French singer Nicole Croisille, of 'A Man and a Woman' fame, dies at 88: agent
Croisille died "following a long illness" in Paris during the night of Tuesday-Wednesday, Jacques Metges said.
"Until the end, she fought with lots of force and courage," he added.
Croisille was best known internationally for her work on the film soundtrack of "A Man and a Woman", including the solo "Today it's You" and several duets.
She was also beloved in France for other hits during the 1970s including "Telephone-moi" (Call me), "Parlez-moi de lui" (Tell me about him) and "Une femme avec toi" (A woman with you).
"I have only sung love songs and I know what I have brought to people," she said in an interview with Paris Match in 2017.
In addition to singing, Croisille was also a dancer and an actress.
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LeMonde
4 days ago
- LeMonde
French artist Nicole Croisille, voice of the famous 'Da ba da ba da' from the film 'A Man and A Woman,' dies
The singer, actress and dancer Nicole Croisille, best known for her performances in Un Homme et Une Femme (A Man and a Woman) died on June 4 at the age of 88. Born on October 9, 1936, in the wealthy Paris suburb of Neuilly-sur-Seine, she was the only daughter of Jean Croisille, a tour guide, and Germaine Decorde. She grew up listening to Chopin and Liszt, played by her mother, an amateur pianist. Trained in classical dance from a young age, she dreamed of an artistic career, even though her father disapproved. "I always knew my place was on stage. That's where I feel best," she used to say. Discovering Sidney Bechet and the atmosphere of the jazz clubs in Saint-Germain-des-Prés as a teenager was a revelation. "I was born with jazz!" she enthused. "I feel this need for rhythm without knowing where it comes from." Croisille studied mime under Marcel Marceau and joined his company for a tour of South America in 1957, then traveled to the United States in 1960. Passionate about American musicals, she managed to land several contracts in North America. She was a revue leader in Reno, Nevada (1958), took part in the Folies-Bergère tour in New York (1964, and sang at the Playboy Club in Chicago (1960). Nicknamed "Soul Sister," Croisille tirelessly worked on her warm voice and sense of swing. In 1966, she met Claude Lelouch and Francis Lai, who invited her to perform the original soundtrack for the film Un homme et Une Femme as a duet with Pierre Barouh. The "Da ba da ba da" chorus instantly became famous and remains etched in collective memory to this day. Claude Lelouch, a loyal friend, also entrusted her with the songs for the films Vivre pour vivre (1967), Les Uns et les Autres (1981), and Itinéraire d'un enfant gâté (1988). Finding success at 40 In the 1970s, she achieved widespread acclaim. As a pop singer, she wanted to present the image of a free woman through her songs: "When success came, I was 40, and I could speak as a woman talking to women." In 1976 and again in 1978, powered by her voice and energy, she triumphed at L'Olympia, Paris's famous concert venue. A versatile performer, Croisille refused to confine herself to a single musical style and constantly alternated between pop, jazz – most notably with the album Jazzille in 1987 – and music hall. In 1992, on the stage of the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, as part of an American troupe, she played the title role in the musical Hello Dolly. "It's a childhood dream come true. When I was 10, I decided in my head: 'I want to be like Judy Garland.'" She also appeared in the musicals Follies (2013), Cabaret (2014) and Irma la Douce (2015), where she thrived in working as part of a troupe. Croisille also made several ventures into acting. She performed in theater productions such as Folle Amanda (1996), Coup de Soleil (1999) and Hard (2018), and appeared in films, including La Cage Dorée (The Gilded Cage, 2013) as well as on television. In 2005, she played an unlikeable character in the hit TV series Dolmen, which drew approximately 12 million viewers per episode in France. "Singing, dancing, and acting – that's the life I wanted to lead," she said. Croisille, discreet about her private life, opened up in 2006 with the publication of her autobiography written with Thierry Lecamp. The title summed up her life and 60-year career: Je n'ai pas vu passer le temps ("I Didn't See the Time Go By").
France 24
4 days ago
- France 24
French singer Nicole Croisille, of 'A Man and a Woman' fame, dies at 88: agent
Croisille died "following a long illness" in Paris during the night of Tuesday-Wednesday, Jacques Metges said. "Until the end, she fought with lots of force and courage," he added. Croisille was best known internationally for her work on the film soundtrack of "A Man and a Woman", including the solo "Today it's You" and several duets. She was also beloved in France for other hits during the 1970s including "Telephone-moi" (Call me), "Parlez-moi de lui" (Tell me about him) and "Une femme avec toi" (A woman with you). "I have only sung love songs and I know what I have brought to people," she said in an interview with Paris Match in 2017. In addition to singing, Croisille was also a dancer and an actress.
Euronews
22-05-2025
- Euronews
Fact check: Did NATO create the Eurovision Song Contest?
