Nice to see Christine and the Queens make an appearance at the Radio 1's Big Weekend event in Hull. While very much a showcase for the UK's foremost pop music broadcaster, as commercial a proposition as you could imagine from a public service broadcaster, it was reminder of exactly how far Christine and the Queens have come in the past few years.
It was only a few years ago I was reporting on Héloïse Letissier playing at the Great Escape festival in Brighton, one of many French acts hoping to catch the eye and ear of the UK music business and audience. She managed it in a way few could have imagined.
So a performance at an event that celebrates pop at its most popular gives us the chance to reflect that French acts can take a step from success in their home country to widespread recognition in the UK without compromising their art or the very things that make them the unique artists they are.
More artists will hopefully follow. Given the state of the music industry at the moment, where fewer acts are being signed and record companies can take fewer risks, it makes sense for them to take acts that have already achieved a modicum of success in their home countries and develop them for an international audience.
There are plenty of French acts that could easily follow in the synchronised footsteps of Christine and her Queens.
