Alizée Morel
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Alizée Lyonnet (''
née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...
'' Jacotey; born 21 August 1984), known professionally as Alizée, is a French singer, dancer and musician. She was born and raised in
Ajaccio Ajaccio (, , ; French: ; it, Aiaccio or ; co, Aiacciu , locally: ; la, Adiacium) is a French commune, prefecture of the department of Corse-du-Sud, and head office of the ''Collectivité territoriale de Corse'' (capital city of Corsica). ...
,
Corsica Corsica ( , Upper , Southern ; it, Corsica; ; french: Corse ; lij, Còrsega; sc, Còssiga) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the 18 regions of France. It is the fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of ...
. She first became known with her winning performance in the talent show '' Graines de Star'' in 1999. While collaborating with
Mylène Farmer Mylène Jeanne Gautier (; born 12 September 1961), known professionally as Mylène Farmer (), is a Canadian-born French singer, songwriter, occasional actress, writer, and entrepreneur. Having sold more than 30 million records in France, she is ...
and Laurent Boutonnat, she followed it with a series of albums that attained popularity by pushing the boundaries of lyrical content in mainstream popular music and imagery in her music videos, which became a fixture on
NRJ NRJ (NRJ is an acronym read as Nouvelle Radio Jeune, or ''énergie'' in French, pronounced , literally "energy") is a private French radio station created by Jean-Paul Baudecroux and Max Guazzini in June 1981, and was widely popularized than ...
,
Europe 1 Europe 1, formerly known as Europe n° 1, is a privately owned radio station created in 1955. Owned and operated by Lagardère Active, a subsidiary of the Lagardère Group, it is one of the leading radio broadcasting stations in France and its pro ...
,
MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...
,
Virgin Radio Virgin Radio launched in the United Kingdom in 1993. In 2008, Virgin Radio UK was sold to TIML, a subsidiary of The Times of India group, and the name was changed to Absolute Radio; the Virgin Radio name was not included in the sale. In 2001, ...
, and many others. Throughout her career, many of her songs have been in top 25 hit lists on the record charts, including " Moi... Lolita", "
L'Alizé "L'Alizé" (English: "''the trade wind''") is the second single by French singer Alizée. Released in December 2000, it featured the song "L'alizé" as well as an instrumental version of it. Later two limited editions followed, which featured fou ...
", "
J'en ai marre! "J'en ai marre!" (English: "''I'm fed up!''") is a song performed by French singer Alizée, written by Mylène Farmer. Released in February 2003, the song is Alizée's fifth single as the lead artist, and was the first song from her second studio ...
", "
Gourmandises ''Gourmandises'' (English: ''Delicacies'') is the debut studio album by French recording artist Alizée, released worldwide on 13 March 2001 by Polydor Records. It was certified double platinum by the Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographiq ...
", "
Mademoiselle Juliette "Mademoiselle Juliette" (English: "''Miss Juliet''") is a song by French singer Alizée, which was released as the first single from her third studio album '' Psychédélices''. It was released on 30 September 2007, Alizée's first single in 4 yea ...
", her cover version of "
La Isla Bonita "La Isla Bonita" is a song by American singer Madonna from her third studio album '' True Blue'' (1986). Written and produced by Madonna and Patrick Leonard, with additional lyrics by Bruce Gaitsch, the song was originally presented by Leonard ...
", " Parler Tout Bas", " Les collines" and "
À cause de l'automne "À cause de l'automne" (English: "Because of Autumn") is the first single from the French recording artist Alizée's album '' 5''. The single was pre-released on 28 June 2012 at 17:00 French time (CET) directly on Alizée's official website. The ...
". According to the IFPI and SNEP, Alizée is one of the best-selling female French artists of the 21st century, and is also the singer with most exports out of France. Alizée entered the music business in 2000. She has since released six studio albums, the first two of which were composed by Laurent Boutonnat and written by
Mylène Farmer Mylène Jeanne Gautier (; born 12 September 1961), known professionally as Mylène Farmer (), is a Canadian-born French singer, songwriter, occasional actress, writer, and entrepreneur. Having sold more than 30 million records in France, she is ...
. Her first album was ''
Gourmandises ''Gourmandises'' (English: ''Delicacies'') is the debut studio album by French recording artist Alizée, released worldwide on 13 March 2001 by Polydor Records. It was certified double platinum by the Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographiq ...
'', which received
Platinum Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver". Platinu ...
certification within three months of release. After its international launch in 2001, ''Gourmandises'' was a success both in France and abroad, earning Alizée the distinction of being the highest selling female French singer in 2001. The album featured her most successful single " Moi... Lolita" which reached number one in several countries in Europe and East Asia, in the UK the song was acclaimed by the ''
New Musical Express ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...
'' who recognized it with a "Single of the Week" award. It became a rare example of a foreign-language song to chart highly in the UK Singles Chart, peaking at number 9. ''Gourmandises'' was followed by a second studio album, ''
Mes courants électriques ''Mes courants électriques'' (English: ''My Electric Currents'') is the second studio album by the French singer Alizée, released on 18 March 2003 through Polydor Records, Polydor. Unlike her previous album, which was entirely in French, this a ...
'', in 2003. Following its release, Alizée toured during the autumn of 2003, performing in 43 concerts throughout France, Belgium and Switzerland. (Now offline.) Her fourth album titled ''
Une enfant du siècle ''Une enfant du siècle'' (in English: ''A Child of the Century'') is the fourth studio album by the French recording artist Alizée. The first one released under Jive Records/Epic label and her first French-English-Spanish language album. The fu ...
'' was released on 29 March 2010. In early 2011 she recorded a duet with
Alain Chamfort Alain Chamfort (born Alain Joseph Yves Le Govic; 2 March 1949) is a French singer of Breton origin. Life and career Chamfort was a promising pianist in his youth, and the piano became his instrument of choice. His first band The Dreamers h ...
for his new album '' Elle & lui''. Alizée's fifth studio album, '' 5'' (2013) spawned two singles: "
À cause de l'automne "À cause de l'automne" (English: "Because of Autumn") is the first single from the French recording artist Alizée's album '' 5''. The single was pre-released on 28 June 2012 at 17:00 French time (CET) directly on Alizée's official website. The ...
" and " Je veux bien". She later collaborated on Olly Murs's single "
Dear Darlin' "Dear Darlin'" is a song by English recording artist Olly Murs, from his third studio album, '' Right Place Right Time'' (2012). The song was released as the third single from the album on 26 May 2013. It was co-written by Murs, Paul Flowers, Ed ...
". She participated in and won the TV dance contest '' Danse avec les stars'' (French version of ''
Strictly Come Dancing ''Strictly Come Dancing'' (informally known as ''Strictly'') is a British dance contest show in which celebrities partner with professional dancers to compete in mainly ballroom and Latin dance. Each couple is scored by a panel of usually 4 ...
''). Following the success of ''Danse avec les Stars'', Alizée had released her sixth album, '' Blonde'' (2014), in collaboration with Pascal Obispo. The album received mixed reviews and was not successful in sales.


