Transcript from July 9, 1998

Timehost: Hello! Welcome to the TIME chat! Our guest tonight is legendary French singer/songwriter/actor Charles Aznavour, who has been chosen as Entertainer of the Century by users of TIME Online from around the globe. Mr. Aznavour currently leads our poll as the century's outstanding performer, with nearly 18% of the total vote, edging out such greats as Elvis Presley and Bob Dylan. Welcome, Mr. Aznavour! We've very honored that you could join us this afternoon.

Charles Aznavour: Thank you for having me. I don't know what to say. It's very unusual for me, this kind of event.

Timehost: All right, well, let's go right to a question from the audience:

Crooner345 asks: Why do you think you were chosen by online users to be TIME's Entertainer of the Century?

Charles Aznavour: I don't know. I really don't know. I never thought about that. I never thought it could happen to me. There are so many great entertainers in the world, and I'm surprised, happily surprised, but surprised anyway.

Timehost: Do you think your efforts on behalf of Armenians played any role?

Charles Aznavour: You know, I don't really know, so that it's very difficult for me to answer that question.

Lily_09 asks: First of all, I want to say that I just love your voice....If I remember correctly, you knew Edith Piaf personally, is that true, or am I totally lost here?

Charles Aznavour: True, yes. I lived on the entourage of Piaf for 8 years, following her everywhere, and I was her friend until the end of her life. For a young singer and writer like me, it was a fantastic opportunity to see her singing every night. I used to help on the lighting, the microphone, everything. I was not a secretary exactly, but I was a "friendly secretary" if you know what I mean. We had many things in common. She sang in the street, and I sang in the street, and in cafes. She came from a poor family and so did I. I was not as poor as she was, but not rich.

Timehost: Can you tell us a little bit about the songs that you wrote for her?

Charles Aznavour: I wrote seven songs for her. I was not exactly the kind of writer for Piaf. She used to like my way of writing, that's why she sang some of the songs. But I was not exactly her kind of writer.

Joe_Bob_97027 asks: What sort of influence has Edith Piaf had on your professional life?

Charles Aznavour: Well, she had a great deal of influence. She helped me to see that I should be myself on stage, that I should not pretend to be anyone else on stage. To be true, to be a real person. Of course, it's an act when you are on stage, but I am freer on stage, and she was freer than others on stage. From her, I learned not to try to imitate anyone else.

Timehost: What attracts you to singing/songwriting? And in conjunction with that, we have a question from online:

DARKSID24 asks: Whom did you admire when you were little?

Charles Aznavour: My father was a singer. My mother was an actress. When I started to sing, I was not happy with the songs I found for myself. It was not something that was fitting to my kind of size and figure. In those days you had to be tall and handsome -- you had to be the kind of person you see in the movies, and I was not like them. From that came the writing. I had to say things, things the public was not used to hearing in songs. You could see that in movies, in paintings, in plays, even in sculptures, but not in songs. So I started to write about problems, and the miscommunications between two people. Then I came to what's happening in life: homosexuality, drugs, crashes on the road, what we in French call, faits de societe. What you can find in a few lines in the papers. That became my mark, my style. I was the only one doing that for years, and afterwards, I found that happening everywhere. Because the public liked to recognize itself in the stories. As to whom I admired, I admired many people: Jolson, Piaf, Chevalier, Charles Trenet. Each one for a different reason. And altogether that makes for a special personality. Jolson for the delivery. Piaf for the emotion. Chevalier for that stature, for the international stature. Trenet for the writing. And also another one, because I like the tango, Carlos Gardel. But all those people have something in common, I guess. Of course, I'm not talking about people like Sinatra, because he came after those people in my life.

Purrh asks: How do you feel your music has changed over the years?

Charles Aznavour: I don't think that it is my music that is important. I use the music to carry the lyrics. Basically, I am a lyric writer. But poems or lyrics carry their own music by their own rhythms. And so I became a melodist. I write melodies. I'm not a composer. I can't write scores. I think Irving Berlin was like that. Compared to Gershwin, who was more complete, because he was able to write pieces like An American in Paris. But the result, at the end, for the public is the same.

kastguest_cb929832 asks: Monsieur Aznavour, have you found that audiences prefer to hear your old standards, or do they welcome new music?

Charles Aznavour: The public always prefers the old standards. Every time we step on stage, we sing the songs from times before. I always sing the old songs in the second half, and the new songs in the first half. But those new songs then in the next concert get moved to the first half, so it's always a perpetual development. But my performance is not based on hit songs. It's based on songs, and among those, I have hit songs. Songs like What Makes a Man has never been a hit song, but it's a very strong song on stage, and maybe more important than a hit song.

Davidddddddddd asks: Comment est-ce que vous avez eu l'idŽe pour la chanson 'Autobiographie'?

Timehost: And the translation is: How did you get the idea for the song "Autobiographie"?

Charles Aznavour: It's my life. It's really the life of my family. I explain everything in it. I explain my parents coming from Russia and Turkey, the genocide, in a very light way, without pointing to any people, and then I describe my struggle in France and my life in show business. I wrote that song because I didn't want to write an autobiography as a book. It was shorter like that.

Maximillian_1998 asks: You have been very active in Armenian affairs - was this part of your family background always important, or was it something you came to embrace at a later stage in your life ?

Charles Aznavour: No, I have always been very close to the Armenian people. When I say close, I mean in my heart and in my mind. After the earthquake, the day after, I thought I owed something to the memory of my family, to my parents, so I committed myself very strongly to try to help the people there. But one thing is important to know: I am French, too I am a Frenchman with Armenian blood. I don't deny anything.

Friend asks: How did you get into the acting business?

