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Chantal Chamandy made her mark last spring when she released Love Needs You, an adult-contemporary album balanced between themes of love and lust. Picture if you will, Celine Dion's pop radio-chum sound with culture, class, sass and brains. Chamandy infuses her music with culture and influences from both east and west from the Arabian vibed platinum single "I Want You" to the Spanish splashed "Music of the Moon" fit for J.Lo's pre-gangsta breakthrough On the 6. (Remember the Latin ditties?) In Chamandy's case, please note: this beauty writes her own songs. Headstrong and willing, Chamandy set her heart on a vision and will be seeing this dream through on Sept. 7. The Egyptian-born Montrealer will perform at the foot of the pyramids on the Giza plateau in Egypt. A massive sectional stage will be assembled in front of The Great Pyramid of Giza and the Sphinx. The stage is set to hold the Cairo Symphony Orchestra, Chamandy's band, an ensemble of dancers and the star who dares to dream and aim far and high. Lending their talents to this exceptional event is a gifted crew made up of the likes of producer, director Gerard Pullicino (Madonna, Celine Dion, Joe Cocker), set designer Guy St-Amour (Cirque du Soleil), lighter designer Matthieu Larrivee (Diana Krall, Alanis Morissette) and choreographer Geneviève Dorion-Coupal (Cirque du Soleil, Génération Motown). Chantal Chamandy: Beladi, A Night at the Pyramids will be released for broadcast in March 2008. Until then more information is available at chantalchamandy.com. Days before revisiting her roots, Chantal Chamandy took a moment for composed conversation amidst all the excitement.
How on Earth did you manage to book the foot of The Great Pyramid of Giza as a concert venue? That is impressive!
It came from a dream and an idea that I've been wanting for a long time. I was born in Egypt but never really had a chance to go back because there was always a problem like political situations. So I thought, "One day I'm going to go back and when I go back I'm going to do something big." We found a connection in the Egyptian government and they just loved the idea. They thought where I wanted to sing was where other artists have, in the desert. But I didn't want to sing there. I wanted to really sing at the foot of the Sphinx. It seemed so easy!
The concert will be recorded in five languages: English, French, Spanish, Arabic and Italian, all of which you also speak. How hard was it to accomplish that?
As a child my first language was French. When I came to Canada I had to learn English and at five years old you can learn anything! But I have an ear for languages. Languages are very musical.
What sort of concert can be expected?
I didn't want to just go there and sing. I wanted to really make a visual show. I also wanted to make this show very choreographed and very slick. So I called my friend Geneviève Dorion who has done Cirque du Soleil and the Super Bowl. It will be one crazy party. It will be magical.
Is there a theme and concept?
"Beladi" which means my country.
Where is home in your eyes?
Home for me is Montreal. When I returned to Egypt for the first time and I set my foot down I thought, "This is also my home." But home is where my heart is and my heart is in Montreal. But when you go back somewhere and you have a past there and your family is from there it becomes very nostalgic.
Have you wrapped your mind around the fact that you will be performing with the pyramids, a great wonder of the world, basically serving as your concert's natural backdrop?
There are no words to describe it. I still have a hard time believing that people built this. How could they have? They're so huge, so proportionate and old! You just feel very insignificant next to them. It's all just amazing.
What about your fans who can not attend this concert in Egypt?
I ultimately want to take it on tour. It's just a show that has to go on tour. It's too beautiful to not. I'm hoping that I can take it everywhere. I wouldn't have the pyramids behind me, but we'll figure something out.
What do you hope attendees of this event will take in from your performance?
A little bit of our culture, and the realization that everybody can be in the same room and have differences but still be together listening to something that they love; music. We all go to concerts and we don't care what race or religion is standing next to us. If the world worked like that we would be in such a good place. I don't know if it could save the world, but it could make the world come together. If people could have the same focus about life and that respect for life, now that would be awesome.
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