor of the German cabaret style of the 'decadent' period between world war I and II. (Mui's "Beautiful Stage" routine sort of refers to this style). There is a lot of marching style snare drum and lyrics that might be half sung, half spoken, possibly with political or historical content that resonates with the audience. (I don't understand French at all). In this context, the drunken bravado style delivery is probably just what the song needs. Remember that she is physiclly very tiny. The conditions in France when she was an orphan child were horrendous. Her energy and spirit of defiance of a small woman pitted against the conditions of the time no doubt won her the sympathy and love of the audience for many years, and this is what her performance is about. Then I read the liner notes and saw that she was nick-named, besides "Little Sparrow" the "High Priestess of Agony".

So the thing Mui and Edith Piaf have most in common is that they are both icons of their respective time and place. Edith Piaf is an entertainer. Her main attraction is her personality and how she expresses her attitude using singing as a vehicle. Mui is however first and foremost a master musician, and being an entertainer flows from that. I think that if Anita played a violin or flute or trumpet, it would still sound like Anita singing; I mean you would be able to tell it was her.

What are the differences between musician, entertainer, singer, and idol? You can be an entertainer by telling jokes; some of the jokes might involve you singing badly. You can most certainly be a musician or a singer and never entertain one person, but still perform. You can entertain yourself and never perform. You can be an idol without performing, entertaining, or singing or playing, given enough correct marketing strategy. The He's-she's/man-woman films deal with these matters. Frank Sinatra, Mel Torme, and Tony Bennet are musicians. Elvis is an idol, and a singer. Dean Martin is an entertainer. Madonna is an entertainer, singer and idol in that order. Michael Jackson is an idol, and entertainer only. When I was growing up white people tended to be first musicians, then singers, then performers, and lastly entertainers (no idols, lol!). Black people were just the opposite, entertainers first, then performers, singers and musicians. An unfortgettable moment for me was at the Fillmore auditorium, when two local hippie bands were followed by the Ike and Tina Turner Revue!! It never occurred to the self absorbed noodling hippie musicians that you were supposed to ENTERTAIN the audience. With hot babes wearing next to nothing dancing around, flashy costumes, a snappy tight and organized show. Unforgettable shock! Nowadays everyone wants to be the idol. Look at the TV show. Most amateur people who get up to sing karaoke are doing it to be entertainers. The actual study of music is rare.

These are my opinions only, bla bla bla. I'm glad this topic came up however. The idea of stepping from one life, to another, as an artist, as if you were getting off the north bound bus, crossing the street and boarding the east bound bus, is appealing, and sort of liberating to think about. I sure would like to see Anita performing at age four.

Did anyone consider that when it's October 10 in France it's already October 11 in China?

Happy New Year to everyone!!!

Hey FB,

Great points - and oy! Don't even get me started on American Idol. They keep on churning out people who want to sound like the next Mariah Carey - they want volume, not finesse; they want vocal acrobatics, even though they break up the melodic line to the point where you can't even tell what the true melody is anymore. That's the problem you get when you have the same people using the same evaluation criteria year after year. Don't get me wrong - I think those kids are HUGELY talented -- it's just too bad that nobody is telling them that they are killing their voices as they try to fit into that same mold.

FB: Thanks for your additional information on Edith Piaf.

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As for Cheung Man Yee’s comparison of Anita to Edith, I think she meant their persistence and stubbornness in pursuit of true love life, their courage to go after new love life one after the other even suffered repeated failure, and they both were true and honest to their own passion and feeling for true love. To those who have a happy love and family life, both of them are symbolic of grief and sadness. Then there was similarity of their unfortunate childhood and death at a young age

Besides, I don’t see any other similarities, at least I can’t think of any at this very moment. Also, I'm confident that no one will rebut when I say that Anita lived a very positive life till the last minute of her life in this world.

FB:

I like the way you differentiate among singers, performers, idols, entertainers, and musicians. A very neat analysis.

I have just seen the new film (originally titled "La Mome") which is renamed "La Vie En Rose" for its US release, the biography of Edith Piaf. Now I totally see the point of Ikkyu's original post. The filmmaker Olivier Dahan could have had no idea, when he chose to put on screen the lettering "October 10, 1963" (the date of Piaf's death), the effect that would have on 'certain' members of the audience! I really hope that those of you in HK will be able to see this film soon. It is extremely thought provoking in many ways, and, aside from the Anita Mui connection, a truly masterful piece of work, certain to capture many awards in the coming year. The San Francisco audience burst into spontaneous applause at the end of the film.

