a surprise decoration at the Olympia

Monday, November 18 at the end of the evening, as she was preparing to conclude, after nearly three hours on stage without an intermission, her 64^e Olympia, Lynda Lemay saw Gérard Davoust, her editor, arrive on set with a woman she did not know. This was Élisabeth Moreno, who was minister responsible for equality between women and men and diversity in the government of Jean Castex. She was perfectly authorized to carry out an official and surprise ceremony: presenting the cross of Officer of Arts and Letters to the Quebec singer.

The latter, who was unaware of the steps taken by Gérard Davoust with the Ministry of Culture, did not hide her emotion and her tears. More accustomed, in these kinds of circumstances, to reading the traditional speech in front of a handful of intimates, Élisabeth Moreno recalled the broad outlines of a career in front of 2000 standing fans, knowledgeable on the subject. She spoke of her beginnings in the cafés of old Quebec and the variety of a repertoire where words are mixed “sometimes funny, sometimes sad, sometimes crude”. She thus quoted verses from Green shoes where she evokes the comparison between the head of a man, suspected of having cheated on his fiancée, with that of a chameleon on a white bed, and the unusual image, in other verses, of the crossing of the character of Charlie Chaplin with a pitted black olive. She concluded by saluting the one who defines herself as a « storyteller » and which she considers rather as a « storyteller ».

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Lynda Lemay: her tribute to Aznavour

The memory of Charles Aznavour was, of course, mentioned. In 2012, it was on this same stage that, at the end of a concert, he hung the first grade cross, that of Knight of Arts and Letters, on the recipient's dress. Lynda once created in public and in his presence, Especially youa song where she pays him an admiring and affectionate tribute. Their meeting dates back to July 13, 1996. That day, Charles Aznavour and Gérard Davoust went to Montreux to attend the closing evening of the annual summer Jazz Festival. Charles Trenet, celebrated for his entire career, gives a concert in the second part of an evening during which young talents come to pay tribute to him. Among them is a young blonde woman, specially come from Quebec to perform My houseone of the countless successes of the “Singing Madman”. She continues with I don't want a visit. Aznavour, owner of Raoul Breton editions, immediately whispered to its President, Gérard Davoust, « She must be at our house! ». At intermission, they join her in her dressing room and ask her if she has a team in France. This is clearly not the case. At the same time, the director of a major record company congratulated her in turn and asked her if she would be interested in recording a record. Straight away, and with a smile, she responds, “He’s been at your house for over a year and no one takes care of him!” ». His interlocutor, stammering, offers him lunch the next day. She politely refuses, because she is taking the plane back to Quebec.
So a few days later, Davoust went to Montreal where, in an office, accompanying herself on the guitar, Lynda hummed to him a sample of dozens of verses then sleeping in her drawers. Confirming his enthusiasm with a contract, his new publisher will begin a real obstacle course. In a few months, it will allow the performer to move, thanks to word of mouth, from modest venues in front of a sparse audience, to large music halls, throughout France where, since then, she has not performed never stopped showing full. The evenings traditionally end with a long autograph session with spectators so loyal that she ends up calling some by their first name.
Passing regularly from one side of the Atlantic to the other, next month she will give a series of shows in Belgium, return to France in 2025 for a long tour and three new concerts at the Olympia. Which will not prevent him from finding the time to write, compose and record new songs. She has already sharpened her pencil. Because she has a wealth of ideas.