Biography


1984–2000: Early life and career beginnings

Known to all her friends by her nickname "Lili", Alizée began dancing early in life, and by age four was already proficient. During 1988–2000 she studied in what was then called ''Ecole de Danse Monique Mufraggi'', a famous dance and theatre school in Ajaccio. In 1995, aged 11, she won a colouring competition with about 7,000 entrants organised by the (now defunct) French airline '' Air Outre Mer''. Her design was used to paint the exterior of one of their airliners, subsequently named after her, for which Alizée won a vacation trip with her family 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, but that category was reserved for groups only. Alizée therefore joined the singing category instead, performing the song " Waiting for Tonight" by
Jennifer Lopez Jennifer Lynn Affleck (' Lopez; born July 24, 1969), also known as J.Lo, is an American singer, actress and dancer. In 1991, she began appearing as a Fly Girl dancer on the sketch comedy television series ''In Living Color'', where she rema ...
and "Ma Prière" (a single released by
Axelle Red Fabienne Demal (born 15 February 1968), better known by her stage name Axelle Red, is a Belgian singer-songwriter. She has released 11 albums, including '' Sans plus attendre'', '' À Tâtons'', '' Toujours Moi'' and '' Jardin Secret''; she is b ...
in 1997). She went on to win the ''Meilleure Graine'' award for most promising young singing star of tomorrow.