Eurovision season is over for another year but people are still talking about it, including claims online that the iconic song contest was created by NATO. Posts on social media and even some news outlets allege that the military alliance wanted to use it to imperially exert its soft power during the Cold War and beyond. Some posts shared screenshots of a document from NATO's Committee on Information and Cultural Relations, dated November 1955, which refers to a "North Atlantic Festival." The document says that a "performance" could be a subtle way to push a pro-NATO narrative among the general population. "Consideration might be given to handing out NATO information brochures at the Festival," the document says. "However, the desirability of doing so should be carefully weighed and, at first sight I believe it would be a mistake, since it would introduce an element of propaganda, and the Festival aims at achieving similar results by more subtle means." "In any case, it would be far more natural to influence public opinion in favour of NATO through the medium of the performance itself," it continues. However, while the document is authentic, it's been taken out of context. It and other NATO archives show us that the alliance did float the idea of a "North Atlantic Festival", but it was nothing like the Eurovision Song Contest and never even came to be as originally conceived. It was to take place on the sidelines of a popular, annual military exhibition by the French army known as "Les Nuits de l'Armée", sponsored by French magazine Paris Match. The display featured various performances and attracted thousands of spectators in Paris every year. "The 'NUITS DE L'ARMEE' are popular not only because the show is of a very high standard and the physical arrangements excellent, but because the public loves the glitter and pageantry of a peaceful military display of this kind," NATO said in one of the documents. "It is this last consideration which has induced the publishers of 'PARIS MATCH' to envisage a North Atlantic Festival on the lines of the French 'NUITS DE L'ARMEE', in which selected units of the armed forces of the various NATO countries would take part." The idea was to showcase cultural military displays from different NATO members, such as a Scottish march to bagpipe music from the UK, a demonstration by Belgian police dogs, and a changing of the guard by Canadian Mounties. The online claims appear based in part on the year the Eurovision Song Contest was first held: 1956, the year after NATO published some of these documents. The "North Atlantic Festival" may also have been conflated with the Eurovision Song Contest because they share certain traits and objectives, namely their intention to promote unity and peace in Europe and celebrate culture and media across the continent. Another document mentions that the BBC suggested broadcasting the festival around Europe using the Eurovision network, owned by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). "The North Atlantic Festival project having recently been mentioned in London when the Information Division contacted the BBC Television Service, the latter stated that it would certainly be prepared to see that the programme was retransmitted over the Eurovision network (United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands)," NATO says in the document. "The BBC authorities explained that a display such as the North Atlantic Festival was exactly the type of feature they were seeking," it adds. Nevertheless, the Eurovision network isn't the same thing as the Eurovision Song Contest: the former is a broadcasting infrastructure created by the EBU in 1954 to exchange TV and radio content across Europe, while the latter is a specific entertainment programme that uses this network to broadcast a live music competition among participating countries. The Eurovision Song Contest's website states that the idea for the network came from Marcel Bezençon, director general of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation, and that the idea for the contest came from RAI, Italy's national broadcaster. "The most popular and successful programme that the Eurovision Network would produce would be its namesake: the Eurovision Song Contest," the website says. "Following suggestions put forward at the meeting of its Programme Committee in Monte Carlo, Monaco in 1955, the EBU decided at the session of its General Assembly in Rome later in that year to establish the Eurovision Song Contest." "The inspiration for the Contest came from RAI, which had been staging Festival di Sanremo (the Sanremo Italian Song Festival) in the seaside resort town of the same name from 1951," it continues. It's also inaccurate to suggest that the Eurovision Song Contest was created to push pro-NATO propaganda against the USSR and later Russia, as some social media posts have. Both Russia and Belarus were full EBU members, including participation in the Eurovision Song Contest, until they were suspended in 2022 and 2021, respectively. Neither country is a member of NATO, also showing the independence of the military alliance from the EBU. Ultimately, a NATO official told EuroVerify that the alliance played no role in the creation of the song contest, describing claims to the contrary as inaccurate. A spokesperson for the Eurovision Song Contest meanwhile said that "there is no truth to these claims at all". "The Eurovision Song Contest was created by the European Broadcasting Union in 1956, which continues to coordinate the competition on behalf of its Members – public service media from 56 countries," the spokesperson said. Dozens of protesters gathered in front of the Italian parliament on Wednesday in solidarity with the Palestinians of Gaza and to demand an end to the Israel-Hamas war. They waved Palestinian flags and held banners to call for a ceasefire. Many protesters accused Israel of genocide, destroying hospitals and of manufacturing a humanitarian catastrophe in the enclave, such as widespread famine. 'There is a crime against humanity ongoing, a real genocide, therefore I think right to cry out our pain so that this savagery of war can stop,' said protester Giorgia Prosperi. 'When you starve a people, when you besiege it, and you don't provide them with health care, but instead you destroy hospitals - there were 36 hospitals in Gaza and now there are only four left after all those were destroyed,' said Francesca Perri, a medic and member of a group called 'Medics for Gaza'. 'They have limited capabilities to assist since they have no medicines or even bandages, they have nothing left, our colleagues amputate with no anaesthetics - all this for us is a great pain,' added Perri. Despite a surge in international anger at Israel's widening offensive, Israeli strikes continued to pound the Gaza Strip on Wednesday. The attacks killed at least 82 Palestinians, including several women and a week-old infant, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry and area hospitals. Israel began allowing dozens of humanitarian aid trucks into Gaza on Tuesday, but the UN says the Israeli security process to clear aid to distribution warehouses, which they've described as 'long, complex and dangerous', is preventing aid from quickly reaching those in need.
