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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 goes by the stage name
Alizée—the feminine form of alizé, the trade wind.[1] She was discovered by
Mylène Farmer, following her winning performance in the talent show, Graines de
Star,[2] in 1999. While collaborating with Mylène Farmer and Laurent Boutonnat,
Alizée released two albums—both of which were hits inside and outside of France.
Alizée entered the music business in 2000. She has
since released three studio albums - first two of which were composed by Laurent
Boutonnat and written by Mylène Farmer. Her first album was Gourmandises, which
received Platinum certification within three months of release. Gourmandises was
a success both in France and abroad—after it had its international launch in
2001—earning Alizée the distinction of being the highest selling female French
singer in 2001.[3] The album featured her most successful single "Moi... Lolita"
which reached number one in several countries in Europe and East Asia. The
marketing campaign around the single affixed Alizée's image as that of a
seductive lolita. Gourmandises was followed by a second studio album, Mes
Courants Électriques in 2003, which was also quite successful, though not as big
a hit as Alizée's debut album. Following its release, Alizée toured France
during the fall of 2003, performing in 43 concerts throughout France, along with
Belgium and Switzerland.[4]
Alizée married fellow French singer Jérémy
Chatelain in late 2003. Since her marriage she took a break from singing, but
returned with a new album, titled Psychédélices on December 3, 2007.[5]
****
Background information
Birth name Alizée Jacotey
Born August 21, 1984 (1984-08-21) (age 23)
Origin Ajaccio, Corsica
Genre(s) World, Pop, Electropop, Rock
Occupation(s) Singer
Years active 1999-present
Label(s) Polydor (2000-2007)
RCA Records (2007-present), subsidiary of Sony BMG
Wisteria Song (2007-Present)
Website Alizee-officiel.com
****
Biography
Early
years
Also known by her nickname Lily, Alizée started
dancing early in her life,[6] and by age four was already proficient. A year
later, she was enrolled in Corsica's renowned dance school, École du Spectacle
de Monique Mufraggi, and trained there until she was 15.[7] In 1995, at the age
of eleven, she won a coloring competition organized by Air Outre Mer, a former
French airline now partly acquired by Swissair. Her design won first prize and
was reproduced on the cabin of one of the airline's aircraft. The aircraft was
subsequently named after her and for her efforts, Alizée won a trip to the
Maldives.
In 1999, she appeared on the TV talent show
"Graines de Star", broadcast on Métropole 6.[2] 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 (a single released by Axelle Red in 1997). She
went on to win the "Meilleure Graine" award for most promising young singing
star of tomorrow.
Her winning performance was seen by veteran
Canadian-born 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 arranged
her debut with a meticulously orchestrated launch, controlling her image and
public appearances. In 2000, they produced her maiden album, Gourmandises which
was a great success in France, Germany, Mexico, Scotland and the rest of the
United Kingdom. The first single was Moi... Lolita, which some say portrayed
Alizée as a Lolita who was capable of "melting the hearts of the local male
population".[3] Others recognized her great variation in tone and artistic
talent. Alizee won the M6 award in 2000. 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 had a "squeaky-clean public image as the perfect
teenager" during her teens.[3] Though described as a very shy and a reserved
person, she likes performing in front of audiences.[8] Although she has a
singing career, Alizée prefers dancing,[8] and is quite proficient in classical
dance, jazz, ballet, tap and flamenco.[9] Alizée also likes football
(soccer).[10] She is a supporter of AC Ajaccio (Corsica), 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
organization, set up by French comedian Coluche, helps feed the poor. Alizée
participated in these concerts in 2001, 2002 and 2008.
Alizée married fellow French singer Jérémy
Chatelain, whom she met at the Eurobest awards function in 2003. They were
married on November 6, 2003[citation needed] in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. The
couple had their first child on April 29, 2005—a girl they named Anny-Lee. She
currently resides in Paris, France.
Career
Alizée debuted in 2000 with the album Gourmandises.
It went on to become a hit both in Europe and outside. The album reached top
five in charts in France, Germany, Mexico, Asian Countries and others. It was
followed up with a studio album in 2003, Mes Courants Électriques, and a live
album—Alizée En Concert—in 2004.
