Isabelle Boulay, who celebrated her fiftieth birthday last July, recently released a new album, recreational horses, in which she performs pieces by French singer Alain Bashung.
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A project that would not have been possible earlier in her life, she hinted at on the set of the show Le monde à l’envers on Friday. “After passing this milestone [de la cinquantaine], I have the impression that time flies even faster. When you have a certain background, life experience, but also a lot of work, at a certain moment you say to yourself: “What have I not done that I would regret if I had the chance?” she confided to Stéphan Bureau.
“Singing Bashung was the greatest danger for me. His work is demanding on a literary and musical level, and it’s probably the artist who made the least compromises out of all the artists I’ve admired,” she added.
The singer has in the past paid homage to the songs of Edith Piaf and Serge Reggiani, among others.
During her one-on-one chat with Stéphan Bureau, Isabelle Boulay also confided that the song had been her emergency door at times. “I enjoy singing a lot, but I’ve also sung throughout my life because it’s given me a lot of excuses to get myself out of certain situations,” she said, adding that she also wanted to sing to fix others .
The singer will present the songs from her new album on stage during her tour of America and France, a bridge show between American folk-country and the great French song.
Carry life for others
On the set of the show, Stéphan Bureau also received Pier-Luc Desjardins, father of a 6-week-old girl, and the woman who carried his child, Marie-Ève Lamothe, to discuss the current bill from the Quebec government under investigation with the aim of legalizing the use of female carriers. Ms Lamothe, who carried four children for others, said she was divided on the issue, particularly on pay and “professionalisation”.
Mr Desjardins and Mrs Lamothe are both stars of Canal Vie’s new documentary series Porteuse de vie.
Marie-Claude Savard, Émilise Lessard-Therrien, Richard Martineau and Guy Nantel were the week’s debaters.
Le monde à l’envers is shown on TVA on Fridays at 8pm.