Five years after her latest visit to Bulgaria and following a very successful tour of Japan and a noteworthy appearance at Folies Bergères in Paris, one of the most emblematic voices of France, who has got Bulgarian roots and a Bulgarian soul, Sylvie Vartan, was back to her home country where she sang on 24 April at Hall No. 1 of the National Palace of Culture in Sofia. Before her concert Miss Vartan accepted the invitation of the Bulgarian National Radio to give a press conference.

How does she feel every time she comes back to Bulgaria, the country she left at age 7?

“I am always very excited and happy when returning to Bulgaria. Imagine being in the shoes of a child aged 7, leaving her homeland, bidding goodbye to her relatives, whom she loves and who love her and she suddenly realizes that she will never see them again. At that point I realized that my heart was broken apart and that one half of it would always remain in Bulgaria.”

During her first return journey to Sofia after the collapse of the Berlin Wall, Sylvie Vartan rediscovered Bulgaria, but found the country sad and bleeding, in her own words; a place where many children needed help. Together with her elder brother Eddie and many supporters she decided to be of help, and in 1991 created the non-profit association, Sylvie Vartan for Bulgaria.

"For the first time I returned to Bulgaria after the collapse of the Berlin Wall, to see the places of my childhood again, and to sing. For me it was a thrilling experience I will never forget. Together with Eddie we wanted to help, but we soon realized that it would be impossible to respond to all existing problems. So we decided to create an association to help the youngest, the children, who are our future. "

On April 24, Sylvie Vartan gave her third concert in Bulgaria to present her fortieth consecutive album Sylvie in Nashville. With this project she was back to the top of the French charts. Here is what the singer said:

"The music is very rhythmic in the country rock style. Blues and rock music are strongly influenced by country music. That's why artists like Bruce Springsteen and Taylor Swift have recorded music in Nashville. My whole album is in the country rock style. There are two very good slow songs. One of them is an old song from American folklore and is called "The Alien" (Etrangère). It is very appealing to me, because it indirectly conveys the theme of breaking away from roots and of the comeback, years later, to an altogether changed place."

In addition to her music, Sylvie Vartan’s fans now have had the opportunity to look into her inner world. This opportunity has been provided by her book, Word for Word, a kind of a glossary in which letters become more than just a font.

"I decided to create a book in the form of an index, because it is more readable. While in my first autobiographical book I gave many details of my personal life, in this one I have put the Bulgarian word banitsa in the section of B-words. It is what Bulgarians call their traditional cheese pie. This approach makes the book a great fun to read," concludes French pop music star Sylvie Vartan.

English Daniela Konstantinova