Alizée has sold nearly five million albums &
singles around the globe. She has taken part in various stage shows and live
performances throughout Europe and Russia, in addition to starring in a Japanese
commercial. More recently, she has been becoming just as popular in North
America as she is in much of Europe; the latest concert tours together with
earlier promotion leading to a very strong fan base in mainly The United States
of America and in Mexico.
Following her marriage in late 2003, Alizée had
taken a hiatus from singing and had avoided appearing in the media since, with
her older official site being offline since summer of 2005. Her first television
appearance since then was on MTV France on February 18, 2006. She has since
resumed media appearances beginning in the second half of 2007 for promotion of
her third studio album, Psychédélices.
Gourmandises
Alizée made her debut with the single, Moi...
Lolita (2000), her most successful to date. It enjoyed success throughout most
of Europe and parts of east Asia, reaching number one in several countries.
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.[11] The song was later used in the UK trailer of the 2006 film, A
Good Year, and was a part of the film's soundtrack.
The single was from her debut album, "Gourmandises"
(2000), which translates to "Delicacies" in English.[12] The album, written by
Farmer and composed by Boutonnat, sold over 850,000 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.[3][13] The album went on to sell
over 2 million copies worldwide.[14] Farmer and Boutonnat kept a tight rein how
the album was marketed and controlled the image in which Alizée was portrayed.
In the mean time, Alizée gave very few interviews, and even when she did, they
did not stretch beyond 20 minutes per journalist. Neither did she agree to any
photoshoots.[3]
Her second single L'Alizé (2000), 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"[3] song shows Alizée amidst soap bubbles against a pink backdrop
singing about herself. The video was shot in a studio in Brussels—which had a 25
metre by 10 metre painted canvas to serve as the background—with real
bubbles.[11] This single was followed up with another single from the same album
- the title song, Gourmandises. The video, which shows a group of young boys and
girls out on a picnic, was shot in a day.[11] The last single from this album
was Parler Tout Bas (2001), which deals with the theme of dreams and a loss of
innocence. In France, "Parler tout bas" was the third single, then followed by
the release of "Gourmandises".
Mes
Courants Électriques
In 2003, Alizée returned with her second album "Mes
Courants Électriques", or "My Electric Currents" in English translation.[15]
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.
While it had some success in and outside France, 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 first single from this album, J'en ai
marre!—also known as "Mon Bain de Mousse" in Japan—was released in 2003. The
music video for this shows Alizée in a glass cage, singing while having water
splashed on her. The plexiglass cage, 3 by 3 meters in dimension, was
constructed in a Parisian studio, and the shooting of the video took two
days.[11] An English-language version of this song, titled I'm Fed Up, was also
released, and featured similar visuals for the music video.
The other singles from this album were J'ai pas
vingt ans and À contre-courant. Like J'en ai marre, J'ai pas vingt ans, Youpidou
and Amelie M'a Dit also had English versions. The video for J'ai Pas Vingt Ans
(I'm Not Twenty) resembles the ambience of a concert with Alizée dancing in the
midst of several other dancers.[11] À Contre-courant, the last single from this
album, was shot in an abandoned coal factory.[11] Unlike the other two singles,
there was no English-language rendition of this song.
Alizée
En Concert
Following the release of her second studio album,
Mes Courants Électriques, Alizée went on a countrywide tour of France—along with
a performance each in Belgium and Switzerland—during the second half of the year
2003. The tour started off with a performance on August 26, 2003 in Paris,
France.[4][16] It concluded with her performance on the eve of January 17, 2004
at the Le Zénith concert hall in Paris and had covered major cities including
Lyon, Rouen, Lille, Grenoble and Dijon, among others.[4]
A live CD and DVD, titled "Alizée En
Concert"—comprising of selected performances from her tour—was launched a year
later in the fall of 2004.[17] The audio CD contained tracks, taken from her two
studio albums. The DVD featured video footage of the same performances as on the
CD, along with bonus footage of her rehearsals.
