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December 7, 1996
Voisine's not so clean
By MIKE ROSS
PLAYED HOCKEY Even so, the 33-year-old singer is quick to remind fans he's not necessarily the clean-cut choirboy he seems. He was, after all, being groomed for a career in the NHL before he wrecked his knee - and we all know how hockey players are. "Remember," he said, rapping the table for emphasis. "Always remember - I'm a hockey player that sings. "I'm just like any other hockey player. I cuss, I love women, I like to go in the bars. I don't drink that much because I don't like alcohol. But I like to get drunk sometimes with my friends and be obnoxious and loud, and I would probably pick a fight if I wasn't doing the life that I do. I miss the rough game." Voisine is understandably concerned about his image. Rumors that he's gay have been swirling around - something that might, not that it should matter, jeopardize his massive popularity among women. He says the media have been particularly hard on him. "Because I was so clean, because they couldn't say anything of the way I looked, the way I sang, the way I wrote, the way I produced and they didn't know anything about my private life, they started digging. They've matched me with guys, they matched me with married women ... the only thing they haven't matched me with right now is probably animals and kids. It's pretty bad. "As soon as they have one little thing, they blow it out of proportion, because they're uncomfortable with the fact that I'm so damn clean. I don't know why it bothers people." The reason Voisine is so cagey about his personal life isn't out of concern for himself, but for his friends and family. He can protect himself against rampant gossip and intense media scrutiny - "I'm not indestructible, but close." The people close to him can't. "People got an idea of who my girlfriend was," he recalled, "and all of the sudden she had maniacs sending letters, asking weird things, knocking on her door, following her home ... "You can't sell millions of records and have that kind of influence and impression on people without attracting dangerous people. It takes one fan of John Lennon. It's not the government who got him; J. Edgar Hoover wanted to kick him out of the country. It took one poor schmuck walking down the street, waiting for him and shooting him. SELLING WELL "That's what's dangerous. That's what we, as public figures, have to be careful about. I don't talk about my private life too much - that's why. "Any public figure, especially in show business, has to save himself. Most of the people that actually open their doors that wide, it's because they're at the end of their rope and have nothing else to sell - so they sell their lives." Voisine does have something to sell. Kissing Rain has been out for only two weeks and it's already threatening to crack double platinum in Canada (200,000 copies sold). After successfully conquering English Canada, he has his sights set on the last huge stronghold: the U.S. market. And if he thinks the media are nasty in Europe and Canada, wait until the Americans get hold of him. |
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