2000–2002: ''Gourmandises'', ''Moi... Lolita'', ''L'Alizé'' and international success

Her winning performance was seen by veteran songwriters
Mylène Farmer Mylène Jeanne Gautier (; born 12 September 1961), known professionally as Mylène Farmer (), is a Canadian-born French singer, songwriter, occasional actress, writer, and entrepreneur. Having sold more than 30 million records in France, she is ...
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, Belgium, Germany, Mexico, and the United Kingdom. The first single, '' Moi... Lolita'', resurrected the rich French musical tradition pioneered by Serge Gainsbourg in 1964 with the song ''Pauvre Lola'', inspired by the celebrated novel ''
Lolita ''Lolita'' is a 1955 novel written by Russian-American novelist Vladimir Nabokov. The novel is notable for its controversial subject: the protagonist and unreliable narrator, a middle-aged literature professor under the pseudonym Humbert Humber ...
'', creating the image which defined Alizée in the early years of her career. She won an M6 award in 2000 and returned with a follow-up album, ''Mes Courants Électriques'', in 2003. This second album was also quite successful, though less so than her first album. A video album shot during her European concert tour soon followed. 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. The associated music video portrayed Alizée as an impoverished rustic teen visiting a dance club in the city with her little sister, pursued by a young man who had lent them the bus fare to get there, but whose romantic interest in her she never returned. (Now offline. .) 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'' ("Delicacies"), released in 2000. The album, written by Farmer and composed by Boutonnat, sold over 788,000 copies in France – it reached
Platinum Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver". Platinu ...
status in just three months. In 2001, the album was launched internationally and Alizée became the highest-selling female French singer ever. The album went on to sell over two 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 meantime, 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 "L'Alizé" (English: "''the trade wind''") is the second single by French singer Alizée. Released in December 2000, it featured the song "L'alizé" as well as an instrumental version of it. Later two limited editions followed, which featured fou ...
'' (2000), also from the same album, followed soon. It also hit number one in France, and gained some international success. The video of the "sexily alliterative" song (compare its title to "Lola," a variant on "Lolita") shows a miraculously acrobatic (even airborne) Alizée frolicking amidst popping bubbles in front of a pink backdrop, erotically singing about her cautious search for a true love. 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 ''Gourmandises'' (English: ''Delicacies'') is the debut studio album by French recording artist Alizée, released worldwide on 13 March 2001 by Polydor Records. It was certified double platinum by the Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographiq ...
". The video, which shows a group of teenage boys and girls on a picnic, was shot in a day. The last single from the album was " Parler tout bas", about coming of age, and was illustrated with a surreal music video. In France, "Parler tout bas" was the third single, then followed by the release of ''Gourmandises''.


2003–2004: ''Mes courants électriques'', ''En Concert''

In 2003, Alizée returned with her second album ''Mes Courants Électriques'' (''My Electric Currents''). 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 and sold 400,000 copies in France. The first single from this album, "
J'en ai marre! "J'en ai marre!" (English: "''I'm fed up!''") is a song performed by French singer Alizée, written by Mylène Farmer. Released in February 2003, the song is Alizée's fifth single as the lead artist, and was the first song from her second studio ...
" (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. The other singles from this album were "J'ai pas vingt ans" and "À contre-courant". 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. "À contre-courant", the last single from this album, was shot in an abandoned coal factory. The albums features English versions of four tracks. The translations are artistic translations rather than literal, attempting to capture the rough feeling and concepts rather than the specific words and expressions. In some cases they are "dumbed down", lacking the clever French wordplays of the originals. Following the release of ''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 2003. The tour started off with a performance on 26 August 2003 in Paris. It concluded with her performance on the prestigious Olympia (Paris), l'Olympia hall in Paris and eve of 17 January 2004 at the Zénith Paris, Le Zénith concert hall in the same city and had covered major cities including Lyon, Rouen, Lille, Grenoble and Dijon. A live CD and DVD, titled ''Alizée En Concert'', composed of selected performances from her tour, was launched a year later in the autumn 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.