The scenes are composed and shot in a way that recalls European 'Old Master' paintings come to life. But the events they depict of Edith Piaf's early life are ugly and horrific. She is ill, hungry, and terrified most of the time, passed back and forth between her mother who works in a brothel, and her father who is with a traveling circus. When she begins to sing on the street, it is just right there on the sidewalk with people walking by right in front of one, like a kid selling newspapers. No microphone, no band or accompaniment.

By now the film has been out long enough to have collected quite a lot of reviews and comments; if you search the web you will be able to learn quite a lot about Edith Piaf. In addition to the coincidence of the dates, and "year of the rabbit" there are others:

"Piaf gave away all her money, supported an entourage of hangers-on, and promoted the careers of her many male admirers. She once gave a fur coat to a woman on the street. She would say that "my voice is my treasure, and I will always perform again.""

and:

"It is always a challenge for her to be loved. She wants to be loved all the time. Her stage was where she could be safe and successful. So she lives in her art. At the end, she goes on what's come to be known as the 'suicide tour,' where she's plays every night, sings all night and this she doesn't survive."

(from http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0306/p01s03-woeu.html )

When Piaf was very young she became ill with a disease that caused her to lose her vision, and in a pivotal episode of her life, she prayed to Saint Theresa (?), her sight was miraculously restored and then she was able to call upon this higher power later at difficult periods of her life. This reminded me of the story of Anita's mother giving her daughter up to Kwan Yin when Anita vas very sick as a child.

At one point Edith Piaf's benefactor, a club owner, is murdered. His relatives blame Edith who has to lay low for a while.

Edith has a woman friend who has kept her company ever since her teenage years, and seems to be lurking in the background much of the time. In one scene at a party this friend is dressed in man's formal evening-wear, with a false mustache, just like Mui does in FBTS-III. Is Edith Piaf a lesbian? But she has love affairs with men. She likes good-looking and athletic guys, and married a boxing champion.

If all this seems to suggest an identity or continuation between Piaf and Mui, then the whole story raises some interesting questions. From the film, I would think that the life of Anita Mui would be seen as Nirvana compared to the life of Edith Piaf. My favorite interpretation at the moment is that it is the arc or life-passage of the artiste that is the unchanging or immortal entity, which manifests as Piaf one time, then as Mui, with 'improvements' or 'adjustments' as karma dictates. The unchanging elements are talent, birth, struggle vs. health or economics, discovery by the 'controlling powers' (night club owner, singing contest), then a flowering of success, love affairs, etc, then a period of sharing through children, or becoming a Si-fu to students, or works of charity, then inevitably, comes the ending by one means or another. In the case of Piaf-Mui, the 'improvements' are very real. For one, Mui never collapsed on stage, despite performing when ill. She never was addicted to drugs or had to be coaxed out of her dressing-room onto the stage. Anita from the very start had a poise and confidence that is best seen in her posture and movement skills. Piaf had to be painfully coached into learning to express herself with her hands while singing. In Mui's Final Concert DVD there is a clip of Mui rehearsing a roomful of dancers for the upcoming performance. I can't imagine Piaf taking charge of matters in this way.

My favorite scene in the film is one which Anita herself would really appreciate; after a performance Edith is relaxing with her circle of friends, and a very dignified and elegant older woman approaches the table to compliment Edith on her performance and introduce herself. It's Marlene Dietrich!

Anyway I hope you all get to see the film soon. Let us know what you think.

Gosh - wow -- the resemblance in their lives is uncanny. No matter what kinds of theories about reincarnation you subscribe to (or not), it's still very interesting to see these connections. Thanks to all of you (especially FB) for connecting the dots.

FY

FB, thanks lot to understand me. It's curious to see that we have the same impressions during the movie. That will be more intense for you, because You know Anita more than me. Your comparaison between the two stars are very interesting, before and after the movie. Whereas, You had an incontestable argument in february 2007 : "Did anyone consider that when it's October 10 in France it's already October 11 in China?" I can't answer for this. it's a pity.

Time difference between Hong Kong and France is 7 hours. France is 7 hours behind Hong Kong.

I have read books about incarnation, such as "Many Lives, Many Masters", "Through Time Into Healing" by Brian L . Weiss, discussion forum introduced to me by FB, and even the book "The Book of Tibetan Living and Dying" which was once our favourite topic in this forum, all talked about reincarnation.

Personally I believe in reincarnation too. But I have never thought about any connection between Anita and Edith, as I don't know Edith too much.

Anita mentioned before her master Rinpoche told her her previous life was a monk. But one can have many precious lives.

Anyway, we have the liberty to believe in whatever we like, as we will never be able to find the true fact.

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