On the occasion of the release of the film “Aline”, meeting with singer Victoria Sio, voice in the shadow of Valérie Lemercier, who interprets all of Celine Dion’s songs. Or rather Aline Dieu.
Released in theaters this Wednesday, Aline, the new film by and with Valérie Lemercier, tells the story of Aline Dieu, a Quebec singer with a golden voice. When he hears this voice, music producer Guy-Claude has only one idea in mind: to make Aline the greatest singer in the world. Supported by her family and guided by the experience and then the budding love of Guy-Claude, they will together write the pages of an extraordinary destiny.
Freely inspired by the life of superstar Celine Dion, Aline sees Valérie Lemercier achieve an incredible performance as she embodies her heroine from the age of 5 until she is 50 years old. But it is neither the voice of Valérie Lemercier, nor that of the interpreter of “Pour que tu m’aime encore” that we hear on the screen during the musical sequences of the film since it is in reality the singer Victoria Sio, seen in particular in the musical Le Roi Soleil, who lends her voice to Aline. And the different reinterpretations of Celine Dion hits.
On the occasion of the release of this event feature film, we meet the singing voice of Aline, who looks back for us on the creative process and the different stages of this extraordinary adventure …
DashFUN: How did you get into the Aline adventure, in which you interpret the songs of Céline Dion, or rather Aline Dieu?
Victoria Sio : It really happened by chance. I went to see a singer friend on stage and I sat down next to Bruno Berberes, Aline’s casting director. We knew each other well because we had done The Sun King together in particular. And he tells me “Can you send me two demos on ‘My Heart Will Go On’ and ‘So that you love me again’. Don’t ask questions, but stick to Celine Dion.”. Not being an imitator, I find it difficult to understand, but he does not give me more details and I decide to trust him.
A few days after sending my demo, I was called back by the film’s music crew who invited me to go to the studio and do other tests in addition to these two songs. And I learn that a fictional film on the life of Celine Dion has been set up, that it is Valérie Lemercier who directs and interprets it, and that they are looking for a voice for Aline. So it’s starting to tickle me (laughs). I tell myself “It would be cool if I was part of this adventure”. So I give everything.
But then comes the confinement, because the first stages of the voice casting took place in early 2020. I don’t have too much news during the confinement. And I was finally called back in mid-May by the musical director of the film who announced to me: “We saw 50 singers, in France, in the United States, in Quebec. There were 12 left, then 4, and finally Valérie chose you. You will be the voice of her film”. This is how it was done. Complete chance.
How did you approach the musical work on this film? Was it the idea of “measuring yourself” against Celine Dion that interested you the most?
This is the whole challenge in fact. The challenge of saying to ourselves that we are attacking a monument of song, which has millions of fans around the world. There is necessarily a little pressure, because we want to do well. I am a hard worker, a perfectionist. It was three intensive months in the studio with Valérie Lemercier. And since she is as picky as I am, sometimes the sessions were very long. Because we did our best not to imitate, not to caricature. It’s not my job, and there is only one Celine Dion. And since Valérie’s film is a fiction, and not a biopic, my voice also had to be a fiction. Close to Celine Dion, but without being what Celine does on her albums either.
It was necessary to bring additional acting. Valérie directed me like the other actors in the film, so that I bring play to my interpretations. And then the vocal evolution was very interesting too, because I sing Aline from her 12 years old to her 50 years old. I had to tamper with my voice. At the beginning, it’s a little awkward, nasal, it still rolls the “r” a little, it is not very in place. Then there is English which is not great at the beginning, we understand that she is starting to learn it. And at the end of the day, she’s a crazy techie, she knows exactly where she’s going.
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