Helene Fischer's 2011 Tour: Going Glitzy Showgirl

Fischer on her 2011 Tour

Helene Fischer just wrapped up her Spring 2011 tour, in which she played 20 cities in 5 weeks. Most of the concerts were in German cities with a few stops in Switzerland and Austria.

The 26 year old German schlager diva is clearly trying to reinvent herself, although it isn't entirely clear into what.

As mentioned in an earlier post, attired in black leather, she added a rendition of Queen's rock anthem, "We Will Rock You" to her act.

But on the tour she also tried to bring off a preposterous imitation of Lady GaGa, performing "Poker Face." We won't burden you with a videoclip of that, it's just too painful. But if you can picture a fresh faced 60s Leslie Gore or Petula Clark trying to ape the uncouth 2010 New Yorker, you'll get the picture.

Fischer also performed a technically very good but soulless rendition of Judy Collin's poetic 60s ballad, "Send in the Clowns." Aside from her mechanical performance of it she was accompanied on stage by an annoyingly distracting mime performance -- the mime was apparently miming the emotions expressed by the lyrics. Very, very weird.

Still, Helene Fischer is frightfully beautiful and if she feels a need to reinvent herself from the quiet little girl of schlager stardom she could do worse than these three attempted self-reincarnations from her 2011 tour:

The production values on this tour were higher than any she's enjoyed in the past as evident in this clip where she performs, backed by dancers and a large musical ensemble:




Here's she does a reprise of Peggy Lee's sultry 50s hit Hey Big Spender in which Fischer does her best Marilyn Monroe imitation:



Just to put the song in its proper cultural perspective, here is showgirl, Edie Adams singing it in a 1971 American cigar commercial:



And here's Und Morgen Früh Küss Ich Dich Wach her big schlager hit-- Las Vegas Style



Helene Fischer has released a collection of English language songs, rather artlessly entitled, The English Ones and one gets the impression that her handlers are trying to position her for an entry into the American market. Is Helene Fischer gunning for Las Vegas? We'll see.

(You can see English language background and bio on Helene Fischer by going right here.)