Humming "My Name is Elena" for more than 20 years, its Buddha-figure has finally come to China

"Hélène, je m'appelle Hélène, je suis une fille, comme les autres... Elena, my name is Elena, I'm a girl, like any other girl..." I don't know if you remember this classic French song that swept China. On December 13, her singer, Elena Holley, arrived in China with the romantic feelings that had spread throughout France 23 years ago.

Elena's heat did not diminish

According to the Voice of the North, the veteran French singer, who will turn 49 in a few days, may not be familiar to most Chinese, but her famous song "My Name is Elena" has been popular on the streets of China. On the 13th, in a Stalin-style surrealist building inlaid with a red five-star in Beijing, Elena brought an auditory feast to fans.

From Beijing's rustic-style cafes to Shanghai's upscale commercial centers, "My Name is Elena," which became a hit in 1993, sang the north and south of the river. The song, along with Edith Piaf's "Life of a Rose" and Alizée's Lolita, is called one of China's three most popular French songs.

"After all these years, Chinese still like my old songs!" After the concert, Elena was surprised. The concert brought together an audience of 500 people, mostly women or entire families. "People speculate that the students who studied in France brought the song back to China and made it popular."

In the 1990s, Elena was the head of france's TF1 television station, and she starred in many serials, often appearing on magazine covers. "My Name Is Elena" is the theme song of the TV series "Elena and the Boys" in which she starred. In 2011, after years of silence, Elena returned to the screen with her new drama "The Secret of Love".

"Lotus" blooms

"When I was a kid, I was stupid, I always thought that China was at the end of the world, and now I stand on Chinese soil." Elena said excitedly, "This country is very attractive to me, there are many stark contrasts. Chinese kind and welcoming. ”

In China, performances by French artists were very popular, and only the neoclassical pianist Richard Lopez was able to perform. Clayderman's performances have been full for 30 years. In the British singer Robbie? While Williams and the American pop rock band Maroon Rouge canceled their performances in China, Elena performed 14 days in many major cities in China, and some audiences even spent 1280 yuan on VIP tickets.

Jean-Luc Azoulay, creator of "My Name Is Elena," said Chinese are no strangers to the song. As early as 1990, Dorothée sang the song in front of 300,000 people at the Shanghai Stadium, and for a time major Chinese television stations began to broadcast it. In 2014, Elena sang it again at the Beijing TELEVISION New Year's Gala. "Next year we will also perform in China, and we will also publish an album for Chinese fans, which will contain 8 Chinese songs."

Elena said she was eager to learn Chinese, and her Chinese name means "beautiful lotus".

(Editor: Xia Ying)