But there was no doubt about it, Zazie was enjoying every minute of her stay in Yangon. Breathing in the sweet smells of unknown fruit and vegetables with evident delight, the singer even sampled a local gastronomic delicacy of grilled larva - which the rest of her crew politely declined! True to her public image of being open-minded, intelligent and infinitely curious about the world, Zazie looked determined to savour every minute of this Asian tour which she has dreamt of for so long.
So it was first stop Yangon (formerly known as Rangoon) in Myanmar (ex-Burma). This was obviously something of an event in itself as international tours rarely venture off the beaten track into territory such as this. After all, performing in concert in Burma is the equivalent of going to sing in French National Front towns like Toulon or Orange. There are two schools of thought - the first believes in boycotting the disapproved-of regime, the second opts for stretching out a hand of friendship and bringing a breath of fresh air into the lives of the oppressed. Zazie has placed herself firmly in the second camp, coming to Burma without any pretentions or great political message but simply as a singer, an entertainer, a performer, ready to delight audiences with her on-stage acrobatics and her simple, no-nonsense pop songs which are readily accessible to all.

Performing in Yangon is also a major event when you consider that in this country gatherings of more than four people are officially banned (obviously something of a headache for Zazie's tour organisers!) What's more, the government has also closed down all the universities in the hope of putting an end to student unrest (according to the philosophy "no students equals no problems"!) However, thanks to a lot of energy and a great deal of persuasion from Zazie and her team, the Burmese authorities finally decided to make an exception and allow the French singer to perform in Yangon.

The 1,000-strong audience who attended Zazie's show looked as if they certainly appreciated the effort. The audience included the town's French community - but given that they only number 200, there were also a lot of young Burmese faces in the audience, the majority of them regular visitors to the Alliance française where they try to make up for the studies they're now missing at their defunct universities. Taking to the stage under a moonlit sky (and temperatures of 30°C), Zazie spent an hour leaping about sweating off a few kilos she obviously didn't need to lose. At first the singer appeared to be somewhat surprised by the cool reception she got from the audience - but then this is a country where public expression of emotions is not exactly encouraged! Zazie soldiered on with her show regardless and by the end of the evening she even had some of the audience singing along with the chorus.

Not a million miles away from the voices of local female stars (female singers are extremely popular in Asia, crooning everything from Indonesian dangdut to Chinese canto-pop) Zazie's high, lilting vocals went down a treat in Yangon. In fact, the striking resemblance between Zazie's voice and Asian-style singing became strikingly apparent when a young Burmese girl was invited up on stage with the French diva to duet on the song "Tous des Anges". Proof, if any were needed, that pop music has its own place in the global village these days!

Anyway, cyber-music fans, that's it for now. But we'll be back on line with you again in "Le Petit Journal" very soon, bringing you news and concert highlights from Zazie's next port of call, Hanoi.