2005–2007: The hiatus and release in Mexico

In 2005 after the success of her first tour and first live album release, Alizée first disappeared from the limelight, then reappeared in the media as it was revealed she was pregnant. She gave birth to a baby girl, Annily, 28 April 2005 (the child she had with Jérémy Chatelain) and put her career on hold. However, the tabloids devoted several articles, for the name Alizée appeared with others, including the false listings of the Clearstream affair. After several rumors of an imminent return, especially in collaboration with the band Indochine (band), Indochine, Alizée left Universal Records to sign with RCA (Sony BMG) in August 2007 also revealing that the Alizée En Concert, En Concert album and tour were her last collaboration with her mentors. Meanwhile, a compilation of the live album was re-released in early 2007 in Mexico by Universal Music Group, Universal Music as a CD+DVD release, following the featuring of the songs on 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 28 May 2007, and number eight on the main albums chart. ''En concert'' has a Gold certification for shipments over 50,000 copies only in Mexico.


2007–2009: ''Psychédélices'', ''Tout Alizée'' and Latin American success

After a three-year hiatus, a time spent out of the media spotlight, 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, was made available for digital downloads 26 November 2007, with a full release on 3 December 2007 on the RCA Records, RCA label. The album includes collaborations with Bertrand Burgalat, Daniel Darc, Oxmo Puccino, Jérémy Chatelain, Michel-Yves Kochmann, and Jean Fauque. The first single from the album was "
Mademoiselle Juliette "Mademoiselle Juliette" (English: "''Miss Juliet''") is a song by French singer Alizée, which was released as the first single from her third studio album '' Psychédélices''. It was released on 30 September 2007, Alizée's first single in 4 yea ...
", officially released on 30 September 2007. It was accidentally released early on the Virgin Megastores, Virgin Megastore website on 23 September 2007, 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 on radio stations, and went on to capture the No. 13 spot on the legal music downloads charts. To promote the single, Alizée appeared on the French radio station, ''NRJ Radio, NRJ'', on 27 September 2007. The video for the single was released for broadcast on 19 November 2007, though it was made available on List of MSN Services, MSN France on 16 November 2007. It was released on physical media, both CD and vinyl, on 21 January 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.Translation
.
"Fifty-Sixty" later launched as the second single from the album in February 2008. The lyric of "Fifty-Sixty" tells, 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 thought her the most beautiful model of all. Three music videos were released for the single – one for the album version of the song and the other two for two remixes. An Alizée website, ''Psychedeclips.com'', was dedicated to the video series, the first of which was released on 5 May 2008. Coinciding with the new album, a new official website was created, which, despite being announced on 11 September 2007, was kept under wraps until 28 November 2007. The album was also promoted via an official artist profile at MySpace. Advertising and marketing campaigns for the album began 22 November 2007 with ad campaigns on NRJ Radio, TF1-TV, and the web. In March 2008 Alizée visited Mexico for the first time in a short promotional tour. On 5 March she was supposed to hold the 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 to all her Mexican fans and to explain that it was not her fault. Sony BMG Mexico also released a statement saying it was not Alizée's fault, that it was the store who had problems with the security, and that they did not expect so many people in attendance; fences had been broken and children were in danger. Alizée also promised to make amends by having another autograph session when she returned to the country on the following tour. She also stated that her tour would start on 18 May in Moscow, followed by concerts in Mexico and then France. 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. After the success of Alizée's tour in Mexico, and in an attempt to mitigate the damage caused during her first promotional visit, Alizée announced an autograph session with fans on 26 June 2008 in Mexico City, over 300 CDs were signed and the record label executives of Sony BMG Mexico presented a Gold certification for shipments over 50,000 copies of ''Psychédélices – Mexican Tour Edition''. A new cover singing in Mexico was Madonna (entertainer), Madonna's cover, "
La Isla Bonita "La Isla Bonita" is a song by American singer Madonna from her third studio album '' True Blue'' (1986). Written and produced by Madonna and Patrick Leonard, with additional lyrics by Bruce Gaitsch, the song was originally presented by Leonard ...
"; it went on to become Alizée's first top ten on the airplay chart. Following the success of ''Alizée En Concert'' and ''Psychédélices'' in Mexico, Alizée's former music label, Universal Music Group, Universal Music released a compilation album, titled ''Tout Alizée''. 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 at No. 62 on the AMPROFON, Mexican Top 100 Albums Chart and No. 20 on the Mexican International Top 20 Albums Chart.


