On Being a "FAN" or a fan

[Saturn2004]

Originally Posted by Edcognito

Glad to know i'm not ready for the rubber-room yet!

After laughing at me a little (we have that kind of relationship) my wife has agreed to let me go to France if Alizée is having a concert appearence while we're visiting in Wales this summer!

C'MON 3rd album!


ed

OMG if there is a concert. heh, you'll probably see me there. I'd sell my car and computer, game systems and all to go just for that concert. yea I know. call me pathetic

[SupaKrupa]

Originally Posted by Saturn2004

OMG if there is a concert. heh, you'll probably see me there. I'd sell my car and computer, game systems and all to go just for that concert. yea I know. call me pathetic

No one's gonna do that here. Others would probably sell everything too! It's the way this fansite is hehe. Welcome btw.

[Cooney]

Never in my life have I followed a specific band or musician with any dedication, and only once before have I cared enough about a celeb to actually look up anything about them (I was an Alyson Hannigan during Buffy, but that never got beyond buying a couple cheap "autographed" photos).

For me to find myself drawn in to following a given singer is quite surprising and out of character for me. For me to care so much that I've spent significant amounts of my paychecks to acquire years old promotional merchandise of hers is beyond my comphrension. That I am happier than I have been in years, and that I have no regrets, is beyond question.

I've tried to analyze it - I do like the sound of her music quite a lot, I enjoy the challenge and intellectual stimulation of translating (or trying to) her lyrics and interviews, and as a young single guy, I find her hellaciously hot. Honestly though, I can't provide a reason for my adoration of Alizée beyond simply that "it makes me happy." For now, that's all I need.

Oh, and since people keep mentioning it...

I will be at her next concert, whenever, wherever, however.

[rwd716]

Hellaciously, lol! Is that word taken in the "describe Alizée w/ one word thread," lol?

[theit77]

GRAVE NEWS! -- WARN ALL OF YOUR MALE FRIENDS (and some female too)
There's a virulent new fever that is seriously endangering all of mankind. The epidemic originated in France and rapidly spread through Europe. Now a pandemic, the disease has reached Japan, Mexico, and the US in full force. The most common way of contracting the disease is being exposed to videos such as 'La Isla Bonita' or 'J'en ai marre,' but other songs are also contaigous. The disease has been named --
Alizée-fever
Once you have contracted the disease, which affects the brain, you will be completely debilitated within a day and will be forced to think of, watch, and listen to nothing other than Alizée. As of now, there are no known treatments or cures to mitigate the very serious effects of the disease.

[theit77]

Originally Posted by Edcognito

Ok, this is something that i've thought about quite a bit. For the longest time (since my early 20's) i've liked various music, groups, singers and whatnot, but I havn't really been a fan. The thread on "what would you do if you saw Alizée walking down the street in your city" got me thinking.

When i started to consider the idea (however EXTREMELY remote) that I might actually see Alizée in person, I found myself having a reaction! (No, not THAT reaction!) While i was typing away, I realized that my pulse had speeded up! Nothing more than that, but i was surprised indeed!

I've always found the "capital F" fans (FANS) to be somewhat of a mystery to me. I have liked a very diverse group of musicians/artists over the years, everything from Simon and Garfunkel to Heart, to the Pretenders, Def Leppard, Patty Smyth and Devo (literally dozens more, but you get my point). I liked their music, and looked forward to a new album, but that was it really. I never tried to find out anything more about them other than when the next album/song was coming out, and concert dates. I didn't need to know anything about their home life, I honestly didn't care. I certainly never felt the need to visit fan sites (although to be honest, the "intra-web" didn't exist as such then...).

With Lili, I can watch "Stars e' Domicile - 2003" over and over, and every time she walks in the door and Jessica sees her, I get all misty-eyed! I can just imagine that moment of SHOCK, delight, awe, shyness - the whole thing! At other times i watch "La Isla Bonita" and fall into her eyes. This has never happened to me before, at all, ever.

I find myself amused at myself! Here is a 46 yr. old guy, happily married, with 2 step-children (16 son and 22 daughter) 4 dogs, 2 horses, a good job, many good friends - and i'm visiting a fan site at least 2 or 3 or 4 times a week, looking for news about a singer in France! Sometimes i step outside myself and go "self? are you nuts?!?" And my answer is "I don't think so..."

