Laura Pausini - Live in Paris 05 (2005)

Commercially, 2005 was a great year for the multilingual Laura Pausini, who got a lot of mileage out of her 2004 releases Resta in Ascolto and Escucha (which were essentially two versions of the same album -- one in Italian, and one in Spanish). The dreamy ballad "Vivimi" (from Resta in Ascolto) was a major hit in Europe, and the song's Spanish-language version "Viveme" (from Escucha) was used as the theme song for the Mexican Televisa network's popular telenovela La Madrastra (although, for licensing reasons, Televisa was unable to use "Viveme" in its DVD release of La Madrastra -- much to the disappointment of Pausini's Spanish-speaking fans). Pausini did a considerable amount of international touring in 2005, and this 77-minute CD documents a March 22-23, 2005 appearance at Le Zenith in Paris. Pausini performs in three different languages on Live in Paris 05: Italian, Spanish and English, and she is expressive in all three. Italian, however, dominates the Paris gig, but whatever the language, Pausini maintains her adult contemporary/Top 40 outlook -- an outlook that serves her pleasingly well whether she is performing in Italian on "Vivimi," "Le Cose Che Vivi" and "Strani Amori," in Spanish on "Escucha Atento," or in English on the '80s-tinged "Surrender." One of the album's most pleasant surprises is the only track that wasn't recorded in Paris: an acoustic version of "Viveme," which was recorded backstage during a rehearsal at the Wiltern Theater in Los Angeles in April 2005. The material on Live in Paris 05 isn't terribly challenging, but then, there is no law stating that music has to be ultra-challenging to be worthwhile. When it comes to warmth, feeling and charisma, Pausini is clearly in the upper echelon of adult contemporary and Top 40 -- and longtime fans will not be disappointed by Live in Paris 05.