2010–2011: ''Une enfant du siècle'', new style and transition

At the beginning of 2009, Alizée had to cancel a concert in France. She announced then that she was already working on her future album, which would sound very different from all of her previous recordings. The album was called ''Une Enfant Du Siècle'' and was released in France on 29 March 2010. A teaser can be seen on the Internet, called "
Une enfant du siècle ''Une enfant du siècle'' (in English: ''A Child of the Century'') is the fourth studio album by the French recording artist Alizée. The first one released under Jive Records/Epic label and her first French-English-Spanish language album. The fu ...
" (A child of the century). According to British website Popjustice, the first single is partially in English and it is called "Limelight". On 15 February 2010 they uploaded the full version of the song and a clip from the music video. The Special Collector Edition of the album was made available for pre-orders on 4 February 2010. However, it was later confirmed by Popjustice itself that "Limelight" was a teaser single, and the official single from Alizée's fourth album is "Les Collines (Never Leave You)". The full album leaked on to the Internet on 19 March 2010. The album was released in France on 29 March 2010. The album received mixed-to-positive reviews by critics, praising her radical change from her teen pop roots, but also criticizing her perceived lack of interest in the project, and the uncatchy nature of the melodies. On that day Alizée signed autographs at the Virgin Megastore in Paris. The album is inspired by and depicts the life of Edie Sedgwick. Alizée performed in Israel in a tribute to Serge Gainsbourg on 28 July 2010 in Tel Aviv in Opera, National Opéra. She covered a song called "Dis-lui toi que je t'aime" originally sung by Vanessa Paradis, accompanied by the national orchestra. She also performed a song with Israeli singer Harel Skaat. The music video of the first single "Les collines (Never leave you)" was released on 19 March 2010 on Alizée's official YouTube channel, which peaked the daily most-viewed musician's channel worldwide.


2012–2013: ''5'' and ''Danse avec les stars''

Between 1 and 6 February 2012, Alizée appeared in several shows on French television. She announced that a new album was scheduled for spring 2012, marking a return to roots music which would be released on the Sony Music Entertainment, Sony Music label; Sony subsequently announced that the album was to be delayed until the autumn of 2012. In April 2012, she was featured on the single "Clara veut la Lune" by
Alain Chamfort Alain Chamfort (born Alain Joseph Yves Le Govic; 2 March 1949) is a French singer of Breton origin. Life and career Chamfort was a promising pianist in his youth, and the piano became his instrument of choice. His first band The Dreamers h ...
. On 27 June 2012, Alizée announced on live chat that the first single, "
À cause de l'automne "À cause de l'automne" (English: "Because of Autumn") is the first single from the French recording artist Alizée's album '' 5''. The single was pre-released on 28 June 2012 at 17:00 French time (CET) directly on Alizée's official website. The ...
", from the new album was to be released 28 June 2012. The first music video was shot on 15 July 2012 but this was only released in PS3, VidZone platform for PS3. Alizée also revealed that for the new album she was working with Jean-Jacques Goldman, BB Brunes and Thomas Boulard (singer and guitarist of French rock band "Luke (French band), Luke"). 12 July, a limited Collector's Edition of the fifth album became available for pre-order. The original release date was changed from 1 October 2012 to March 2013. A "Collector's Box was released for " pre-order page states 23 January 2013 as for the release. In December 2012 the official video of
À cause de l'automne "À cause de l'automne" (English: "Because of Autumn") is the first single from the French recording artist Alizée's album '' 5''. The single was pre-released on 28 June 2012 at 17:00 French time (CET) directly on Alizée's official website. The ...
was published on Alizée's VEVO channel, initially available only in France and made available for the rest of the world in February 2013. The first performance of her latest single was on RFM (French radio station), RFM radio on 21 December 2012 where she sang the song in a live broadcast. Alizée promoted the album including the January/February 2013 issue of the French edition of Inked (magazine), Inked magazine. Alizée announced Alexandre Azaria as the "artistic director" for her newest album " 5". In January the name and the cover of the album were shown on a Star Academy, where Alizée made an appearance. She promoted the album with performances during Monaco, Soccer Beach Show of Monaco,
Alain Chamfort Alain Chamfort (born Alain Joseph Yves Le Govic; 2 March 1949) is a French singer of Breton origin. Life and career Chamfort was a promising pianist in his youth, and the piano became his instrument of choice. His first band The Dreamers h ...
's ''En Concert'' at Le Grand Rex. also her new participation in Les Enfoirés 2013 concert at the Paris-Bercy hall and Le Tour de France 2013 opening ceremony performance in Porto-Vecchio, where she sang the second single from the album " Je veux bien". In August, Alizée was confirmed to be participating in the upcoming Danse avec les stars (France season 4), fourth season of the popular reality show '' Danse avec les stars'' (the French version of ''
Strictly Come Dancing ''Strictly Come Dancing'' (informally known as ''Strictly'') is a British dance contest show in which celebrities partner with professional dancers to compete in mainly ballroom and Latin dance. Each couple is scored by a panel of usually 4 ...
'') for the promotion of 5, about a month later she announced that she was again in the studio for a "surprise" and in September she revealed her collaboration with the singer Olly Murs in a new, French version of his single "
Dear Darlin' "Dear Darlin'" is a song by English recording artist Olly Murs, from his third studio album, '' Right Place Right Time'' (2012). The song was released as the third single from the album on 26 May 2013. It was co-written by Murs, Paul Flowers, Ed ...
". Alizée won the first place in ''Danse avec les stars'' in November 2013.


