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Alizée Jacotey (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. She was discovered by Mylène Farmer, a
successful Quebec-born French singer, following her
winning performance in the talent show, Graines de Star,
in 1999. Alizée, while collaborating with Mylène
Farmer and Laurent Boutonnat, came up with two albums
— both of which were hits in France and outside. Alizée
used to be considered the protégée of Mylène Farmer,
but since has struck out on her own.
Alizée entered the music business in the year 2000.
Since then she has released two studio albums, composed
by Laurent Boutonnat and written by Mylène Farmer. Her
first album was Gourmandises, which received Platinum
certification within three months of release. The album
was a success both in France and abroad — after it had
its international launch in 2001 — earning her the
distinction of being the highest selling female French
singer in 2001. The album featured her most successful
single "Moi... Lolita" which reached the
number one spot in music charts of most countries in
Europe and east Asia in which it was released.
The marketing campaign around the single
affixed Alizée's image as that of a seductive lolita.
The album was followed by a second studio album, Mes
Courants Électriques in 2003, which was also quite
successful, though not as big a hit as her debut album.
Following its release, Alizée toured France during the
fall of 2003, performing in 43 concerts throughout
France, along with Belgium and Switzerland.
Alizée married fellow French singer Jérémy Châtelain
in late 2003. Since her marriage she has taken a break
from singing, but is slated to return with a new album
soon.
Early years: Also known by her nickname Lili,
Alizée started dancing early in her life. By the age of
four, she became quite proficient in it. A year later,
she enrolled herself in Corsica's renowned dance school,
Ecole du Spectacle de Monique Mufraggi, and received her
training there till she was 15. 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
aircrafts. 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.
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 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". 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. Described as a very shy
and a reserved person, she likes performing in front of
audiences. Although she has a singing career, Alizée
prefers dancing, and is quite proficient in classical
dance, jazz, ballet, tap and flamenco. Alizée also
likes football. 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 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. The couple had their first child on April
29, 2005 — a girl they named Anny-Lee (Annily). She
currently resides in Paris, France.
Career: Alizée debuted in the year 2000 with the
album Gourmandises. It went on to become a hit both in
Europe and outside. It was followed up with a studio
album in 2003, Mes Courants Électriques, and a live
album — Alizée En Concert — in 2004.
Following her marriage in late 2003, Alizée has taken a
hiatus from singing and has avoided appearing in the
media since. Her first television appearance since then
was on MTV France on February 18, 2006.
Alizée has sold more than five million albums
throughout Europe. She has taken part in various stage
shows and live performances throughout Europe and
Russia. She has also starred in a Japanese commercial.
Gourmandises: 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. 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. 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. The album went on to sell
over 4 million copies worldwide. 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.
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"[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. This single was
followed up with another single from the same album -
the title song, Gourmandises. The video, which shows a
gang of young boys and girls out on a picnic, was shot
in a day. The last single from this album was Parler
Tout Bas, which deals with the theme of dreams and
aspirations.
Mes Courants Électriques: In 2003, Alizée
returned with her second album "Mes Courants Électriques",
or "My Electric Currents" in English
translation. 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 video for this shows Alizée in a
transparent plexiglass cage, singing while having water
splashed on her. For purposes of the video, the
plexiglass cage, 3 meter by 3 meter in dimension, was
constructed in a Parisian studio - where the shoot
continued for two days. An English-language version of
this song, titled I'm Fed Up, was also released and
featured almost 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 also had an English version. The video for
this song resembles the ambience of a concert with Alizée
dancing in the midst of a lot of other dancers. À
Contre-courant, the last single from this album, was
shot in an abandoned coal factory. 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 fall of year 2003. The tour started off with a
performance on August 26, 2003 in Paris, France. 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.
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. 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.
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 TV" 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.
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—described as "desperately trying to be
sexy", and many were ready to write her off. 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. 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". 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. " |
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