Torch Lights

Four hot songstresses aglow in Paris

Sultry chanteuses are once again torching up Paris nights. Not since Edith Piaf left les planches have there been ladies singing the blues like this. If the trend continues, these four (all but Celarie dressed by Chloe) will soon be belting out "Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien"—and meaning it.

Flaminglyroussepart-Russian runway model Roussia has just released two funk-soul singles: "Je Suis Rousse" and "Parle-Moi d'Amour. " Her claim to torch-singerdom? "A practically a cappella remake of Presley's 'Blue Moon. ' "

"Gypsies say that to sing flamenco you have to have known tragedy, " says actress-singer Clementine Celarie. But "Flamme 'n Co!, " her jazz-flamenco song-and-dance act, is anything but mournful.

California transplant Rochelle Robertson, animatriceof the supper club La Poste, belts out ballads while draped over a baby grand. Her inspiration? Billie and Ella, who "just got up there and > turned their emotions inside out."

Buenos Aires—born tango singer Sylvana DeLuigi exudes the tragi-glam aura of a Latin-American exile. "Tango songs are about women—smart women, abandoned women, women chasing unfaithful husbands—and Argentinean history. For an exile, they're pure poetry.

CHARLA CARTER