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The following biography
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“The Free Encyclopedia.”
Alizée Jacotey (IPA: [a.li.ze]) (born August 21, 1984) is a
French singer. Born in Ajaccio, Corsica, she is the daughter of a computer
scientist and a businesswoman. Her stage name is Alizée — the feminine form of
alizé — the trade wind.[1] She is considered to be the protégée of Mylène
Farmer, a successful Quebec-born French singer.
Alizée is presently taking a break from singing, but is
slated to return with a new album soon.[2]
****
Background information
Birth name Alizée Jacotey
Born August 21, 1984 (age 22)
Origin Ajaccio, Corsica, France
Genre(s) (French) Pop
Occupation(s) Singer
Years active 1999-present
Label(s) Polydor
Website http://www.moi-alizee.com
****
Biography
Early years
Also known by her nickname Lili, Alizée started dancing
early in her life.[3] By the age of four, she became quite proficient in it.
Later, she enrolled herself in Corsica's renowned dance school, Ecole du
Spectacle Monique Mufraggi.[4]
In 1995, at the age of eleven, she won a coloring
competition organised by Air Outre Mer, a former French airline now partly
acquired by Swissair. Her design won first prize and ended up being reproduced
on the cabin of one of the airline's aircraft, which was subsequently named
after her. For her efforts, Alizée also won a trip to the Maldives.
In 1999, she appeared on the TV talent show "Graines de
Star", broadcast on Métropole 6.[5] She initially intended to sign up for the
programme's dance contest. However, the dance category was reserved for groups
only. Alizée therefore participated in the singing category instead, performing
the song Ma Prière. She went on to win the "Meilleure Graine" award for most
promising young singing star of tomorrow.
Her winning performance was seen by veteran French pop diva
Mylène Farmer and Laurent Boutonnat, who were looking for a young, fresh voice
to partake in their new project. They approached Alizée and she was selected
after studio auditions. The duo architected her debut with a meticulously
orchestrated launch, controlling her image and public appearances. In the year
2000, they produced her maiden album, Gourmandises which was a great success in
France. The first single was Moi... Lolita, which set the tone of the album,
portrayed Alizée as a Lolita who was capable of "melting the hearts of the local
male population".[6] She returned with a follow up album, Mes Courants
Électriques, in 2003. This second album was also quite successful, though not to
the same extent as Gourmandises. It was followed up with a live album of her
countrywide tour.
Personal life
Even though the albums have portrayed her in a sexy,
lolita-like image, Alizée maintains a "squeaky-clean public image as the perfect
teenager".[6] A very shy and a reserved person, she likes to perform in front of
audiences.[7] Although she has a singing career, Alizée prefers dancing.[7] She
is quite proficient in classical dance, jazz, ballet, tap and flamenco.[8]
Alizée also likes football.[9] She is a supporter of AC Ajaccio, and was once
invited to kick off one of their matches.
Alizée is actively involved in charity work through Les
Enfoirés, a group of French celebrities who organize fund-raising concerts every
year. The proceeds from these concerts go to Les Restaurants du Coeur. The
organisation, set up by French comedian Coluche, helps feed the poor. Alizée
participated in these concerts in 2001 and 2002.
Alizée married fellow French singer Jérémy Châtelain, whom
she met at the Eurobest awards function in 2003. They were married on November
6, 2003 in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. They had their first child, a girl they named
Anny-Lee (Annily), on April 29, 2005. She currently resides in Paris, France.
Career
Alizée made her debut with the single, Moi... Lolita, her
most successful to date. It enjoyed success throughout most of Europe and parts
of east Asia, reaching the number one spot in music charts of most countries it
was released in. Indeed, Alizée's image was that of a seductive Lolita
character, referring to the novel by Vladimir Nabokov. The video for the single,
which incidentally was the first to be filmed on her, showed Alizée as a village
girl visiting a night-club.[10] The song was later used in the UK trailer of the
2006 film, A Good Year.
The single was from her debut album, "Gourmandises", which
translates to "Delicacies" in English.[11] The album, written by Farmer and
composed by Boutonnat, sold over 1,300,000 copies in France. It went Platinum in
just three months. In 2001, the album, most of whose songs featured "risqué
lyrics", was launched internationally, and she became the highest-selling female
French singer in 2001.[6][12] The album went on to sell over 4 million copies
worldwide.[13] Farmer and Boutonnat kept a tight rein how the album was marketed
and controlled the image in which Alizée was portrayed. Meanwhile, Alizée gave
very few interviews, and even when she did, they did not stretch beyond 20
minutes per journalist, and she did not agree to any photoshoots.[6]
Her second single "L'alizé", also from the same album,
followed soon after. It was also successful in hitting number one in France, and
gained some success internationally. The video of the "sexily alliterative" song
shows Alizée amidst soap bubbles against a pink backdrop singing about
herself.[6]
In 2003 she returned with her second album "Mes Courants
Électriques", or "My Electric Currents" in English translation.[14] With the
release of this album, she changed her image from a 'Lolita' to that of a more
toned-down teenager. This album was also written by Farmer and Boutonnat. The
first single from this album, J'en Ai Marre, known as "Mon Bain de Mousse" in
Japan, had some success in and outside France, but this second album, featuring
English versions of four tracks, was not as well received as her first one,
Gourmandises. It sold over 400,000 copies in France. The album was supported by
a countrywide tour in the fall of 2003. A live CD and DVD a year later, in the
fall of 2004, by the name "Alizée En Concert", followed. The DVD featured
footage of her rehearsals.
