French Cha Cha Cha Songs in Dancing With the Stars. Part 2 of 2

Nathalie Péchalat and Christophe Licata

French pop songs used for Cha Cha Cha in Danse avec les Stars show (French version of Dancing with the Stars).

Songs Used

French Celebrities

6. EnjoyPhoenix Meets Yann Alrick Mortreuil (Season 6, 2015)

A Youtube celebrity EnjoyPhoenix (Marie Lopez) meets Yann-Alrick Mortreuil to perform a delightfully romantic Cha Cha Cha to the song Avenir (Future) by Louane Emera. Marie Lopez is not an experienced dancer, but her spirit is uplifting, her energy is contagious and she enters action with boldness. Yann-Alrick is a very supportive and encouraging partner. They finished 4^th overall.

Avenir (Future) - Louane Emera

Avenir is Louane's most successful single to date.

Marie and Yann-Alrick’s dance looks like St. Valentine’s Day celebration, but the song is about a breakup.

• Avenir lyrics + English translation (Version #1) | Louane
  

Glasses are smashed

Hearts are broken

Everything is finished

I wanted to speak to him,

But he left me at the end of the season for no apparent reason.

So far, so good.

La-la-la, Cha-Cha-Cha or rather

Waoh, waoh, waohoh

Yeh, yeh, yeh, yeh, yeh, yehi

EnjoyPhonix (Marie Lopez) and Yann-Alrick Mortreuil

I hope that you will suffer

And that you won't sleep well

During this time I'm gonna write

For tomorrow's future (x4)

J'espère que tu vas souffrir

Et que tu vas mal dormir

Pendant ce temps j'vais écrire

Pour demain l'avenir (x4)

Left alone in the street

I'm looking for my path

I can't find it anymore

It seems far away to me

I've forgotten you,

You mean nothing for me

Thinking about tomorrow,

I will leave to go travel

Partie seule dans la rue

Je cherche mon chemin

Je n'le trouve plus

Il me paraît bien loin

Je t'ai oublié, tu n'me fais plus rien

Et je pars voyager en pensant à demain

7. Karine Ferri Meets Yann-Alrick Mortreuil (Season 7, 2016)

Karine Ferri and Yann-Alrick

A French model and a television presenter Karine Ferri meets Yann-Alrick Mortreuil to dance Cha Cha Cha to “Monday, Tuesday... Laissez-moi danser” (“Let me dance”) by Dalida. Karine is enjoying dancing so much that she is singing along and this seemingly inconsequential detail makes all the difference. Once again Yann-Alrick is a charm himself and the couple has a great chemistry. Their performance is cheerful, dynamic and uplifting. What a treat!

Karine and Yann-Alrick took the 4^th place in their season.

The original song, Voglio l’anima (I Want the Soul) was written and recorded by an iconic Italian singer-songwriter Toto Cutugno in 1978.

Next year Dalida released the French version under the title Monday, Tuesday...Laissez-moi Danser (Monday, Tuesday... Let Me Dance) which topped the chart in France and had a great success throughout Europe. Dalida also performed its English Let Me Dance Tonight and Spanish version Dejame Bailar.

I live life of love and dance

I live as if I was on vacation

I live as if I were eternal

As if the news were always good

Moi je vis d'amour et de danse

Je vis comme si j'étais en vacances

Je vis comme si j'étais éternelle

Comme si les nouvelles étaient sans problèmes

Day After Day

Life slips away

J'ai tout le temps d'écrire mes mémoires

D'écrire mon histoire à l'encre bleue

Laissez-moi danser, laissez-moi

Laissez-moi danser chanter en liberté tout l'été

Laissez-moi danser [Monday], laissez-moi [Tuesday]

Aller jusqu'au bout du rêve

I have all the time to write my memories

To write my history in blue ink

Let me dance, let me

Let me dance, sing and be free all summer

Let me dance on Monday, on Tuesday

all the way to the end of my dreams

I Feel Like Dancing Along

with every song

Me, I see life as love and risk

When this doesn't go, I turn the disk

I go, I come, I learned to live

As if I was free and balanced

Moi, je vis d'amour et de risque

Quand ça ne va pas je tourne le disque

Je vais je viens j'ai appris à vivre

Comme si j'étais libre et en équilibre

• Dalida site Officiel - Déjame bailar
  "Let me dance" (Dejame bailar) - lyrics in Spanish

Voglio l'anima - I Want the Soul

He wants her soul and a true feeling while she prefers playing games which involve, but are not limited to, a blue sweater, socks and undressing in general. She can rebel all she wants, he won’t settle for anything less than a soul which he admits is difficult .

