Margot Blanche

Last updated

Margot Blanche
Birth nameMargot Blanche Moussempes
Also known asMargot Blanche
Born (1983-08-29) August 29, 1983 (age 41)
Hong Kong
OriginHong Kong, United States
GenresPop, R&B
OccupationSinger-songwriter
Years active1990–present
Website Official site

Margot Blanche Moussempes (born August 29, 1983) is a French/Filipino singer and songwriter [1]

Contents

Early life

Blanche was born in Hong Kong on August 29, 1983, to Nicolas Moussempes and Patricia Muassab. Blanche's father was born in Paris, France, while her mother is of Filipino and Syrian Descent. She began singing at the age of 3 and was inspired at a very young age by both popular and classical music. Blanche held heroes like Maria Callas, Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston alongside jazz influences like Ray Charles, Billie Holiday and Nina Simone, but also received rigorous training at the age of 9 with a noted local opera soprano. Her talent was first discovered by her elementary school music teacher who urged Blanche's parents to enroll their daughter in professional voice lessons. Blanche eventually began training with a classical vocal coach, tenor Jimmy Chan and at age 11 she won her first competition at the prestigious Hong Kong Schools Music Festival. She went on to win other competitions, and by the age of 15 she was accepted as a pupil through the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts with prominent Hong Kong opera diva, Katusha Tsui Fraser. [1] Very soon becoming constrained by the rigid and academic technique necessary to perform opera, Blanche began turning to R&B and Soul music as a way of self-expression. [2] She recorded her first demo tape at the age of 15, which consisted of a variety of cover songs and musical theater songs. In the following years, she performed at local talent shows, local clubs and competitions and was cast in her high school production as the role of Marilyn Monroe, in the musical adaptation of the movie Some Like It Hot.

Career

In 2001, Blanche moved to New York City to further her career as a recording artist. [3] On October 30, 2008, Blanche's first independent album ‘Pages in My Diary’ was released. Wanting to be in control of her career and artistic development, the project was entirely directed and independently financed by Blanche. She enlisted several producers and artists to collaborate with on the album including budding producer Kevin '12' Samuels, Burlesque Band Leader Ronnie Magri (who had previously worked with performers like Dita Von Teese), Terrence Lewis, an upcoming Cincinnati Producer and Eric Applegate, with whom she had worked with on her previous EP. The album features songs written and composed by Margot, all of which reflect her musical influences and life experiences. [1]

Blanche was on the Ballot for the 2009 Grammy Awards in four categories, Best New Artist, Best Pop Vocal, Song of the Year and Record of the Year. She is currently a finalist in the 8th annual Independent Music Awards with her song, 'Let It Rain' [4] nominated for the R&B Song of the Year Award and was recently also a finalist in the USA Songwriting Competition for her song 'You're Here'. [5]

Musicianship

Vocal Ability

Blanche has a Soprano vocal range which spans four octaves. Since her debut she has been compared to the likes of Christina Aguilera and Mariah Carey in her melismatic vocal styling and range and she is able to adapt to different sounds and styles with ease. Blogcritics wrote in 2008 that "Where many people who attempt multiple styles of music within one recording come across as unconvincing or insincere, Margot Blanche is able to carry them all off with equal aplomb and does so sounding like she was born to sing each particular genre. While in part this is due to her ability as a vocalist, it's also a tribute to her talents as a performer." [6]

Themes and musical style

The constant theme in Blanche's music and lyrics is love, although she has written on other subjects including spirituality, female empowerment, and grief. Because of her musical influences, Blanche admits she prefers to write songs with more personal subjects in order to connect with her listeners on a deeper, more honest level. Lyrically, she incorporates her real life and experiences into her songwriting. After her brother's death in January 2008, Blanche turned to music and writing as a way of coping with her grief and emotions. Her songs "Let It Rain" and "Beautiful Soul" are heavily influenced by those experiences. [7]

Blanche's 2008 album Pages In My Diary is a fusion of old world jazz with today's hip hop & urban beats. She utilizes sounds, inspirations, and stylistic references from periods of the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s. She also incorporates pinup glamor and burlesque into her image and live performances. For the production of the album, Blanche looked to Billie Holiday, Isaac Hayes, Bessie Smith, Cab Calloway, The Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, Henry Mancini, Jo Stafford and The Meters among other artists for inspiration. Blanche even goes so far on some tracks as to recreate the thin compressed sound of an old mono tube radio to help craft an authentic atmosphere. [6] [8]