2014–present: ''Blonde''

As announced by Metro International, MetroNews, the singer would perform during NRJ Music Awards on 14 December 2013. She performed "Scream & Shout" with will.i.am, singing the lines originally sung by Britney Spears, including the line "Alizée, bitch"; along with "Le tourbillion" with Tal (singer), Tal. At the end of December 2013, the singer began recording her sixth studio album. Her new single "Blonde (Alizée song), Blonde" was announced in March 2014 and released on 17 March as the first single from '' Blonde'', which was released on 23 June 2014. The album received mixed to positive reviews from critics and had mediocre success. Another song, "Alcaline", was released on 16 June as a single. On 6 December, Alizée announced on Instagram that she was in a studio for dubbing an animation film. The film is the French-language version of ''Tinker Bell and the Legend of the NeverBeast'', titled ''Clochette et la créature légendaire''. The film was released on 8 April 2015.


Personal life

Though described as a very shy and reserved person, she likes performing in front of audiences. (Now offline. .) Although she is most famous as a singer, Alizée prefers dancing, and is quite proficient in classical dance, jazz, Italian ballet, Italian style ballet, Tap dance, tap and flamenco. Alizée married fellow French singer Jérémy Chatelain in Las Vegas, Nevada on 6 November 2003. They have a daughter named Annily (born 28 April 2005). The public found out about their marriage in February 2004 when ''Voici'' magazine released a copy of their marriage certificate in an article. She was quiet about her private and family life and kept her baby out of the press to the best of her ability, but since 2011 has been much more open about her private life. Jérémy and Alizée divorced in early 2012. During '' Danse avec les stars'' in fall 2013, Alizée met and started to date Grégoire Lyonnet, whom she married on 18 June 2016. In an Instagram post dated 24 May 2019, Alizee announced that she was pregnant with her second child. Alizée gave birth to Maggy Lyonnet on 24 November 2019.


Artistry


Music and voice

Alizée has a mezzo-soprano vocal type and range. She started her musical career with songs she described as "soulful pop music". In 2000 she erupted in the musical world, becoming an international sensation because she was the most successful female French singer in a long while. Alizée is known for blending Electronic sounds with pop, such as psychedelic pop and most recently, mainstream Europop. At the time of her debut,
NRJ NRJ (NRJ is an acronym read as Nouvelle Radio Jeune, or ''énergie'' in French, pronounced , literally "energy") is a private French radio station created by Jean-Paul Baudecroux and Max Guazzini in June 1981, and was widely popularized than ...
Radio said about her, "The Queen of Europop is a French Lolita". In her debut album Alizée used Europop with mellow sounds, World Music and the classic French Chanson. The second album was primarily House (music), house sounds, instrumentals and electronic sounds mixed with the sounds from her last album. The third album marked a change, replacing her earlier styles with psychedelic music, psychedelic sounds and a very rhythmic world music. The single "Fifty-Sixty" is dedicated to the memory of model Edie Sedgwick. For her fourth album she had another radical change in musical style with a new genre for her career: ''Mainstream'', with strong rhythms compared to her previous three albums. Alizée made clear that the renewal is a big part of her contribution to music.


