These brief interviews on the streets of Lille were conducted in order to test the waters of the tricky dispute over the banning of burqa-wearing in public.

Arlette Grosskost, UMP (Union for a Popular Movement) representative and member of the Parliamentary task force on the burqa in France, advocates a law aiming to ban the wearing of the full-body veil in public. What’s your take on this controversial issue? Is it a question of women’s rights? Of religious freedom? Are arguments against the burqa perhaps another type of veil—to cover up underlying racism?

Melissa talks about the making of the music video for her second clip “Et Alors!” She was lucky enough to find a director whose vision matched her own. Great minds think alike!

Meet Melissa Mars: actress, singer, songwriter, storyteller, dreamer, “Martian.” In the first of her interviews with Yabla, Melissa tells us how her career got launched.

Did you know there are 55,000 different kinds of beer? And more than 5,400 of those are German? You can find quite a few of these at Le Village de la Bière, a shop in popular French city Strasbourg. How long would it take to sample them all…?

Mozart fans, take note: Go in through the back door of the Vichy Opera House to see Jérôme Deschamps and his talented crew’s reimaginings of the famous composer’s works. Don’t worry—all the tunes are still pure Wolfgang.

Hélène and Célia tell us about their musical influences, origins, and inspiration. When they encountered prejudice about Africa and Africans upon coming back to France, Les Nubians used music to paint a truer picture of African culture.

Meet Les Nubians, two singer-songwriter sisters who grew up in both Paris and Chad and whose music has been nominated for several awards, including a Grammy (and not just in the World Music category, thank you very much). We know we’re big fans!

French-Canadian singer-songwriter Pascale—who prefers to introduce herself in verse rather than give the usual “hello my name is”—tells us of the importance of maintaining optimism and lightness in the face of hardship.

Bertrand Pierre was inspired by Victor Hugo, and Victor Hugo was inspired by his very active love life. As it turns out, Hugo’s little love poems make for great song lyrics.

Bertrand Pierre is back to tell us more about his album: Autre Chose, a tribute to the lesser-known love poems of Victor Hugo.

In our last interview with Fanny and Corrine, we hear a bit more about Brittany and learn about multiculturalism in France and how cultures can influence languages.

Remember Bertrand Pierre, the smooth crooner of “Si vous n’avez rien à me dire”? He’s back to tell us about his background as a musician, and how he stumbled across the Victor Hugo idea…

Men, women, love: Charles-Baptiste tells us what’s special (and what’s universal) about his love life in New York, and lets us in on the secret to his success. You have to get your hands dirty!

Meet Jean-Phillipe Talbot, pizza man at Montréal’s F&F Pizza. F&F is a gourmet pizza shop, owned by the multi-talented company Rhinoceros, where Francophones and Anglophones alike can come to savor a slice (those who can afford it, that is).