yuyu: interview with the singer
“Music and fashion are two ways I found my voice.” With a new version of La Bohème , a Charles Aznavour classic, Giuditta, better known as YuYu, once again moves with her voice and her story. In this interview, she opens the doors to her world: from an intimate tribute to her grandmother to how she finds inspiration in the small gestures of everyday life.
A soulful comeback: the new version of La Bohème
How has this return with the new version of La Bohème been for you?
There's a very special story behind this song. My record label called me in September of last year and, after 20 years, proposed doing a new version of Charles Aznavour's La Bohème . It struck me at the time, because I would never have dared to sing such an important pillar of French music.
My grandmother from Paris, to whom I was very close, had passed away shortly before. She was a huge Aznavour fan. Thinking of her, I tried out karaoke at home. Barely two minutes later, my record label called me and said, "It's yours."
From then on, everything became very intimate. I recorded in Milan, in the same studio as 24 years ago, and I felt like everything flowed naturally. When they gave me the release date, I was deeply moved: it coincided exactly with the day my grandmother passed away. I still get goosebumps remembering it today.
“My version of La Bohème was an intimate act. A farewell, a tribute, an emotion that still gives me goosebumps.”
A new chapter, with maturity and calm
What excites you most about this new stage in your career?Living it calmly, with the maturity I have now. It gives me great joy to feel the warmth, not only from the audience but from everyone working behind the scenes: the sound engineer, the presenter, the crew. It is essential to stay humble and to be grateful for the present, especially in a world as fleeting as this one, where everything can last as long as a single song.
A song that stands for a life. If your career were one song you have performed, which would it be, and why?
Without question, Bonjour Bonjour. It is a joyful, timeless song. Over the years it has become a sort of waking-up ritual. I am still surprised by how present it is: it turns up on social media, on the radio. Sometimes people say to me, “What memories! My parents always played that when I was little.”
That is when I realise how time passes, and at the same time how a song can stay alive and go on connecting.
The style that makes you feel like yourself. We know you are wearing a Biscuit look in your latest release. What do you like most about the brand? I have been hooked on Biscuit for years. I love how versatile your looks are and how they make me feel. I love the simplicity and the quality, and with Biscuit it was love at first sight. When I put on one of your T-shirts, a jumpsuit or a dress, I know I look right because I feel right. There is nothing worse than wearing something you do not feel like yourself in. And it shows. When a garment fits like a second skin, it is as though you were wearing the most precious thing in the world.
“When you wear something that fits you, it is as though you were wearing the most precious garment in the world.”
Finding your voice and your style. What message would you like to share with the people who listen to you, and with women looking for their own style and their own voice?
That they try to feel good in themselves. For me that is the key to success in anything. To get there you have to try whatever makes you curious. Success can be something as simple as singing in front of the mirror in a white T-shirt.
And it is important to learn to applaud ourselves quietly when we do something well. A song, a drawing, a letter, an outfit; knowing yourself and thanking yourself is a fundamental exercise.
“There is nothing more powerful than feeling good in yourself. That is real success.”
What is an ordinary day like when you are not on stage? What small moments inspire you to keep creating?
I am a mother of two and I also work for a conciergerie company that specialises in yoga. Those two sides make every day different. Being a mother takes you into a world of ordinary life where nothing is set in stone and everything can change at once.
Inspiration turns up at the most unexpected moments. I think creativity feeds on the small signs life throws at you without warning. Being receptive and open to them lets me turn them into something worthwhile. Sometimes it all begins with a simple coincidence.
Music and fashion go hand in hand
Finally, how would you like music and fashion to continue to walk together in your life?
Music and fashion have been constants in my life since I was little. I can't imagine myself without either of them.
As you get older, you get to know yourself better and more clearly what you like to listen to and what you like to wear. It's not about closing yourself off to new things, but rather about following that inner path that leads you to embrace your uniqueness. In the end, that's what it's all about: listening to yourself and expressing who you are, whether it's with a song... or a look.
“Creativity is born from those little flashes of light that life gives us just when we least expect it.”