Public image

Even though early albums portrayed her in a sexy,
Lolita ''Lolita'' is a 1955 novel written by Russian-American novelist Vladimir Nabokov. The novel is notable for its controversial subject: the protagonist and unreliable narrator, a middle-aged literature professor under the pseudonym Humbert Humber ...
-like manner, Alizée was modest, demure and family-oriented in public during her teenage years. For her second album she mostly kept a similar style but with more electronic influences. Her hairstyle was usually a simple bob and her make-up was designed to emphasize and enhance her natural beauty. For her third album she changed her style radically in terms of both music and image, with a more mature performance and more elaborate make-up, clothing and hairstyle. For the promotion of this album Alizée posed for a French magazine, ''Technikart'', in the "Like a Virgin (album), Like a Virgin" style of her idol Madonna (entertainer), Madonna. After a two-year hiatus, she returned with a fourth album whose style was more "psychedelic" and which saw her seeking a new and wider audience. Alizée is very fond of tattoos, of which she has many. The best known is the large Disney-style Tinkerbell on her back, which reflects the fact that she had regarded the character as a mascot since childhood, amassing a large collection of its statuettes. It was often shown during her promotion of the Psychédélices album, presumably because Psyche (mythology), Psyche is something of an ancient forerunner of Tinkerbell. The anime superheroine Sailor Moon, who shares a few commonalities with Tinkerbell, is prominent on Alizée's right arm. Over the years Alizée has been declared a fashionista, appearing in various fashion magazines, beauty and culture. She has attended major Fashion Weeks in the world and smaller events. In the 2010 'Sexiest Women in the World' polls, run by the French edition of ''FHM'' magazine, readers voted Alizée as the second sexiest woman out of 100. Since 2012 Alizée has appeared in many magazines and publications including the January/February 2013 issue of the French edition of Inked (magazine), Inked magazine which featured a photo shoot, including on the cover, of her as a manacled and bloodied punk princess by the French photographer Julien Lachaussée and many more. In 2013, she was one of the guests of honour for her friend John Galliano in Paris Fashion Week 2013. Alizée was ranked fourth in a list of the most influential female artists in France by the amount of followers in social media in March 2014. Her dance for "J'en ai marre" inspired the female Night Elf dance in World of Warcraft.


Legacy

Alizée became an international pop culture icon immediately after launching her recording career. Media said she was one of the most controversial female vocalists of the 21st century, that she had broken into the music world at 17 years old with a worldwide success, that she spearheaded the rise of post-millennial Europop and became its queen, and that "Alizée early on cultivated a mixture of a sweet
Lolita ''Lolita'' is a 1955 novel written by Russian-American novelist Vladimir Nabokov. The novel is notable for its controversial subject: the protagonist and unreliable narrator, a middle-aged literature professor under the pseudonym Humbert Humber ...
innocence and experience that broke the bank". Her debut album ''
Gourmandises ''Gourmandises'' (English: ''Delicacies'') is the debut studio album by French recording artist Alizée, released worldwide on 13 March 2001 by Polydor Records. It was certified double platinum by the Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographiq ...
'' sold 700,000 in only three months in France, and 1,000,000 in Europe in 2001. In early 2001, she won the NRJ Music Awards for Francophone Revelation after she won an M6 (TV channel), M6 Award in late 2000. It is also named in a similar category to the Victoires de la Musique, " Moi... Lolita" is one of the List of best-selling singles in France, best-selling singles in France. Alizée also has two singles in the French Top 100 singles of the 2000s. In 2002, ''Le Figaro'' newspaper announced as Alizée's music was the top earning French music of the year thanks in part to Farmer and Boutonnat's collaboration, which earned 10.4 million €. The
Mademoiselle Juliette "Mademoiselle Juliette" (English: "''Miss Juliet''") is a song by French singer Alizée, which was released as the first single from her third studio album '' Psychédélices''. It was released on 30 September 2007, Alizée's first single in 4 yea ...
video released on 19 November 2007 is listed at 138 in the countdown of 150 most important videos of the last 15 years of the MTV (Latin America), MTV Latin America channel. Alizée is famous for her most successful single to date Moi... Lolita which became a worldwide sensation, with the singer becoming a phenomenon and a national obsession in France. The singer is known for her fast rise to fame, also in media is known as "The most famous of Lolita" also today as the French singer with most exports from France.