Ma Sei Tu - But You're You

You are you and me is me

and who else

could we possibly be?

Well, Knowing Well

I know this song well.

Well, from the good old 1980x and in its original Italian version.

However, knowing well does not imply understanding .

Knowing well means that I listened to it a million and one time.

Silly-Ballistic (Syllable-istic)

It’s one of those songs when

It's IMPOSSIBLE not to sing along.

Of course, I did my fair share of MA – SEI TU - s.

Substitute MA – SEI TU with anything that fits,

for example (BUT) YOU ARE YOU.

Try any of four languages and try NOT to repeat.

Resistance Is Useless

You will be singing in no time

You'll Know When to Jump in

False Modesty Aside

8. Baptiste Giabiconi Meets Fauve Hautot (Season 2, 2011)

A French male model and a singer Baptiste Giabiconi meets Fauve Hautot to dance Cha Cha Cha to Le Temps Qui Court (The Times That Change) by Alain Chamfort. In their season, this couple finished 3^rd. Fauve is an accomplished dancer, an energetic and enthusiastic redhead; so at first I paid attention only to her.

Baptiste Giabiconi is the current male face of Karl Lagerfeld who called him "a boy version of Gisele Bündchen: skinny, skinny but with an athletic body – good for clothes and great with no clothes".

I found “the no clothes” part intriguing. I looked up his NU photo shoot and intriguing turned into shocking. But then I realized that I simply fell behind the times. Indeed, times change. But the ways we “steal” attention did not. Now when I watched the couple dance, I saw only him.

9. Nathalie Péchalat Meets Christophe Licata (Season 5, 2014)

A French ice dancer, two-time World Bronze Medalist, two-time European Champion, five-time French National Champion Nathalie Péchalat meets Christophe Licata to dance Cha Cha Cha. This couple made it to the 2^ndplace. They also chose “Le Temps Qui Court” – giving it a more romantic interpretation.

Story

In 1971 Barry Manilow wrote Could It Be Magic but was not permitted to make his own arrangement. The song was released featuring a bubblegum pop beat and happy-peppy optimistic feel. Manilow hated it with passion because his original composition was based on Frédéric Chopin's Prelude in C Minor, Opus 28, No. 20. In fact, Chopin’s piece was so sombre and grave that it was aptly dubbed “The Funeral March”. Nothing could be further from it than the up-tempo first arrangement.

Later Manilow had an opportunity to claim his song back. Being faithful to the original, he gave his work a classical slowly built structure and a romantic interpretation. Tempering with tempo worked wonders.

Could It Be Magic became a megahit. In 1973 it was released in an album and in 1975 as a single. Since then the song was recorded and rerecorded, arranged and rearranged, had versions in French, Spanish and Dutch.

Le Temps Qui Court

French Version - Alain Chamfort

Meaning

In essence, time flies, time runs, time goes and flows. The times change and we change with them.

When we were children, we were happy playing with simple toys. Now that we became proud, serious, mature adults we have real things to play with, but we don’t enjoy them as much. We have lost something along the way. We love less and it makes us grow older.

And finally, after a few years,

Men have replaced your dolls

And the gladioli in your room

Replace today field flowers

Et finalement, après quelques années,
Les hommes ont remplacé tes poupées
Et les glaïeuls posés dans ta chambre
Remplacent aujourd'hui les fleurs des champs.

• Paroles Alain Chamfort - Le Temps Qui Court - Paroles.net (clip, musique, traduction)
  Lyrics for Le Temps Qui Court - Alain Chamfort

Up-tempo

Slow

Tempo - Temper

The songs for dancing are tempo-controlled. Could It Be Magic (Le Temps Qui Court) seems hardly suitable for Cha Cha Cha, but the adjusted tempo will do the trick.

To me, however, tempo should be in harmony with lyrics.

When The Times That Change is too cheerful, it creates the dissonance between the lyrics and the rhythm.

