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Sylvie Vartan at the "Pourquoi pas" Premiere at the Lido

Guest Star Maria Callas

21 December 1966

 

 

Sylvie Vartan et Johnny Hallyday au Lido en décembre 1966

 

 

Aside from the London Royal Command Performance in 1965, the 20th anniversary celebration of the opening of the Lido in Paris was the first real 'high society' gathering attended by Sylvie Vartan, on December 21 1966. Scheduled for that night: the review "Pourquoi pas!"... But that evening the drama wasn't only onstage... Sylvie was accompanied by her famous husband Johnny Hallyday. It's on this occasion that Sylvie Vartan met la Callas, two divas who couldn't be more different. The organisers made sure to seat them at the same table. Sylvie arrived smiling on Johnny's arm, accompanied by her best friend Mercedes Calmel, but it seems that things went downhill from there, judging by the photos taken throughout the evening. Note that Johnny and Sylvie's places from the start of the evening, alongside Maria Callas and Aristote Onassis, were changed. During the second part of the dinner the famous greek couple ended up opposite Sylvie and Johnny. The table was hassled by photographers and the evening's photos reached the four corners of the globe. They continue to be used even today, appearing in several works dedicated to the singer.

 

programme de la revue Pourquoi Pas au Lido en 1966   article du Japon avec Maria Callas et Sylvie Vartan , Aristote Onassis et Johnny Hallyday en 1966
Programme   Japanese press article

 

 

France soir 22 December 1966

 

article France-Soir avec Maria Callas, Sylvie Vartan et Johnny Hallyday pour les 20 ans du Lido en 1966

Impeccable kiss of the hand by Johnny to welcome la Callas, at the gala of the 20th anniversary of the Lido. Sylvie's eyes never left her husband. But she told noone how she felt.

 

Sylvie Vartan couldn't take her eyes of husband Johnny Hallyday as he kissed the hand of Maria Callas yesterday evening at the Lido. The reconciled couple of French song shared the table of the singer for the gala given for the 20th anniversary of the famous Champs-Elysées cabaret. On the stage: the new review Pourquoi pas? In the room, famous diners in black tie and gold and silver evening dresses (from floor lengths to miniskirts). Result: one of the most dazzling evenings of the season.

 

 

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O Cruzeiro  (Brazil, February 1967)

 

Pourquoi pas

 

 

"Pourquoi pas?" A premiere at the Lido. By coincidence, the night of the 20th anniversary of the most famous cabaret in the world. "Le Tout-Paris" dreamed of being invited. International celebrities received invitations and turned out in force. And why not? The Blue Bell Girls, more beautiful than ever, in jackets and mini-skirts, ligned up for a dance routine inspired by the "Voom-Voom", the fashionable club  in Saint-Tropez. There is also a chinese scene, which is not surprising, china being so in fashion. Intelligent and docile animals that will soon know more than men. Hollywood takes a major spot, with the inclusion of big screen star impersonators, Pearle White and Greta Garbo, Al Jonson and Marlene Dietrich. They were onstage but the whole room was part of the spectacle. Everyone knew everyone. There was the politician Gaston Palewski, as well as four embassadors. The duke and duchess of Windsor. Marcel Achard. Maitre Floriot. Admiral Cabanié. The vicecomptess of Ribes, Prince of Bismarck. Pierre Cardin and Marc Bohan. La Callas, with Onassis. Shirley Mac Laine, with Maurice Chevalier. Ira de Furstenberg ("Remmenber" Baby Pignatari). Géraldine Chaplin. And Mia Fonssagrives. And Elsa Martinelli. And Charles Trenet. Truly international but very Parisian.

 

Article de la revue Brésil 1967 O cruzeiro "Première no Lido"

Article de la revue Brésil 1967 O Cruzeiro avec Sylvie Vartan et Johnny Hallyday au Lido

 

 

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Through the Camera Lens

_________________________________

Sylvie Vartan, Johnny Hallyday et Maria Callas en 1966 première de Pourquoi pas au Lido Maria Callas, Onassis, Jacqueline de Ribes, Sylvie Vartan et Johnny Hallyday au Lido en 1966
Sylvie, Johnny, la Callas  La Callas, Sylvie and Johnny, viscountess.
 
Maria Callas, Onassis, Jacqueline de Ribes, Sylvie Vartan au Lido en 1966

The table that caught the eye of the photographers

 

Baroness Marie-Hélène de Rothschild captivates her listeners, at the front of whom we recognise Viscountess Jacqueline de Ribes, as well as Johnny and Sylvie only visible by a blond outline. Maria Callas laughs at Aristote Onassis clowning around. In the background we notice Yves Saint Laurent observing the little group with envy...

 

Sylvie Vartan et Onassis au Lido en 1966   le coupe Hallyday Vartan et Callas Onassis en 1966 au Lido de Paris
Sylvie and Johnny to Onassis : "Tchin tchin!"    Sylvie, Johnny and la Callas : champagne!

 

Sylvie Vartan, Johnny Hallyday , Maria Callas et Onassis à la première d'une revue au Lido en décembre 1966   Sylvie Vartan et Johnny Hallyday à la première de "Pourquoi Pas" en décembre 1966 au Lido
Sylvie : a touch of the blues?   A tender moment of connexion ...
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The fashion spot

 

 

For this evening, Sylvie chose to wear a long flounced dress from "Créations Sylvie Vartan" and a white mink bolero. She wore the same dress for Johnny Hallyday's premiere at the Olympia in November 1965. As for the fur vest, we find it in the photos taken at the Royal Command Performance in London the 8 November 1965, and so it must have been designed by Real (Real having designed all of Sylvie's outfits fo this event). Looking closely at the photos taken on her arrival, we see that her friend Mercedes Calmel is dressed in the Real outfit that Sylvie wore for the premiere of "Cherchez l'idole" in 1964...

 

A society evening such as this is always the occasion for the ladies to strive to be the most elegant and constitutes a dream 'showcase' for the major parisian designers (surely the presence the same evening of Marc Bohan from Dior, of Pierre Cardin and of Yves Saint Laurent wasn't just a coincidence...) Does this explain the pout on Sylvie's face in several of the photos taken that evening? At any rate from that day on, at big parisian parties, she would never again be seen in anything other than designer fashion. She herself would later say it in an interview: "For me, it's Dior or Saint-Laurent"...

 

   

20th anniversary of the Lido

Review "Pourquoi pas"

 

20th anniversary of the Lido

Review "Pourquoi pas"

 

Premiere of Johnny at

the Olympia '65

 

 

Sylvie Vartan et Johnny Hallyday à Londres au soir de la Royal Command Performance du 8 novembre 1965  

Sylvie Vartan and Johnny Hallyday in London the evening of the

Royal Command Performance of the 8 November 1965

 

Premiere of Johnny at

the Olympia '65

 

 

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