Do any of you remember a French singer named Alizee? You might if you kept up with Roissy’s old posts from way back in the day – I’m talking from a decade ago, which just tells you how long I’ve been reading his work. Here is a video of her that will make ANY red-blooded man’s little captain stand to attention in a very big hurry:

That was recorded in 2003. Even a dyed-in-the-wool metalhead like me, who listens to stuff like this for fun, can appreciate the saccharine sweet silliness of it. While I’m not nearly as enamoured of cheesy girly dances as I might have been once upon a time, it’s still a lovely bit of fluff.

The singer in question is now 35 – she’s not that much older than me, in fact. She was known back in the day for being one of the sexiest Frogs alive, as evidenced by this next video clip:

This is the same woman, performing the same song, about 15 years later, or thereabouts, after the birth of a child and a divorce:

What can one say, other than maybe…

Ouch.

It gets worse, actually. While Ms Alizee there is known for having a shy and reserved personality most of the time, if you go looking for pictures of her, you’ll find examples like THIS:

And this:

Yep. Huge-ass tattoos on a girl who used to look like this:

That is what we in the ‘Sphere would call a 200mph Wall Smash. As you can see, it is REALLY not pretty. Indeed, it’s a real tragedy.

I have no idea what happened to Ms Alizee, but it’s pretty obvious that the pop star’s life took a severe toll upon her. You see this time and again with teenybopper stars that grow up in that fish-bowl – it goes far beyond Britney Spears and her infamous meltdowns.

Does anyone remember a really beautiful Italian singer named Dalida? Most of the English-speaking world has not, and that is a real shame, because she is one of the most interesting case studies of the extremely negative effects of stardom and carousel-riding on any woman that you will ever see. For those who can’t be bothered to read through the entire Wiki entry about her, there is an excellent 2017 biopic about her starring the quite lovely Sveva Alviti in the titular role. I highly recommend that film – well worth the time.

The dreaded Wall always catches up with EVERY woman. There is no getting away from it. Some women can age gracefully and stylishly – Sofia Loren stands out as a pretty good example, as does the lovely wife of His Most Illustrious, Noble, August, Benevolent, and Legendary Celestial Majesty, the God-Emperor of Mankind, Donaldus Triumphus Magnus Astra, the First of His Name, may the Lord bless him and preserve him.

Others smash into it face-first by getting tattoos, gaining weight, and becoming sad and bloated parodies of themselves.

Unfortunately, it would appear that Ms Alizee there is an example of the latter.

It is genuinely sad to see that happen. A woman who could once make men stand to attention – literally – with just her smile and a wave of her hand, now moves like a robot and looks like the wrong end of a bus.