The compilation was re-released in early 2007 in
Mexico by Universal music as a CD+DVD release,[18] following the featuring of
the songs in local radio stations. With the re-release and renewed interest, the
songs climbed up the music charts in the country. The album became a hit,
peaking at number four in the International Chart on May 28, 2007,[19] and
number eight on the main albums chart.[20]
Psychédélices
After a four year hiatus, a time spent out of the
media limelight, Alizée returned in December 2007 with a new album,
"Psychédélices", the first one to be made without the creative supervision of
her former mentor, Mylène Farmer. The album, which features 11 tracks,[21] was
made available for digital downloads November 26, 2007,[22] with a full release
on December 3, 2007[23][5] under the RCA Records label.[24] The album includes
collaborations with Bertrand Burgalat, Daniel Darc, Oxmo Puccino, Jérémy
Chatelain,[25] Michel-Yves Kochmann, and Jean Fauque.[26]
The first single from the album was Mademoiselle
Juliette.[27][28] It was released on September 30, 2007.[28] It was accidentally
released early on the Virgin Megastore website on September 23, 2007,[29][30]
but was taken down later citing an error on the part of Virgin Music, France.
The single was later made available in online music stores as well as radio
stations,[28][26] and went on to capture the #13 spot on the legal music
downloads charts.[5][23] To promote the single, Alizée appeared on the French
radio station, NRJ, on September 27, 2007.[27][28] The video for the single was
released for broadcast on November 19, 2007,[31] though it was made available on
MSN France on November 16, 2007. It was released on physical media, available as
a CD or Vinyl, on January 21, 2008.
Another track from the album, Fifty-Sixty, was
leaked two months before the album was released. Though the song was not
mentioned by name, the leak was confirmed in a press release which revealed the
title and release schedule of the album.[32] Fifty-Sixty later launched as the
second single from the album in February 2008. The lyrics to Fifty-Sixty tell,
in personal and metaphorical manner, of a young model under the guidance of Andy
Warhol, possibly inspired by real-life story of Edie Sedgwick. The song ends
with a reiteration of how she foolishly believed Andy that she was the most
beautiful model of all. Three music videos will be released for the single[33] -
one for the album version of the song and the other two for two remixes.[34]The
first of the videos was released on May 5, 2008.[35] For the purposes of
promotion of the single and the music videos, a website (www.psychedeclips.com)
and a MySpace page (www.myspace.com/psychedeclips) are being created.[34].
Coinciding with the new album, a new official
website was created,[36] which, despite being announced on September 11, 2007,
was kept under wraps until November 28, 2007.[37] The album was also promoted
via an official artist profile at MySpace.[38] Advertising and marketing
campaigns for the album began November 22, 2007 with ad campaigns on NRJ
National Radio in France, as well as TF1 TV, and the web.
In March 2008 Alizée visited México for the first
time in a short promotional tour, on March 5 she was supposed to hold her second
ever public autograph session of her career but it was cancelled due to problems
with the store's security, Alizée held an improvised press conference to
apologise with Mexico and all her fans as well as stating it was not her
fault.[39] Sony BMG México also released an statement saying it was not Alizée's
fault, and it was the store who had problems with the security and they didn't
expect so many people, fences were broken and kids were in danger. Alizée also
promised to mend this by having another autograph session by the time she visits
the country later this year.[40] She also stated that her tour will start on May
18 in Moscow, followed by concerts in México and then France.[41][42] She also
commented that piracy in music has two sides "one good" and "one bad" saying
that sometimes it's good because her music reaches places that she never thought
to reach.[43] After the success of Alizée's tour in Mexico and in an attempt to
amend the damage caused during her first promotional visit, Alizée announced an
