Sylvie Vartan

Sylvie Vartan born Sylvie Georges Vartanian 15 August 1944 is a ArmenianBulgarianFrench singer and actress She is known as one of the most productive and toughsounding yéyé artists Her performances often featured elaborate showdance choreography and she made many appearances on French and Italian TV With 50 million records and CDs sold worldwide 2000 magazine covers number one French female artist before Bardot and Deneuve and being the number one French female singer with concerts and audience worldwide Sylvie Vartan is considered a true Legend and icon Yearly shows with thenhusband Johnny Hallyday attracted full houses at the Olympia and the Palais des congrès de Paris throughout the 1960s and mid1970s In 2004 after a break in performances she began recording and giving concerts of jazz ballads in francophone countries Sylvie Vartan was born in Iskrets Sofia Province in the then Kingdom of Bulgaria Her father Georges Vartanian 19121970 was born in France to a Bulgarian mother named Slavka and an Armenian father He worked as an attaché at the French embassy in Sofia The family shortened the name Vartanian to Vartan Her mother Ilona née Mayer 19142007 daughter of prominent architect Rudolf Mayer was of HungarianJewish descent When the Soviet Army invaded Bulgaria in September 1944 the Vartanian family house was nationalised and they moved to Sofia In 1952 a friend of Sylvies father film director Dako Dakovski offered her the role of a schoolgirl in the movie Pod igoto a film about Bulgarian rebels against the Ottoman occupation Participating in the film made her dream of becoming an entertainer come true The hardships of postwar Bulgaria made the family emigrate to Paris in December 1952 At first they stayed in the Lion dArgent hotel near Les Halles where Georges found a job then for the next four years they stayed in a single room at the Angleterre Hotel Young Sylvie had to work hard to keep up at school and blend in with her schoolmates She spent two years learning French In 1960 her family moved to an apartment in Michel Bizot Avenue Thanks to the influence of her music producer brother Eddie music became teenage Sylvies main interest Her most influential genres were jazz and out of spite toward her strict high school rock n roll Her favourite artists included Brenda Lee Bill Haley and Elvis Presley In 1961 Eddie offered Sylvie the chance to record the song Panne dessence with French rocker Frankie Jordan The Decca Records EP was a surprise hit Although she was not credited on the sleeve Panne dessence provided Vartan her first appearance on French television The journalists gave her the nickname la collégienne du twist After the twisting schoolgirl had finished the Victor Hugo High School she was free to sign a contract with Decca Records to start recording her own EP carrying the title song Quand le film est triste a cover of Sue Thompsons Sad Movies Make Me Cry the EP was on sale by the beginning of December 1961 Source Article Sylvie Vartan from Wikipedia in English licensed under CCBYSA 30