Charles Aznavour: Well, I started as a child actor. I started when I was nine years old, playing the part of a child in straight plays. The singing is an accident -- not the acting -- but the singing took over everything. In the beginning I was disappointed, but now I am very happy about it. I wanted to be a stage actor.

Blue_Monk23 asks: Did you ever get the opportunity to work with Truffaut again after Shoot the Piano Player?

Charles Aznavour: No, because the producers, in a word, refused to produce Fahrenheit 451 with me. Truffaut wanted to give me the part in Fahrenheit, but the producers, I think they were English, they didn't know who I was. But after that Truffaut wanted to have Belmondo, but they refused Belmondo too. I guess he was not well known enough either. That was the kind of thing that happened in those days.

Timehost: What was it like to work with Francois Truffaut?

Charles Aznavour: Great. But at first the communication was not easy, because Truffaut was very shy, and I was very shy too. So for the first week it was not easy. Because it was difficult for two shy people, you know. But after that, it became easier. You know, the funny thing about Shoot the Piano Player? When I went to America for the first time, people filled up the concert hall, but people thought I was a piano player, simply because of the movie.

Loudmouth454 asks: What's your view of the current French film/music scene? Will it ever again capture a worldwide audience? Can it compete against Hollywood?

Charles Aznavour: I think in movies, it's the same always, it's a circle. For example, for 15 years, we didn't hear anything about England, and now we're hearing about all their beautiful movies. It's like a circle. It could be Italian movies, or American movies, or Russian movies, and one day I believe they will come back. Right now, audiences want to see strong special effects, and they want to laugh too, and it's difficult to have comic movies in another country, because the humor is not exactly the same.

Blue_Monk23 asks: Did M. Truffaut allow much improvisational performance or close adherence to the script?

Charles Aznavour: No, no, he allowed lots of improvisation. I have a way to work with any director. I hear what he has to say. I accept it if it's what I see too. If I feel differently, I ask him to shoot it both ways: his way and my way, and then look at it and ask honestly, which way fits better with the story.

Barbaradee75 asks: Did you enjoy your concerts with Liza Minnelli? How do you feel about how she sings your songs?

Charles Aznavour: Yes, she was the first one who sang the difficult songs, my kind of difficult songs. She was the one who was able to do it. They are acting songs, like small plays, and she sang them beautifully, and each one was like a little piece of jewelry. She never took a hit, she sang the kinds of songs that I use as a material in my routine, and very successfully.

Lovetosinga asks: Who are your favorite singers?

Charles Aznavour: In America, Sinatra, Ray Charles, Bette Midler, of course Liza, Streisand. And I love the country singers you have. Country songs are the nearest thing we can find to French songs. Dolly Parton, and many others.

Timehost: We have several questions in about your views on Frank Sinatra:

Maximillian_1998 asks: Would you regard yourself as the Frank Sinatra of the French speaking world ?

Charles Aznavour: No, no. Sinatra is a unique person. No one can say something like that about himself. We have some things in common, of course. He is of Italian descent and I am of Armenian descent -- we are both immigrants. We made it through love songs. And we had a great opportunity in movies.

Purrh asks: Has computer technology affected your life? Your music?

Charles Aznavour: No, but it has helped me. When I finish my work, I go to the computer, but not before. For example, I write my lyrics in handwriting. Then I introduce it into the computer, and I do the changes in the computer. For the music, I write on the piano, I go to keyboard, and, when the music is finished, then I print it on the computer, which saves me plenty of time. But I do not compose or write with a computer -- never. And for the kind of songs, there is no need for the computer. I use it because I like it. It is one of my toys, you could say.

Timehost: We have several questions and comments in from fans around the globe. Let's start with this one:

DIEGO_LASSO asks: I'm speaking for thousands and thousands of fans in Santo Domingo. Did you ever realize how great is the audience that follow you in this Island?

Charles Aznavour: No, I but I have been there. I know that they have a big open air theater there. And it would be a pleasure for me to sing there, especially in the languages they speak there.

Timehost: And this one from Brazil, where the speaker would like to know when Mr. Aznavour will next perform there and tells you that you are well loved there.

Ferfig98 asks: Bonjour, M. Aznavour Je voudrais savoir quand est que vous viendriez chanter pour nous au BrŽsil. Ici nous vous aimons bien.

Charles Aznavour: Sunday is the big day for Brazil! It's going to be France versus Brazil! Unfortunately, I don't know when I am going to be there again. But I have been very often in Brazil, and I love it there. I love the music too. Music is part of the country. It's in the air. Brazil has one of the most beautiful and musical peoples in the world.

Marushka1998 asks: Hello Charles. Will you be coming to NY in 1999? We have seen you many times in Carnegie Hall and are looking forward to your 75th year.

Charles Aznavour: I will be on Broadway in October of this year, for four weeks. I will be at the Minskoff. New York is a very familiar city for me. I was here for the first time in 1948. In the Cafe Society downtown -- not knowing one word of English! And since then regularly I go to New York. Even when I'm not touring America, I go to New York.

Timehost: This next question came in from a participant, but has been somehow deleted from the queue. Our apologies: Mr. Aznavour, what influence do you think your music will have on the ages?

Charles Aznavour: I don't know. I never thought about that. I think some of my lyrics will stay in some books in French, but apart from that, I can't project myself further. You know there is a new generation coming, and if one song can stay, then that's a miracle.

Timehost: We're out of time, unfortunately, but before we go, do you have any closing thoughts you'd like to share, Mr. Aznavour?

Charles Aznavour: Yes. To those who are communicating online, I want to say thank you. I never dreamed that I would chosen for this honor. I was so surprised, and awed, that I didn't even know what to tell people around me.

Timehost: Thank you, Mr. Aznavour for joining us this evening. We greatly enjoyed having you with us!