autograph session with fans on 26th June 2008 in Mexico City, over three-hundred
CDs were signed and the the record label executives of Sony BMG México presented
a Gold certification for shipments over 50,000 copies of "Psychédélices -
Mexican Tour Edition".[44] The fourth single to be lifted from "Psychédélices"
in Mexico was Madonna's cover, "La Isla Bonita", so far it has gone on to become
Alizée's first top ten on the airplay chart.[45]
Tout
Alizée
Following the success of Alizée En Concert and
Psychédélices in Mexico, Alizée's former music label, Universal Music released a
compilation album, titled "Tout Alizée".[46] The compilation, which is a
Mexico-only release, consists of 15 tracks (with 4 remixes) from her first two
studio albums. It is augmented with a bonus DVD featuring some of her music
videos. The compilation debuted to number sixty-two on the Mexican Top 100
Albums Chart and number-twenty on the Mexican International Top 20 Albums
Chart.[47][48]
Critical response
Despite marketing hype and commercial success,
there were mixed critical 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 felt that her Lolita image overshadowed her
singing prowess—describing her as "desperately trying to be sexy", and many were
ready to write her off.[52] 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.[53] Some of her songs have been described as
"sweeping, atmospheric ballads" whose "melodies are so sparkling and beguiling",
and from which Alizée manages to "squeeze more emotion than the usual pop
package".[54][55] Alizée's three 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:[3]
“ 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. ”
Discography
Albums
Year Title Chart Positions[56][57]
Austria Belgium(WL) Finland France Germany Italy
Spain Switzerland Poland Greece Hungary Mexico
2000 Gourmandises 40 7 26 1 29 27 22 27 13 27 23 25
2003 Mes Courants Électriques - 9 - 2 26 29 - 13 -
27 90 24
2004 Alizée En Concert - - - 38 - - - - - - - 8
2007 Psychédélices - 50 - 16 - - - 99 - - - 15
2007 Tout Alizée n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a
n/a n/a n/a 22
Legend Studio Album Live Album Compilation
Singles
Year Title Chart Positions[58] Album
AT BE DK UK EE FR DE IL IT JP NL PL ES CH HK TW CR
SV SL KR SK CZ MX
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 - - - 4 21 2
23 2 35 3 11 5 - 1 - 57 4 1 6 - 31 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
2007 Mademoiselle Juliette - - - - - 22 - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - 49 Psychédélices
2008 Fifty-Sixty - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - 65 Psychédélices
2008 La Isla Bonita - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - 15 Psychédélices (CD + DVD)
Alizée discography Releases
↙Studio albums 3
↙Live albums 1
↙Compilation albums 1
↙Singles 10
↙Music videos 11
↙Tours 2
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 during her tour were
used.[59]
DVDs
Alizée En Concert (2004) Mexico (Gold 10,000
copies)
References
1.
^ Eric Harkleroad (September 27, 2001).
"French teen queen breaks the mold". Daily Princetonian.
2.
^ a b Alizée at the Internet Movie Database
3.
^ a b c d e f g "RFI CD of the week:
Alizée". Retrieved on 2001-01-26.
4.
^ a b c "Alizee: Le Site Officiel: Concert
Dates". Retrieved on 2004-12-01. (Now offline. Archive as on April 6, 2004.)
5.
^ a b c "Charts, Dates, and Appearances".
Retrieved on 2007-10-11.
6.
^ "ALIZÉE". RFI Musique (July 2003).
7.
^ "Ecole de danse de Monique Muffraggi"
(February 17, 2007).(French)
8.
^ a b "Interview Transcripts". Retrieved on
2007-02-21. (Now offline. Archive as on February 6, 2006.)
9.
^ "Voila Stage 2". Retrieved on 2007-02-21.
10.
^ "Alizée - Trivia and Bio". Retrieved on
2007-02-21.
11.
^ a b c d e f "Video clips". Retrieved on
2007-02-21. (Now offline. Archive as on May 15, 2006.)
12.
^ "Gourmandises". Retrieved on 2007-02-21.
13.
^ a b c "All Music Guide biography".
Retrieved on 2007-02-21.
14.
^ "Alizée - fiche complète - TV5 - Musique".
Retrieved on 2007-02-21. (French)
15.
^ "MCE". Retrieved on 2007-02-21.
16.
^ "Alizee FanPage & FanClub: Current Concert
Dates". Retrieved on 2007-03-20.
17.
^ "Alizée - Discographie - Album "En
Concert"". Retrieved on 2007-03-20.
