Priscilla Betti has grown up! A former child star, the singer is now 35 years old. The young woman, upset that she is asked every year to participate in The Voice as a candidate, is on tour from September 19, 2024. Along with other artists from the 2000s, she participates in the tour I gotta feeling. Priscilla Betti rubs shoulders with the singer Nâdiya, the group Worlds Apart and Billy Crawford, who performs his cult song Trackin’. On this occasion, she gave an exclusive interview to Tele-Leisure.
Priscilla: “I am extremely proud to sing again these titles which are part of my musical heritage”
Tele-Leisure : What made you want to take part in the tour? I gotta feeling ?
Priscilla Betti: The 2000s are my years! These are the years where I released my first songs and these are also the years where I listened to all the other artists who are with me on stage. I didn’t hesitate for a second, especially since getting in touch with people is what you want most as an artist, at least in my case.
Did you know the other artists before sharing this stage?
Some yes, like Assia or Helmut Fritz. Alizée, she’s a friend since we toured Dancing with the stars together. Afterwards, I didn’t know the others, but I knew all their songs! (She laughs)
You’ve been singing your biggest hits for over twenty years. Do you still get the same pleasure from performing them?
Yes because, somewhere, I rediscover them every time I sing them in front of an audience. It’s nice. Afterwards, in terms of the voice, the tone is no longer the same at 35 as at eleven, so there is a challenge that I want to take on. And it’s going rather well so I take great pleasure in singing again these titles which are part of my musical heritage. I’m even super proud of it.
Priscilla: “There was no connotation in the lyrics of Teste-moi”
You started your career at the age of 11. Didn’t you feel like you didn’t have a childhood after all?
No. I had a special childhood, but I had a childhood. I went to school, I had friends, I did everything that schoolchildren could do at the time, except that I went to Paris very often, I took the plane. I had a high-profile life, that’s for sure, but my childhood was the same as everyone else’s. That’s my impression anyway.
How did you experience this success at such a young age?
At the beginning, we don’t necessarily realize, we do what we love. But when I saw that more and more people came to my concerts or wanted a signature or a photo with me, I understood that I was known by a lot of people. And not just in my village!
Wasn’t the label of child star sometimes a little heavy to bear? Do you feel like you’ve managed to get rid of this label?
I can’t say the opposite: I was a child and, even if I don’t really like the word “star”, I was an artist. It’s not a label I’m trying to get off, it doesn’t bother me.
The words of Look at meor more precisely the two words “Test me” have caused quite a stir, especially in the mouth of a 12-year-old girl. Were you aware of this at the time?
No way ! It’s true that people spent a lot of time analyzing these sentences when it was just a song from a child who goes to school, in the playground and who experiences her first love. It was necessary to understand “Test me with your eyes“, “Look at me“. We made a bit of a fuss over this text but for me, there was nothing really bad. There was no connotation as people may have thought…
Priscilla: “I never stopped singing or working on artistic projects”
When you were a kid, you were a fan of Britney Spears, you even met her. Unlike you, she had a very difficult time after fame. How do you explain that you escaped this?
I think it’s a question of surroundings. I am lucky to have the support of my family. My mom accompanied me everywhere. I feel very sorry for Britney Spears, because it means that at one point, she found herself perhaps a little alone, lost, and we didn’t help her. I grew up in a modest family, with values. My mom is Pied Noir, Italian and Spanish and I think if I had started to forget them, she would have caught up with me immediately. The same if I hadn’t done well at school. She would have said to me: “If you want to continue singing, you have to do well at school otherwise we’ll stop“.
You don’t mind being asked.”what you become” while, ultimately, you never stopped singing and acting?
There are a lot of people who like to say that I disappeared when I don’t seem to have disappeared at all. I never stopped singing or working on artistic projects. I have always stayed in this environment. If I didn’t release an album, I was doing the musical Flashdance or the show Dancing with the stars. And then at the time, we could go and promote our albums on television, at Jean-Pierre Foucault or at Hit Machinefor example whereas today, there are almost no more musical programs, apart from The Voice or The Music Festival. What makes me happy today is that when I announce that I’m doing a concert, people come to see me. I still have a fan base that is there, very present.
Fort Boyard, Dancing with the stars, The Island celebrities…we have seen you in several television shows. Are there any you would like to participate in today?
Maybe Mask Singer ! Plus, you have to sing, so that’s kind of my domain. Especially since every year, people think I’m in it. Every year, I receive messages: “Come on, tell us it’s you” or “It’s okay, we burned you“. I tell myself that if I do it, maybe I will go unnoticed.
You sang Still no love. And today, have you found love?
Oh no, still not! As Elie Kakou said in his sketch: “My daughter Fortunée is 35 years old and she is still not married!“Well that’s a bit my case. I don’t worry, it will come when it comes. I’m not going to push it. I have a special life and you have to take the time for that. And sometimes, It hits you suddenly and it’s very good!
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