When Blanche first conceived the theme of Pages In My Diary, she was not just inspired by the vintage sounds, but also with the look and stylings of the Golden Era of Hollywood, Pinup glamor and Burlesque Cabaret. She referenced actresses Jean Harlow, Jane Russell, Marilyn Monroe, Clara Bow, Bettie Page and Vivien Leigh as well as pinup artists Alberto Vargas and Gil Elvgren as sources of inspiration for her image. She handpicked Pinup photographer Viva Van Story, who has also captured celebrated pinup models Jami Deadly and Masuimi Max, for the photo sessions.

Discography

Albums

Singles/EPs

Related Research Articles

Cantopop is a genre of pop music sung in Cantonese. Cantopop is also used to refer to the cultural context of its production and consumption. The genre began in the 1970s and became associated with Hong Kong popular music from the middle of the decade. Cantopop then reached its height of popularity in the 1980s and 1990s before slowly declining in the 2000s and shrinking in the 2010s. The term "Cantopop" itself was coined in 1978 after "Cantorock", a term first used in 1974. In the 1980s, Cantopop reached its highest glory with fanbase and concerts all over the world, especially in Macau, Mainland China, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea, and Japan. This was even more obvious with the influx of songs from Hong Kong movies during the time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charlene Choi</span> Hong Kong actress and singer

Charlene Choi Tsoek-jin is a Hong Kong actress and singer. She is a member of Cantopop group Twins, along with Gillian Chung.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tricky Stewart</span> American record producer (born 1974)

Christopher Alan "Tricky" Stewart is an American record producer, record executive, songwriter, and music publisher. Stewart, a five-time Grammy Award recipient, began producing music in 1992 and has contributed to unit sales of over 50 million for his work on hip hop, R&B and pop releases. Often in tandem with production partner and R&B singer The-Dream, he has been credited on the singles "Case of the Ex" (2000) by Mya, "Me Against the Music" (2003) by Britney Spears, "Umbrella" (2007) by Rihanna, "Just Fine" (2007) by Mary J. Blige, "Single Ladies " (2008) by Beyoncé, "Touch My Body" (2008) and "Obsessed" (2009) by Mariah Carey, "One Time" (2009) and "Baby" (2010) by Justin Bieber, "Ride" (2010) by Ciara, and "Water" (2023) by Tyla, among others.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shirley Kwan</span> Hong Kong singer and actress

Shirley Kwan or Kwan Suk Yee is an influential former Cantopop singer from Hong Kong. Kwan first shot to fame in 1989 with the hit "Happy Are Those in Love" (難得有情人) and was widely popular throughout the early to mid-1990s. She is noted for her distinct, whispery vocal style and known equally for singing mainstream ballads and more alternative songs. She announced her retirement from the music industry in April 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sandy Lam</span> Hong Kong singer

Sandy Lam Yik-lin, is a Hong Kong singer, actress and producer. She rose to fame in the 1980s, before expanding her fan base significantly in Asia, releasing more than 30 stylistically diverse albums in Cantonese, Mandarin, English and Japanese.

Sophie Koh is an Australian singer and songwriter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stephy Tang</span> Hong Kong actress and singer

Stephy Tang Lai-yan is a Hong Kong singer and actress. She was formerly the leader of the Cantopop group Cookies. She won the Hong Kong Film Critics Society Award for Best Actress in 2017 for her performance in The Empty Hands, and was nominated twice for the Hong Kong Film Award for Best Actress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Janice Vidal</span> Hong Kong pop singer (born 1982)

Janice M. Vidal is a Hong Kong Cantopop singer and actress. She was discovered by music producer Mark Lui and initially began her career as a back-up singer for Leon Lai. She debuted as a solo artist in 2004 under Lai's label, Amusic, where she remained until signing with Warner Music in 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christine Guldbrandsen</span> Norwegian singer

Christine Guldbrandsen is a singer who is best known internationally for being the Norwegian entrant in the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest. She has released three albums in Scandinavia: Surfing in the Air, Moments, and Christine. A new album, Colors, was released on 8 April 2011. She sings mainly in Norwegian, Danish and English.

Connie Fisher is a British actress, singer and TV presenter, who won the BBC One talent contest How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?

