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Look who's smiling now

Montreal’s chart-topping songstress Jacynthe
is about to pop

by RAF KATIGBAK

After five number-one hits in Quebec, four top-40 successes, and one Top 10 hit across Canada with “Look Who’s Crying Now,” 26-year-old singer Jacynthe is the closest thing Montreal has to a bona fide Britney or Christina. The only thing missing is stateside success, but with a starring role in the upcoming Cirque de Soleil production Delerium and influential backing for her upcoming album from industry bigwigs south of the border, it looks like that hurdle might be jumped sooner than later.

The comparisons to American pop idols come perhaps too easily. After all, Jacynthe, who signed a deal and recorded her first album when she was 15, is the full package—she’s cute, blonde (well, originally a brunette), she can sing, move, and she’s got charisma out the wazoo. And while some artists might want to steer clear of the commercial bubblegum-pop association, decrying their lack of artistic integrity (whatever that means today), it’s one she takes as a compliment.

“Sure, I get a lot of comparisons to Christina and Britney,” Jacynthe explains over the phone, “but they don’t compare me to people who are singing on the corner of the street who aren’t talented, and that’s important. They compare me to people that are on top of the world in my field. I have to take it as a compliment, even if some people don’t mean it as a compliment. If they see some sort of potential for me, that’s good.

“Compliments are really great, but constructive criticism can actually help you get better. When I started at 15, what did I know? I knew what a 15-year-old knew, which is not that much about the industry. I had natural talent but I was a child, I needed to blossom.”

And blossom she did. With credits that include a starring role in La Vie Rurale (the Quebec adaptation of Fox’s A Simple Life), a Chanel sponsorship, countless appearances on national television, the title of official spokesperson for the Starlight Foundation and the Canadian face for Lancaster watches (you’ve seen the posters all over the Metros and buses), it seems the sky’s the limit for the Juno- and Felix-nominated diva.

But what does a Canadian pop star listen to at home? “Right now, because I have to learn a lot of songs for Cirque, I don’t have time to pick up new stuff. I mean, I have to pick up the last Mariah Carey, she’s always been an influence and I can’t give up on her.

“Mostly, though, I’ve been brining back some of my old CDs, like Guns N Roses’ Appetite For Destruction. I don’t know why, but it works out with my mood right now—I actually do a cover of ‘Patience’ in my live set. Since I saw the recent U2 show, I’ve dusted them off a little. My favourite is Achtung Baby—I never really knew how to pronounce that. Also, I really liked hearing the Arcade Fire at the U2 show. I was really impressed with them, they had a really good energy on stage, they came up with sounds that were quite unique, it was mostly a vibe thing. That’ll probably be my next buy.”

Indeed, that recent U2 concert proved to be inspiring in more ways than one for Jacynthe. “I went to the concert and I thought, the day that I achieve something like this, I will just freak out. Not just that there’s 20,000 people screaming for the band, that’s not the point. It’s the longevity of their career, the success, recognition, the credibility. Fame comes and goes, but recognition stays, the fans are true and stick by them, that’s the best goal to achieve for an artist.”

Then she adds almost flippantly, “Of course, if I won a Grammy, I’d be super excited.”