A few years ago she released "Berlin" (2014), an album with only German-language music; now Ellen ten Damme ventures into the chansons. In Paris - Berlin she wears the French tricolor over her shoulders and she sings Aznavour and Stromae. She does that with at least as much dedication as with her German repertoire, although she cannot yet completely let go of our eastern neighbors. In her new show, Ten Damme dusts down classics, from French "good oldies" to well-known work of her own.
At the same time as the Paris - Berlin premiere, Ten Dammes released their new album: "Paris", the French successor to "Berlin". The performance seems almost like a launch party, or at least a theater concert pur sang. Without narrative and even with hardly any chattering through the songs: this is all about the music. And let that just be Ten Dammes forte. Together with The Magpie Orchestra, her eight-member band that also collaborated on "Berlin", she dedicated herself to the songs. She herself plays every instrument that she can get hold of, with of course a leading role for her violin playing. It is a cheerful whole that does not lose any energy.
A preview of the show was already on show at De Parade festival this summer: Je veux l’amour. Ten Damme only played French there; German will also find a place in Paris - Berlin. French music does predominate in a set list of own work, translations (a beautiful French version of "Everything is running") and covers of mainly classics. And then also true classics, songs that you have heard so many times, that you would immediately turn them off on the radio. Ten Damme is happy to pull "Non, je ne regrette rien" (Piaf) out of the closet, or have her audience pant on "Je t'aime, moi non plus" (Birkin & Gainsbourg). She manages to make even the most crazed hit sound fresh, even though her German songs have more character. The performances are more daring, but Ten Damme has not renewed her German oeuvre for this performance. The cover "Ich liebe wie du lügst" (originally by Rihanna and Eminen as "I love the way you lie") is beautiful, but has been singing for years. Sound like the recipe for a dusty show? Not at all. This is Ellen ten Damme: who knows how to turn every performance into a spectacle, with her musical talent and inexhaustible energy
