On paper, nothing seems further away than the purified pop-folk universe of the two accomplices and that of the interpreter of the flagship song from the "Titanic" soundtrack.

Apple, consecrated in France for her latest album "The faults", admits it bluntly to AFP: if at the start she was "impressed by her technique" vocal, she was not "too touched" by the songs of the one she saw as "a war machine", cut to fill the rooms in Las Vegas.

"I was in a somewhat haughty relationship, as often in France with her".

But, "by spending time in Quebec", which had become her second country, "by learning about her", Pomme ended up "listening to her songs in another way" and letting herself be won over by the "emotion" of some titles.

Celine Dion on stage on September 19, 2019 in Quebec Alice Chiche AFP / Archives

"The creation of Pomme and Safia Nolin, by stripping the songs in guitar-voice, by going to the heart of the note, all done with great respect, will highlight a very intimate repertoire", greets AFP Boris Vedel, director of Printemps de Bourges.

"My first idol"

"In France, we often have the image of Celine Dion mocked by satirical programs, which made fun of her relationship with her husband-manager René, but we must not forget that she touches people and that behind the productions at the American, very orchestrated, there are beautiful melodies", he develops.

Say the name "Céline Dion" and Safia Nolin, a figure on the Quebec independent scene, is inexhaustible.

"She was my first idol, at the age of 5-6, that's why I make music and she remained the most important to me," she told AFP. video from his country.

Quebec singer Safia Nolin on stage on July 15, 2017 at the Francofolies in La Rochelle XAVIER LEOTY AFP / Archives

"I'm from Quebec, she represents us, in your family it would be the little girl who does a feat that no one is capable of".

This tattooed woman with a shaved head, who doesn't have her tongue in her pocket when it comes to denouncing homophobia or grossophobia, loses all her means when she meets Celine Dion.

"One time it's in the dressing room with my sister and my sister-in-law, no kidding, my brain goes like compote and I start talking like a two-year-old with a super high-pitched voice (laughs)" .

"I didn't know what to say to her, I saw myself doing badly + hey I sang at Trois Baudets (small venue in Paris) + while she was doing Las Vegas (laughs)".

"Film Down Under"

While the two artists were doing their research for this show created for the Printemps de Bourges (two performances on Thursday and Friday), the film "Aline", by Valérie Lemercier, inspired by Céline Dion, was released.

They didn't like it.

"The film is at the antipodes of what we want to do, in the film we have the impression that she has lived everything in spite of herself and the negative things are accentuated, we are the opposite", explains Pomme, also in video from Quebec, from a different place from his sidekick.

"Through the songs she performed, we show that she has accomplished a lot on her own, she works three times more than all the other artists I know," she adds.

Same tone at Safia Nolin.

"The film gives the impression that Céline did not have quite the control, but she is very demanding, by dissecting the archives on her you see her strength of character, her understanding, very quickly, of the pressure when you become a star so young".

“We want people to listen to their music with a different range,” begins Pomme.

"We are a bit of a channel, a kind of projector so that people are touched by her and her music", concludes Safia Nolin.

© 2022 AFP