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Revision as of 05:32, 18 February 2008

For other things referred to by a similar spelling, see Alizé (disambiguation).
Alizée

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 came up with two albums—both of which were hits inside and outside of France.

Alizée entered the music business in 2000. She had 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. 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 Châtelain 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]

Biography

Early years

Also known by her nickname Lilly, 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. 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 and England. 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.[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 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 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.

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. She has also starred in a Japanese commercial. Though not nearly as popular in North America as she is in much of Europe, Alizée's dance from "J'en Ai Marre" was the influence for the Night Elf female dance in Blizzard Entertainment's best-selling game World of Warcraft.[11]

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 resumed media appearances in the second half of 2007 for promotion of her third studio album, Psychédélices.

Gourmandises

Main article: Gourmandises
File:Alizee-Gourmandises.jpg
Gourmandises album cover. Template:Multi-listen item

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 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.[12] 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", which translates to "Delicacies" in English.[13] 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][14] The album went on to sell over 2 million copies worldwide.[15] 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, 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.[12] 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.[12] The last single from this album was Parler Tout Bas, 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

Main article: Mes Courants Électriques
Mes Courants Électriques album cover. Template:Multi-listen item

In 2003, Alizée returned with her second album "Mes Courants Électriques", or "My Electric Currents" in English translation.[16] 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.[12] 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, 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.[12] À Contre-courant, the last single from this album, was shot in an abandoned coal factory.[12] Unlike the other two singles, there was no English-language rendition of this song.

Alizée En Concert

Main article: Alizée En Concert
File:Alizee album enconcert france.jpg
Alizée En Concert album cover.

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][17] 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.[18] 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,[19] 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,[20] and number eight on the main albums chart.[21]

Psychédélices

Main article: Psychédélices
Psychédélices cover.Template:Multi-listen item

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,[22] was made available for digital downloads November 26, 2007,[23] with a full release on December 3, 2007[24][5] under the RCA Records label.[25] The album includes collaborations with Bertrand Burgalat, Daniel Darc, Oxmo Puccino, Jérémy Châtelain,[26] Michel-Yves Kochmann, and Jean Fauque.[27]

The first single from the album was Mademoiselle Juliette.[28][29] It was released on September 30, 2007.[29] It was accidentally released early on the Virgin Megastore website on September 23, 2007,[30][31] 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,[29][27] and went on to capture the #13 spot on the legal music downloads charts.[5][24] To promote the single, Alizée appeared on the French radio station, NRJ, on September 27, 2007.[28][29] The video for the single was released for broadcast on November 19, 2007,[32] 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.[33] Fifty sixty will launch as the second single from the album.

Coinciding with the new album, a new official website was created,[34] which, despite being announced on September 11, 2007, was kept under wraps until November 28, 2007.[35] The album was also promoted via an official artist profile at MySpace.[36] 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.

Tout Alizée

Main article: Tout Alizée
Tout Alizée album cover

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".[37] 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.[38][39]

Critical response

Awards
Name
Year
M6 Music Award[14]
2001
DMX Music Award[40]
2001
NRJ Music Award[14]
2001
World Music Award[41]
2002
SACEM Prix Vincent Scotto[42]
2003

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.[43] 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.[44] 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".[45][46] 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:[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[47][48]
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 24 - - 17
2007 Tout Alizée - - - - - - - - - - - 22
Legend Studio Album Live Album Compilation

Singles

Year Title Chart Positions[49]

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 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Psychédélices
2008 Fifty-Sixty - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Psychédélices

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.[50]

