French singer seeks Chinese musical dream

    “The first time I heard the Chinese song Girl in the Flower Room by Chinese rock star Cui Jian, I got the idea of covering it in French, and it 1 pretty good," French singer and songwriter Joyce Jonathan said. Known as the "Pop Queen of Chanson" in France, the 28-year-old singer 2 her first Chinese album Ca Ira on May 16 and toured China from May 19 to June 5 in cities 3Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Hong Kong.

    Born on Nov 3, 1989 in Levallois-Perret, France, Joyce Jonathan has always loved to record life through music. At the age of seven, she learned to play the piano and began 4 her first series of songs. "Music is about love and stories. People of different countries may have language barriers5they can all understand what I am trying to say in my songs, and it is the power of music," Jonathan said. In 2005, she posted her musical tracks on the site MySpace, a social networking website, and was able to 6fame on the internet.

    7 that fame, Jonathan began recording her first album Sur mes Gardes in May 2010. It was certified platinum ( 130,000 album sales ) in under a year. On Jan 23, 2011, she 8 the NRJ Music Award for Francophone Breakthrough of the Year,9 an important step in her musical career. "When I win more and more fans, I truly feel very happy. And I like to communicate with my fans and listen to their ideas 10 I can," she says.

    Although a French native, Jonathan grew up in a "Chinese-speaking" family. Her parents worked in China and could speak a little Chinese and one of her sisters has lived in Beijing so far. "When I was a little girl, I visited Beijing, a very 11memory in my childhood.12 and friendly, Chinese people led me into many interesting places," she 13 "The food dumpling and the old places like hutong are really14to me." Because of her interest in China, the singer began to learn Chinese, and in 2011, she15 four of her songs in Chinese for the first time. "The Chinese language is very beautiful with dynamic rhythms. But Chinese is not easy to learn and I will keep practicing."

    16several years of work, the Ca Ira album was made, which included 10 Chinese songs. Some of the songs were 17 from French versions, while others are completely new for Chinese fans.

    In the album, Joyce Jonathan cooperated with Chinese singer Cui Jian, known as the "Father of Rock" in China.

    In April 1989, Cui released the song Girl in the Flower Room in his album Rock and Roll on the New Long March and the song was widely sung by Chinese people in the 1990s. "The song was amazing, both in meaning and melody, and I decided to 18 it in French."

    The French 19 Tes Deserts, which mean "The Love Desert" in English, was produced in May this year and was a sensation(轰动) among many French people. "I could not believe such a romantic song could come from China," French Facebook user, Zombie Baby, said online. According to Jonathan, the song proves music is20and has no boundaries.