Alizée has sold more than five million albums throughout
Europe. She has starred in a Japanese commercial and has taken part in various
stage shows and live performances outside of Japan. A dance that can be
performed by the female Night Elf avatar in the computer game World of Warcraft,
published by Blizzard Entertainment, contains an animation that closely
resembles the choreography of a section of her stage performances for J'en Ai
Marre. The stage costume for the same performance is considered by many to be
inspired by a blue sailor outfit seen in the 1997 remake of Nabokov's Lolita,
due to a noticeable similarity in design.
Since her marriage, Alizée has taken a hiatus from singing.
She has avoided appearing in the media since February 2004. Her first television
appearance since then was on MTV France on February 18, 2006.
Future
Since Alizée took a break from the music business, there
was no confirmed official word regarding her comeback for almost 3 years. Her
official site has been down since the summer of 2005. Since then, many rumors
had surfaced, many of which eventually turned out to be false.
After almost two years of fan speculation, on April 3,
2006, a handwritten message, signed Alizée, was received by the webmaster of the
fansite Le Nid d'Alizée, stating that she is working on the third album.
Translated into English the message is as below.
“ Hello everyone!
Just want to let you know that I am currently in the
studio...
The new songs are great!!
Kisses and I'll see you very soon!
I promise
Alizée 31 March 2006
”
On July 7, 2006, the show Le JT de la musique on French TV
channel "Europe 2" reported that Alizée has separated from her former producer
and song writer Mylène Farmer and is now working on her third album. It was also
reported that the lyrics of the new album are being penned by Jean Faulques. Her
husband, Jérémy Châtelain, is also associated with the album. He has since
confirmed this information in an interview.[2]
Critical response
Notwithstanding marketing hype and commercial success,
critics expressed mixed responses to the launch of Moi... Lolita, Alizée's first
single. The critics felt that the similarity in style to that of Mylène Farmer
was too striking. Some also felt that her Lolita image somewhat overshadowed her
singing prowess - described as "desperately trying to be sexy", and many were
ready to write her off.[18] Still, to others Alizée appealed because of her deep
voice, and her ability to "demonstrate her impressive vocal range", a trait for
which she is often praised.[19] Some of her songs have been described as
"sweeping, atmospheric ballads" whose "melodies are so sparkling and beguiling",
and into which Alizée manages to "squeeze more emotion than the usual pop
package".[20][20][21] Alizée's two albums include a wide range of songs, from
catchy pop tunes to soulful ballads. Radio France Internationale featured
Gourmandises as their CD of the week, stating "The ten songs on Alizée's debut
album, Gourmandises (Goodies), have all been expertly manufactured by the Farmer
hit-machine. Sweet syrupy pop ditties are wrapped in silky synths, violins and
catchy techno beats and judging by the success of Alizée's sexily alliterative
second single, L’Alizé, the Farmer team have hit upon a winning formula."[6]
Discography
Albums
Year Title Chart Positions[22]
Austria Belgium Finland France Germany Italy Spain
Switzerland México Greece Hungary
2000 Gourmandises 40 7 26 1 27 27 22 27 1 27 23
2003 Mes Courants Électriques - 9 - 2 26 29 - 13 1 27 90
2004 Alizée En Concert - - - 38 - - - - - - -
Singles
Year Title Chart Positions Album
AT BE DK UK EE FR DE IL IT JP NL PL ES CH HK TW CR SV SL KR
SK CZ
2000 Moi... Lolita 5 2 9 9 - 2 5 1 1 1 2 2 1 11 1 3 5 52 -
- - - Gourmandises
2000 L'Alizé 52 5 - - 1 1 43 21 - - 63 9 - 23 - - - - - - -
- Gourmandises
2001 Gourmandises - 21 - - - 14 - - - - - - - 70 - - - - -
- - - Gourmandises
2001 Parler Tout Bas - 15 - - - 12 - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - Gourmandises
2003 J'en Ai Marre / I'm Fed Up 43 5 - - - 3 21 2 23 2 2 3
11 5 - 1 - 57 4 1 6 - Mes Courants Électriques
2003 J'ai Pas Vingt Ans / I'm Not Twenty 60 20 - - - 17 59
15 - - - 5 - 60 - - - - - 6 - 14 Mes Courants Électriques
2003 À Contre-courant - 20 - - - 22 - 19 - - - 18 - 64 - -
- - - - - 79 Mes Courants Électriques
All the released singles have a music video associated with
them. In addition, a video for the song Amélie M'a Dit was released, for the
promotion of Alizée's live album Alizée En Concert, even though it was not
released as a single; for its promotion, a video of the song featuring a
collection of clips from Alizée's performances in her tour was used.[23]
DVDs
Alizée En Concert (2004)
References
-
^ Daily Princetonian
-
^ a b Jérémy Chatelain en interview, Charts in France,
September 9, 2006
-
^ Alizée - Biography
-
^ Ecole Du Spectacle, featuring her thank you note (in
French)
-
^ Alizée at the Internet Movie Database
-
^ a b c d e f RFI CD of the week: Alizée, Radio France
Internationale review of Gourmandises, January 26, 2001
-
^ a b Interview Transcripts
-
^ Voila Stage 2
-
^ Alizée - Trivia and Bio
-
^ Video clips
-
^ Gourmandises
-
^ a b c All Music Guide biography
-
^ Alizée - fiche complète - TV5 - Musique
-
^ MCE
-
^ Chante France
-
^ BBC News article on World Music Awards 2002
-
^ Prix Vincent Scotto : "Moi Lolita" - interprète :
ALIZEE, See Vincent Scotto
-
^ BBC Manchester review
-
^ Amazon - Gourmandises
-
^ a b Gourmandises review on DVD Fever
-
^ Amazon UK - Gourmandises
-
^ Chart Information
-
^ Alizée - FAQ
****
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Date Article Copied:
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