Notable Versions

Leap in the Dark

My personal favourite is Lissa Lewis' interpretation. Yes, I don't understand Dutch (well, to a certain extent, the extent where it resembles German). I love the beat and love the lyrics.

Inexplicable, strange but irresistible

Whirlwind of butterflies in my stomach

So illogical, it seems this is a dream

But love has its own rules

Onverklaarbaar,

vreemd maar onweerstaanbaar

Die wervelwind

van vlinders in m’n buik

Zo onlogisch,

het lijkt of dit een droom is

Maar liefde vindt haar eigen regels uit

Ask Me Why

I prefer one version to the other

Ask me why

Come on, give your heart to me

Let me see every corner of the sky

Strange that I love you

Hold, hold me tight

We make a leap in the dark

tonight

Vraag me nu niet waarom
Kom, geef je hart aan mij
Laat me elke hoek van de hemel zien
Vreemd dat ik van je hou
Hou, hou me stevig vast
We maken een sprong in het duister
Vannacht

• Lissa Lewis - Sprong in het duister Songtekst
  Full text - Lyrics for Lissa Lewis " ... in het duister"

• Song: Puede ser genial written by Graciela Carballo | SecondHandSongs
  The song Puede ser genial was written by Graciela Carballo and was first released by Pandora in 1992. It was adapted from Could It Be Magic (Barry Manilow, Adrienne Anderson).

10. Alizée Meets Grégoire Lyonnet (Season 4, 2013)

A French singer, dancer and voice actress Alizée Jacotey meets Gregoire Lyonnet to dance Cha Cha Cha to Quand la Musique Est Bonne (When the Music Is Good) by Jean-Jacques Goldman. What happens when the music is good? Well, for starters, you win the season.

The Music Is Good When

It gives

It rings

It doesn’t cheat

It guides one’s steps

I like the line about “not cheating”. I beg to differ. Alizée and Gregoire danced with gusto, there was a lot of running, lifting and dipping, a lot of “daze and confuse” visual effects, but very little Cha Cha Cha. But their performance was received very well. Maybe the reason is the music?

When the Music Is Good was composed by a legendary singer-songwriter, an icon and a living star of the French-speaking world - Jean-Jacques Goldman. Originally released in 1982, the song is as fresh and popular as it was then.

Out of ten songs I chose for this article, three are composed by Goldman. When the music is good is that good. Imagine how the crowd felt. It was moved just like you would be when you hear your all time favourite music, especially if it reminds you of your long-gone youth. You can’t beat that. The audience was more than supportive, it was ecstatic.

Alizée et Grégoire Lyonnet

What Is It About?

The translation on lyricstranslate.com turned out to be very inaccurate, so I relied on auto translator, my limited knowledge of French and my intuition. There are some question marks, but I think the overall meaning is “When the music is good, it makes life more tolerable”.

The preamble:

In the 21^st century, digital completely eradicated analog.

All musical instruments are banned, burnt and anyone who possesses them is severely repressed. (Sounds like China during their cultural revolution).

A group of rebels armed only with their voices and music resist the oppression.

All Question Marks

consistently indicate the theme of money or lack thereof.

I bled too much on the Gibson

I went too far on the Tobacco Road

There are more

than the [*checkouts/cash registers*?]

that resonate with me

And when I break, [*am broke*?]

I always travel as a fraud [***?]

J'ai trop saigné sur les Gibson

J'ai trop rôdé dans les Tobacco Road

Y'a plus que les caisses

qui me résonnent

Et quand je me casse,

je voyage toujours en fraude

Mise-en-Scène

There is pile of musical instruments on fire. Explosion.

Two rebels of opposite sex, young and relatively handsome, drive heading downtown.

Cotton fields in my memory

Three notes of blues

it is a bit of black love

When I'm too short

[*short on money?*],

when I'm too late

It's [*a remedy*?] for another story

Des champs de coton

dans ma mémoire

Trois notes de blues

c'est un peu d'amour noir

Quand j'suis trop court,

quand j'suis trop tard

C'est un recours

pour une autre histoire

In a back alley rebels hastily collect some junk.

From around the corner appears an UPPO.

The couple quickly boards their decrepit car.