DVDs

References

  1. ^ Eric Harkleroad (September 27, 2001). "French teen queen breaks the mold". Daily Princetonian. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  2. ^ a b Alizée at IMDb
  3. ^ a b c d e f g "RFI CD of the week: Alizée". Retrieved 2001-01-26.
  4. ^ a b c "Alizee: Le Site Officiel: Concert Dates". Retrieved 2004-12-01. (Now offline. Archive as on April 6, 2004.)
  5. ^ a b c "Charts, Dates, and Appearances". Retrieved 2007-10-11.
  6. ^ "ALIZÉE". RFI Musique. July 2003.
  7. ^ "Ecole de danse de Monique Muffraggi". February 17,2007. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)Template:Fr icon
  8. ^ a b "Interview Transcripts". Retrieved 2007-02-21. (Now offline. Archive as on February 6, 2006.)
  9. ^ "Voila Stage 2". Retrieved 2007-02-21.
  10. ^ "Alizée - Trivia and Bio". Retrieved 2007-02-21.
  11. ^ "WoWWiki Dancing". Retrieved 2007-06-05.
  12. ^ a b c d e f "Video clips". Retrieved 2007-02-21. (Now offline. Archive as on May 15, 2006.)
  13. ^ "Gourmandises". Retrieved 2007-02-21.
  14. ^ a b c "All Music Guide biography". Retrieved 2007-02-21.
  15. ^ "Alizée - fiche complète - TV5 - Musique". Retrieved 2007-02-21. Template:Fr icon
  16. ^ "MCE". Retrieved 2007-02-21.
  17. ^ "Alizee FanPage & FanClub: Current Concert Dates". Retrieved 2007-03-20.
  18. ^ "Alizée - Discographie - Album "En Concert"". Retrieved 2007-03-20.
  19. ^ "WORLD MUSIC: En-Concert (CD+DVD)". Retrieved 2007-06-03.
  20. ^ "Mexican International Albums Chart - May 28th 2007" (PDF). Retrieved 2007-06-03.
  21. ^ "Mexican Albums Chart - May 28th 2007" (PDF). Retrieved 2007-06-03.
  22. ^ Template:Fr "Psychédélices". Amazon.fr. Retrieved 2007-11-08.
  23. ^ "Alizée - Sortie de l'album en digital le 26/11". Retrieved 2007-12-03.
  24. ^ a b "Alizée - Communiqué top single digital". Retrieved 2007-10-11.
  25. ^ "RCA Music :: Artistes". RCA Music. Retrieved 2007-09-02.
  26. ^ Thierry Cadet (September 9, 2006). "Jérémy Chatelain en interview". Charts in France. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help) Template:Fr icon
  27. ^ a b Template:Fr "Alizée : fin des rumeurs sur cette "Mademoiselle Juliette" & ces "Psychédélices"". Musique Radio. 2007-09-11. Retrieved 2007-09-12. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  28. ^ a b "Single on the Radio, Download and Album Release Dates". Retrieved 2007-09-25.
  29. ^ a b c d "Alizée - Nouveau single " Mademoiselle Juliette "". Retrieved 2007-09-25.
  30. ^ "Alizée: Mademoiselle Juliette". Retrieved 2007-07-23.
  31. ^ "First Single Available at VirginMega.Fr!". Retrieved 2007-07-23.
  32. ^ Template:Fr "Alizée prépare la sortie de son album". Charts in France. 2007-11-08. Retrieved 2007-10-03. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  33. ^ "Communiqué - 11 Septembre 2007 - Alizée". Retrieved 2007-09-16.Template:Fr icon Translation.
  34. ^ "Alizée Officiel". Retrieved 2007-10-11.
  35. ^ "TV, Website, & Photoshoot". Retrieved 2007-11-13.
  36. ^ "MySpace.com - Alizée - Corse, FR - www.myspace.com/alizeeofficiel". Retrieved 2007-10-11.
  37. ^ "Mixup Music Store: Tout Alizée". Retrieved 2008-01-17. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  38. ^ Mexico Top 100 Album Chart 6th January 2007
  39. ^ Mexico Top 100 Album Chart 6th January 2007
  40. ^ "Chante France". Retrieved 2007-02-21. Template:Fr icon
  41. ^ "BBC News article on World Music Awards 2002". Retrieved 2007-02-21.
  42. ^ "Prix Vincent Scotto : "Moi Lolita" - interprète : ALIZEE". Retrieved 2007-03-20. Template:Fr icon
  43. ^ "BBC Manchester review". Retrieved 2007-02-21.
  44. ^ "Amazon - Gourmandises". Retrieved 2007-02-21.
  45. ^ "Gourmandises review on DVD Fever". Retrieved 2007-02-21.
  46. ^ "Amazon UK - Gourmandises". Retrieved 2007-02-21.
  47. ^ "Chart Information". Retrieved 2007-02-21.
  48. ^ "Mexican Album Charts". Retrieved 2007-06-03.
  49. ^ Mexican Singles Chart
  50. ^ "Alizée - FAQ". Retrieved 2007-02-21.

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to Alizée.

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