Lara Saint Paul
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Lara Saint Paul (b. 1946 in Asmara) is an Italian singer and record producer.
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[edit] Festival of Sanremo
Lara Saint Paul's first public performance was in 1962 at the Festival of Sanremo in Italy. She went by the name of Tanya and performed the ballad I Colori Della Felicità.
Her big success arrived when she returned to Sanremo in 1968 and she sang a duet with jazz legend Louis Armstrong, titled Mi va di cantare. She also participated in Sanremo in 1972 with Se Non Fosse Tra Queste Mie Braccia Lo Inventerei and in 1973 with Una Casa Grande. Lous Armstrong is quoted by Lara Saint Paul as saying that she was ""one of the most talented singers I ever met in all my life."
In 1988, Lara Saint Paul was a producer and conductor for the Festival of Sanremo at the Casinò di Sanremo (Sanremo Casino.)
[edit] Music
Some of Lara Saint Paul's work in the 1970s, including her songs "Non preoccuparti" and "Adesso ricomincerei" in 1973, was produced and arranged by American producer Quincy Jones. In the same year she released an Italian cover version of "Killing Me Softly with His Song," originally composed by Charles Fox and Norman Gimbel, titled "Mi fa morir cantando." Lara Saint Paul has worked and performed with notables such as Ray Charles, Lionel Hampton, Louis Armstrong, Roberta Flack, Frank Sinatra and Stevie Wonder. Her popular album "Saffo Music" was produced by Leon Ware. The largest markets for her music outside of Italy and Europe are Argentina, Brazil and Japan. One of her 1970s tracks, "So", is featured on several current popular lounge music compilations.
[edit] Aerobica Aerobica
In 1982 she brought the aerobics craze to Italy, working closely with actress and fitness guru Jane Fonda. The video, book and music album, titled Aerobica Aerobica, and a single titled AAA Aerobica, were parts of an exercise program with songs performed by Lara Saint Paul. The program was a huge hit and went on to achieve cult status in Italy. Aerobica Aerobica won a Gold Record in Italy for sales. A clothing line and fitness centers licensed with the name Lara Saint Paul were also created that featured the aerobics program.
[edit] Television
Lara has been featured in many television specials in Italy and around Europe, starting with the variety show Quelli Della Domenica in 1968, for Rai. A 1970-1971 edition of the Rai network tv show Canzonissima featured Lara Saint Paul, bringing Italian film and music personalities together on tv. The 1992 Lara Superspecial (Eurovisione RAI 2) spectacular was broadcast all over Europe and in 19 countries, featuring Frank Sinatra, Liza Minnelli, Harry Belafonte and Luciano Pavarotti. This highly successful television special received a special prize from the Italian critica televisa. The Lara Superspecial orchestra was arranged by Gian Marco Gualandi, who also participated in Lara Saint Paul's 1992 European Tour. More recently (2005) she has been on Italian television for retrospectives featuring the life of Frank Sinatra. Sinatra was a personal friend of Lara Saint Paul whose triumphant return to Italy had been orchestrated by Lara Saint Paul's husband, Italian showman and producer Pier Quinto Cariaggi, in the 1980s.
In the 1990s, Lara produced a television documentary on opera singer Luciano Pavarotti.
[edit] Viva Hollywood and the Merit of Achievement Award
The Italian awards show Viva Hollywood for Rai, a production of Lara Saint Paul's husband Pier Quinto Cariaggi and his company Galenter Entertainment, was co-presented and co-produced by Lara Saint Paul. It started in 1988 and every year brought Hollywood stars to Italy to present them with a Merit of Achievement Award for their work. It was a success for the Italian Rai network and had very high annual ratings. Bette Davis received the first award in 1988. The nominees stayed at the five star Villa d'Este hotel in Cernobbio and were awarded a bronze statuette for lifetime achievement at the televised awards show. Some of the guests, such as Kirk Douglas, had a personal meeting with Pope John Paul II at the Vatican arranged for them by Lara Saint Paul and Cariaggi.
After a few years of hiatus, a new edition of Viva Hollywood and the Merit of Achievement Awards was recently under development by Lara Saint Paul. The pre-production work started in Los Angeles, and the event was tentatively scheduled to take place in Cernobbio, Italy at the Villa d'Este. The gala awards were planned to be broadcast at the nearby Casino di Campione.
 Lara Saint Paul, opera singer Luciano Pavarotti and Lara's husband, producer Pier Quinto Cariaggi. Lara Saint Paul produced a documentary on Pavarotti. |
 Lara Saint Paul and Quincy Jones in Los Angeles. Quincy Jones produced and arranged the songs Non preoccuparti-Adesso ricomincerei for Lara Saint Paul. |