When the music is good

When the music gives

When the music rings, rings, rings

When it does not cheat

When it guides my steps

Quand la musique est bonne

Quand la musique donne

Quand la musique sonne,

sonne, sonne

Quand elle ne triche pas

Quand elle guide mes pas

Hot Pursuit

The rebels’ car ain't decrepit; int fact, it's a race car in disguise.

She is driving, while he is checking the GPS, but there is only one road.

The UPPO is closing up on them, shots are fired, but their car is bulletproof.

The couple is singing without respite to keep the morale high.

He throws some garbage out of the window right in front of the UPPO.

The trick works:

the UPPO swerves and is rendered out of commission.

It buys our rebels some time.

Stopover. Time for singing.

In fact, they never stopped singing.

I have more love, I have no time

I have more humor,

I know more

where the wind comes from

I have more than a nail, a spark

Lead stuff that breaks my wings

J'ai plus d'amour, j'ai pas le temps

J'ai plus d'humour,

j'sais plus d'où vient le vent

J'ai plus qu'un clou, une étincelle

Des trucs en plomb

qui me brisent les ailes

Time to pick more junk.

In the trunk, there is a vintage

(Fancy that!) shoe box

From “Fashion for You” – Clothes, Shoes and Accessories for Women.

The woman takes out 7” heel stilettos.

Stilettoes

- a weapon in disguise. Actually, a stiletto is a weapon.

A bit of swing, a bit of the King

A lot of feeling and decibels

It's not a factory, it's not a mine

But it will do (it's sufficient)

to make [*the beautiful*?]

Un peu de swing, un peu du King

Pas mal de feeling et de décibels

C'est pas l'usine, c'est pas la mine

Mais ça suffit pour se faire la belle

The UPPO came back either undamaged of after short repairs.

Maybe it's a different UPPO.

One never knows - they all look alike.

Good Point!

Hot Pursuit

Rebels quickly put junk in the trunk and make a run for it.

Big Junk Yard: it's not a stage but it will do.

The couple is singing in defiance.

Climax: he attaches cables to industrial size speakers, decibels increase.

A bunch of UPPOs arrive

Decibels do their dirty work: all UPPOs explode one after another

Musical Rebels blew up the whole division.

They rejoice.

No Wonder

that musical instruments are outlawed.

Unclear, but Catchy

Quand la musique est bonne

Quand la musique donne

Quand la musique sonne, sonne, sonne

Quand elle ne triche pas

Quand elle guide mes pas

Loud and Clear

When the music is good

When the music gives

When the music rings, rings, rings

When she does not cheat

When she guides my steps

The End

The couple is on the road again. Another hot pursuit. However, at the junk yard, the rebels' bulletproof car was equipped with lethal weapons: speakers were inconspicuously installed in the wheel discs. A blast of decibels and the fast approaching UPPO blows up. Time to sing.

Oh, by the Way

Did I mention?

Alizee and Gregoire not only won the season, later they started dating and eventually got married.

Wedding Day of Alizée et Grégoire Lyonnet

The End

Dancing: the vertical expression of a horizontal desire legalized by music. ~George Bernard Shaw

More Cha Cha Cha

Series in Two Parts

• French Cha Cha Cha Songs - Part 1
  Ten French Cha-Cha-Cha pop songs including some of their tempo-controlled versions. All of which is good for dancing, singing, improving French vocabulary together with articulation and having fun.
• French Cha Cha Cha Songs - Part 2
  Forty French pop songs suitable for Cha Cha Cha, including some tempo-controlled versions.

Dancing with the Stars in Two Parts

• French Cha Cha Cha Songs in Dancing with the Stars. Part 1 of 2
  French pop songs used for Cha Cha Cha in the French version of Dancing with the Stars show (Danse avec les Stars). Meet French stars, learn new songs and have fun.

My Youtube Collection

• Cha Cha Cha French - YouTube
  Playlist for dancing Cha Cha Cha: French songs and French versions of songs from other languages including some originals.

Playlists

• Italian Cha Cha Cha Songs
  A collection of Cha Cha Cha songs in Italian language for you to discover old and modern songs, meet Italian celebrities and learn some lyrics to sing along.

© 2017 kallini2010

Comments

FlourishAnyway from USA on April 08, 2017:

I'd say leave the junk in the trunk part in. Hey, everyone likes a little humor!