Lynn Carey Saylor is an American singer, guitarist and composer. She is most known for her recording work with Queen guitarist Brian May, and her remake of the 1984 Pat Benatar hit "We Belong", which was recorded for and released on her 2007 album, You Like It Clean.

"Migrate" is a song by American singer and songwriter Mariah Carey from her eleventh studio album, E=MC² (2008). It was written and produced by Carey and Danja, with additional songwriting from The Clutch and the track's featured artist, T-Pain. An up-tempo hip hop club track, it is about Carey's movement on a girls' night out, ranging from the club, the bar, the VIP lounge, the after party and the hotel. Critical response to the song was mixed, with many critics disapproving of Carey's decision to use Auto-Tune on her vocals. Despite not being a single, in the United States, "Migrate" peaked at number ninety-two on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, ninety-five on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and sixty-nine on the Pop 100 chart. Carey and T-Pain performed the song on Saturday Night Live.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prudence Liew</span> Musical artist

Prudence Liew Mei-Gwan is a Hong Kong pop singer and actress. A Golden Horse Award winner and platinum selling singer, she has released 16 studio albums and appeared in numerous films.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Susan Wong</span> Hong Kong easy listening and singer

Susan Wong is a Hong Kong easy listening and smooth jazz singer, known for her alto vocals.

Doreen Taylor is an American adult contemporary, pop singer, songwriter, Broadway performer, and actress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kimbra</span> New Zealand singer and songwriter (born 1990)

Kimbra Lee Johnson, known mononymously as Kimbra, is a New Zealand singer and songwriter. Known for mixing pop with R&B, jazz and rock musical elements, her accolades include four ARIA Music Awards, two Grammy Awards and seven New Zealand Music Awards.

Jacinta Anne Brondgeest, a.k.a.Jacinta, is an American musician, singer, composer, music producer, and electronic dance music artist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dallas Frasca</span> Australian musical group

Dallas Frasca is an Australian roots rock musician from Melbourne. Force of Nature, the latest 2024 album reaches number 2 in its first week of release on the Blues ARIA Charts. Love Army, the 2015 album peaked at number 29 on the ARIA Charts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harmony James</span> Australian singer-songwriter

Harmony James is an Australian singer-songwriter. Although James is often classified as a country artist, her music draws on many genres, including folk, pop, rock and blues. In 2006 Harmony first came to the attention of the music industry when she became the only Australian songwriter to have won the country category of the International Songwriting Competition, with her song "Tailwind". Her second single, "Somebody Stole My Horse", became Australian radio's second most played country song in 2008. spawned

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emayla</span> Italian singer-songwriter

EMAYLA, also known as Emanuela Bellezza is an Italian-American singer, songwriter, guitarist and pianist, who gained popularity with her original music, after appearing on television networks MTV Très, Univision, RAI, Telefutura and TV Azteca. In 2012, she won a nationwide contest by MTV Très and was chosen by Colombian singer Juanes to sing a duet with him for inclusion on the Deluxe Edition of his album Juanes MTV Unplugged. Emayla won the contest by performing a cover of Juanes' song Fotografia. The album won a Grammy in 2013 as Best Latin Pop Album category. It also won two Latin Grammys: Album of The Year and Best Long Form Music Video. The video of their performance counts over a million and a half views on YouTube. As a result of these achievements, Emayla's song titled Ella Se Va was played in different main radios in Venezuela and reached the top 40 national music charts in the same country.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "April "Best Vocalist of the Month" winner Margot Blanche". SingerUniverse Magazine. April 8, 2007. Retrieved January 7, 2009.
  2. ↑ "Taxi Transmitter".
  3. ↑ "Music Zeitgeist: The Sultry, Hopping Neo-Cabaret of Margot Blanche". November 24, 2008.
  4. ↑ "Song Finalists: 8th Annual Independent Music Awards". Archived from the original on December 20, 2008. Retrieved January 7, 2009.
  5. ↑ "USA Songwriting Competition Winners". Archived from the original on January 18, 2009. Retrieved January 7, 2009.
  6. 1 2 "BlogCritics: Margot Blanche – Pages In My Diary". Archived from the original on April 14, 2013. Retrieved January 7, 2009.
  7. ↑ "KOAR: The Kings of A&R". Archived from the original on October 6, 2008. Retrieved May 16, 2008.
  8. ↑ "Wildy's World: Margot Blanche". November 13, 2008. Retrieved November 13, 2008.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.