My daughter is getting married in June, and at the end of June (as a wedding gift) my family with daughter's new hubbie are traveling to Wales (England) to visit friends. I keep hoping that Alizée comes out with an album before then, and that she happens to have concerts scheduled about then, so that maybe i could go cross-channel and see her. I don't think my wife would mind, she might pick on me mercilessly, but I think she would let me go. I just find this very strange for me...

Do you guys/gals feel sometimes the same way? Surprised at your reactions to this woman? Is this just a function of the fact that the Internet exists now, where 25 years ago, it didn't for me?

Do I need counseling?

I'm interested to hear your thoughts!

Ed

edcognito, I guess I can't exactly relate because I'm 17, but I'm in the same boat in that I've never been a FAN of another musical group. I've thought of a few things that may separate her from all other singers:



her singing comes easily - it's not strained, her cute voice comes naturally

you can see yourself w/ her - she's seems attainable even if she isn't really - this even applies to guys who are married, you love your wife, but you can still imagine being with Alizée. Along these lines, she is also relatively short, which is good for a not-so-tall guy like me; this is unlike many other performers who are unrealistically tall. Finally, she's a girl you could bring home to your parents, she's very pretty, but not indecent; she has class

she's cute sexy; not sultry, overly-exposed sexy

there's been very little bad publicity on her - no nasty breakups, no DUI charges etc. - this is a big difference from most American singers - she seems perfect in all ways

[LiliFan788]

Originally Posted by theit77

edcognito, I guess I can't exactly relate because I'm 17, but I'm in the same boat in that I've never been a FAN of another musical group. I've thought of a few things that may separate her from all other singers:



her singing comes easily - it's not strained, her cute voice comes naturally

you can see yourself w/ her - she's seems attainable even if she isn't really - this even applies to guys who are married, you love your wife, but you can still imagine being with Alizée. Along these lines, she is also relatively short, which is good for a not-so-tall guy like me; this is unlike many other performers who are unrealistically tall. Finally, she's a girl you could bring home to your parents, she's very pretty, but not indecent; she has class

she's cute sexy; not sultry, overly-exposed sexy

there's been very little bad publicity on her - no nasty breakups, no DUI charges etc. - this is a big difference from most American singers - she seems perfect in all ways

You have just listed all of the reasons I'm a fan of Alizee. I couldn't have said it better myself.

[Edcognito]

I thought I would bump this thread (yeah, shameless "self-bump"), just to see the new folks reactions...


What do you guys think? I've seen several people that are following other artists, sometimes quite "ardently". How do you guys feel about the OP?

Thanks for any replies, I love seeing what I can get kicked off...


Ed

Heh I absolutely hated pop music in my teens and early 20's that's until I discovered Alizée in 2008 I think, I'm more of a tech/trance person. For me Alizée is the first singer I've ever really been a fan of, gosh a fan... A fan to me back then was like some hysterical lunatics made up of mostly screaming teenage girls.

Alizée is special though, its like she has filled the gap for people like us...

[MYGOGT]

I guess I'll take a stab at this. First, the counseling is within the forum itself.
I have always listened to a variety of music; from classic country & western to new country, rock, pop, blues, jazz, choirs. I, too, never cared to learn about a singer or band. People would ask me, "Who is singing this song?" and I usually could not answer. I really didn't care. Why fill my head with irrelevant information anyways? Having driven an hour each way to and from work the past ten years I gave up on music as I had heard it all, over and over. I found myself listening to talk radio all the time. More irrelevant information, so I pretty much turned the radio off. (Yes, there was a divorce in there somewhere also)
So I am minding my own business one night searching forums for suspension parts reviews and out of the blue I get linked to this pretty young French girl. My first thought was here we go again "the selling of sex appeal without a voice". Was I ever WRONG!!!!!!!!! Man, didn't anyone ever tell me to "NOT" judge a book by its cover? From the moment I heard this amazing voice I have have not been myself. Is she beautiful? That is without question. Probably the most beautiful woman these sorry eyes have ever seen. But her voice has captured me like no other. So I started the search for more information; now you tell me why it is all of a sudden so relevant after all these years thinking differently. I have yet to listen to another artist since my discovery Feb 2nd of this year. I believe Ed mentioned the "Domicilles" videos; made me so darn proud I was crying too. Now I am trying furiously to catch up with what I have been missing all these years. It has been thirty nine years since I had any french lessons, but now I must learn more. You are either a fan or not, that is plain and simple. The only question is, "How could you not be?" OK, was this my response to the OP or my intro? I am just as confused as the rest of you as to what has happened to me/us. But I must say I am glad I found Alizée and also you folks here at AAm. I think I'm done now.