Martie Coetser from South Africa on April 04, 2017:

Living in Canada it would be a good thing to learn French, I guess, while here I should learn Setswana - the language of the majority Africans in my region. But when will I speak it, I wonder. If you don't use it, you lose it.

Re dancing: It's the beat that counts. People improvise their own lyrics.

kallini2010 (author) from Toronto, Canada on April 03, 2017:

Martie,

Forgot to tell you:

good things come in threes,

To add to the list of my qualifications -

I don't speak French either.

======

I thought of a song for the King of South Africa -

Whatever Zuma Wants, Zuma Gets

(of course, I hope he won't get it for long. What goes around, comes around).

Hugs,

kallini2010 (author) from Toronto, Canada on April 03, 2017:

Martie:

In my book (there is no such book),

the first rule/law of creativity is

If something doesn't happen, something else happens instead.

The second rule was about S-Crap as in Creativity - S-Crap-Activity = whatever you do, creativity lurks in chaos. Do whatever, start anywhere, embrace it and make sure not to drown in it.

I enjoy these series for a few reasons:

1) I am not a musician

2) Strictly speaking, I am not a dancer

meaning I could not be more qualified to write on the subject. Right?

Besides, I do a lot on the side - I can't possibly fit all of my writing into these hubs, so most of it automatically goes into "My Book", not to say feeds the comedy series with Daniel "How is your writing? Did you do it again? Like wrote twenty pages on what you did not intend?"

Funny detail:

Buddha said, "The trouble is, we think we have time".

I said I find very tempting to use "The Trouble Is We Think We Have" as the title for the book I don't have.

Don't tell me I'm odd. I call it artistic and unique.

Martie Coetser from South Africa on April 03, 2017:

Strange, we only realize how 'big' a project is once we start with it. It is like cleaning a house. The more you look with an eye searching for something that needs to be cleaned, the more dirt you see. The Murphy's Law becomes applicable - "Before you can do something you first have to do something else."

I enjoy these music hubs of yours.

kallini2010 (author) from Toronto, Canada on April 02, 2017:

Thanks, Martie, for your comment.

Did you understand Dutch somewhat?

These songs are not Cha Cha Cha per se. I find them to be interesting choices for the show, because stars are stars, I don't think they have the final say in music selection, but dancers are professionals so they have to make sure that music fits.

I did this "Dancing with the Stars" as a proof that other selection in my upcoming hubs can be used as Cha Cha Cha (well, maybe with tempering a bit with the tempo).

As usual, I did not know what I got myself into - the project is too big (like a writing a book without prior intent).

One song I found very interesting - in Part 1, there is "Marcia baila" (Marcia dances) song in French. It's weird and wonderful. Going further in my Cha Cha Cha trip, I found (perhaps) the original with the same title performed by Ricky Martin.

It may be the same song, but his lyrics mind-bogglingly dull. So, the French have their peculiarities. I am glad my horizons are broadened.

Well, you know, music well in order to know that there are no limits to music; therefore there are no limits to exploration!

Thanks again for visiting,

Martie Coetser from South Africa on April 02, 2017:

What a big difference between French cha-cha-cha and Latin cha-cha-cha. Although the beat is the same, and the dancing, the character of the songs differs.

Thanks for the translations. So much better to understand the lyrics :)

kallini2010 (author) from Toronto, Canada on March 30, 2017:

Thank you, Flourish. I think not understanding the lyrics creates a "new" genre of music - "instrumental + vocal" - aka "I don't understand a thing, but I like it".

Italian opera, for example.

How many people understand Italian?

It's nice to hear human voices, it makes music alive and relatable (even if you do la-la-la). I haven't come across any language (yet) that does not sound pleasing in vocals.

"Junk in a trunk" - I did not mean it this way (I had no idea), but I could not resist the rhyming - in the video rebels run around and collect junk/garbage and then have their big show at the junk yard. Seemed like a logical connection.

"To put garbage in a trunk?"

Thanks for letting me know. I'm open to suggestions.

FlourishAnyway from USA on March 30, 2017:

Everything in French seems to sound beautiful. I'm glad you put the translations beside the songs. I'm not real good at other languages. That junk in the trunk reference made me wonder whether there was a cultural disjunctive as in America it means a big butt.