I'm singin' in the rain! Just singin' in the rain...

I love life! Just had to say that. So, I'm new to this whole itunes thing, and the other night I couldn't sleep, so I was playing around on my computer. I discovered that there are international radio stations in itunes! How fabulous! That just makes me smile. Better yet, there is one from Italy called Lolliradio, the happy station! YES! Ridiculous, I know, but that's the spice of life. This morning I decided to click on it and Singin' in the Rain just happened to be what was playing. How better to wake up! And it was pouring down rain outside. So like the crazy girl I am, I was dancing and singing around my room as I got ready. Gotta love it! Oh, and my French has improved slightly! Elise, one of the new vocal professors here, has been helping me. She is such a dear! (She and Lynn were taught by the same teacher, so they have very similar techniques/styles.) We are always meeting in the halls chatting about this or that, catching up on each other's lives, etc. We've become good friends. She just happens to be French Canadian, too, and is being so kind coaching me in some French pronunciation. The goal with singing is to make it as authentic to the language as possible...you don't want to be onstage singing French or Italian or whatever and sound American-like...you want to sound like a native to the language. Last night I was studying my music and listening back to bits of the tape I recorded when we worked together, and I noticed some differences. She said a lot of things that helped me. It doesn't change how hard it is, though! I was reading something on Anna Netrebko the other day where she said that she understood all she sang except in French...when it came to that, she was like a monkey imitating what her coach does. That'd be me! But Rome wasn't built in a day.