18.
^ "WORLD MUSIC: En-Concert (CD+DVD)".
Retrieved on 2007-06-03.
19.
^ "Mexican International Albums Chart - May
28th 2007" (PDF). Retrieved on 2007-06-03.
20.
^ "Mexican Albums Chart - May 28th 2007"
(PDF). Retrieved on 2007-06-03.
21.
^ (French) "Psychédélices", Amazon.fr.
Retrieved on 2007-11-08.
22.
^ "Alizée - Sortie de l'album en digital le
26/11". Retrieved on 2007-12-03.
23.
^ a b "Alizée - Communiqué top single
digital". Retrieved on 2007-10-11.
24.
^ "RCA Music :: Artistes". RCA Music.
Retrieved on 2007-09-02.
25.
^ Thierry Cadet (September 9, 2006). "Jérémy
Chatelain en interview". Charts in France. (French)
26.
^ a b (French) "Alizée : fin des rumeurs sur
cette "Mademoiselle Juliette" & ces "Psychédélices"", Musique Radio
(2007-09-11). Retrieved on 2007-09-12.
27.
^ a b "Single on the Radio, Download and
Album Release Dates". Retrieved on 2007-09-25.
28.
^ a b c d "Alizée - Nouveau single "
Mademoiselle Juliette "". Retrieved on 2007-09-25.
29.
^ "Alizée: Mademoiselle Juliette". Retrieved
on 2007-07-23.
30.
^ "First Single Available at
VirginMega.Fr!". Retrieved on 2007-07-23.
31.
^ (French) "Alizée prépare la sortie de son
album". Charts in France (2007-11-08). Retrieved on 2007-10-03.
32.
^ "Communiqué - 11 Septembre 2007 - Alizée".
Retrieved on 2007-09-16.(French) Translation.
33.
^ "Alizée en concert".(French)
34.
^ a b "Alizée - Un vent frais souffle sur la
pop". Retrieved on 2008-05-07.(French)
35.
^ "1st Fifty/Sixty video officially released
online!". Retrieved on 2008-05-07.
36.
^ "Alizée Officiel". Retrieved on
2007-10-11.
37.
^ "TV, Website, & Photoshoot". Retrieved on
2007-11-13.
38.
^ "MySpace.com - Alizée - Corse, FR -
www.myspace.com/alizeeofficiel". Retrieved on 2007-10-11.
39.
^ Alizée se reunirá con sus fanáticos en
México (in spanish)
40.
^ Se disculpa la cantante Alizée con fans
mexicanos (in spanish)
41.
^ Expresa Alizée que uno de sus sueños es
cantar a dueto con Madonna (in spanish)
42.
^ Alizée confiesa sus sueños (in spanish)
43.
^ La piratería tiene sus ventajas: Alizée
(in spanish)
44.
^ Alizée cumple su promesa con México
45.
^ Mexican Top 10 Airplay Chart
46.
^ "Mixup Music Store: Tout Alizée".
Retrieved on 2008-01-17.
47.
^ Mexico Top 100 Album Chart 6th January
2007
48.
^ Mexico Top 100 Album Chart 6th January
2007
49.
^ "Chante France". Retrieved on 2007-02-21.
(French)
50.
^ "BBC News article on World Music Awards
2002". Retrieved on 2007-02-21.
51.
^ "Prix Vincent Scotto : "Moi Lolita" -
interprète : ALIZEE". Retrieved on 2007-03-20. (French)
52.
^ "BBC Manchester review". Retrieved on
2007-02-21.
53.
^ "Amazon - Gourmandises". Retrieved on
2007-02-21.
54.
^ "Gourmandises review on DVD Fever".
Retrieved on 2007-02-21.
55.
^ "Amazon UK - Gourmandises". Retrieved on
2007-02-21.
56.
^ "Chart Information". Retrieved on
2007-02-21.
57.
^ "Mexican Album Charts". Retrieved on
2007-06-03.
58.
^ Mexican Singles Chart
59.
^ "Alizée - FAQ". Retrieved on 2007-02-21.
****
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