Critical response

Despite the 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. 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". 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:
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.
...Gourmandises the French word for sweets (or candies) is the appropriate title of French pop princess Alizée's debut album. Like an aniseed ball, the mix of pop tunes and ballads are pleasant and consistent throughout, but at the same time never too adventurous. The French lyrics may spoil the album for some but the catchy tunes and lyrics (even though they may mean little to the average English speaker) highlight the universal language of pop...
...Sixteen-year-old Alizée is France's answer to the teen queen phenomenon. With one notable exception: Alizée has real talent...
In recent years, critics have commented upon the maturing of Alizée's image and style, and her being a growing artist full of "classy" sounds, and having a strong voice. They have observed how "Lolita", who had begun her career at the beginning of the new century, has transformed into a mature woman and accomplished singer throughout the years.


Other ventures


Philanthropy

Alizée was involved in charity work through ''Les Enfoirés'', a group of French celebrities who organise fundraising concerts every year. The proceeds from these concerts go to ''Restaurants du Cœur, Les Restaurants du Coeur''. The organisation, set up by French comedian Coluche, helps feed the poor. Alizée participated in these concerts in 2001, 2002 and from 2008 to 2013. In 2011, the singer participated in the Collectif Paris-Africa to fight against famine in Africa (similar to USA for Africa). She recorded the song ''Des ricochets'' along with 60 artists, for the compilation album Collectif Paris-Africa pour l'UNICEF.


Works


Discography

;Studio albums * ''
Gourmandises ''Gourmandises'' (English: ''Delicacies'') is the debut studio album by French recording artist Alizée, released worldwide on 13 March 2001 by Polydor Records. It was certified double platinum by the Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographiq ...
'' (2000) * ''Mes Courants Électriques'' (2003) * ''Psychédélices'' (2007) * ''
Une enfant du siècle ''Une enfant du siècle'' (in English: ''A Child of the Century'') is the fourth studio album by the French recording artist Alizée. The first one released under Jive Records/Epic label and her first French-English-Spanish language album. The fu ...
'' (2010) * '' 5'' (2013) * '' Blonde'' (2014) ;Remix albums * ''Remixes'' (2018)


Dance


Dance shows

*'' Danse avec les stars'' – Danse avec les stars (France season 4), season 4 (2013) *''La danse fait son show'' (2014) *'' Danse avec les stars'' – Danse avec les stars (France season 7), season 7 / week 8 (2016)


Dance tours

*''Danse avec les stars (La tournée)#Tour 2013-2014, Danse avec les stars Tour'' (2013–2014) *''Danse avec les stars (La tournée)#Tour 2014-2015, Danse avec les stars Tour'' (2014–2015) *''Danse avec les stars (La tournée)#Tour 2016, Danse avec les stars Tour'' (2016) *''Danse avec les stars (La tournée)#Tour 2017, Danse avec les stars Tour'' (2017)


See also

*Société des auteurs, compositeurs et éditeurs de musique *Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique *French Top 100 singles of the 2000s *List of best-selling singles in France


References


Bibliography

*


External links

*
Official YouTube channelOfficial Sony Music Dailymotion ChannelOfficial Universal Records Dailymotion Channel
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alizee Alizée, 1984 births 21st-century French dancers Danse avec les stars winners French electronic musicians French dance musicians French women pop singers French women in electronic music Living people Musicians from Ajaccio Polydor Records artists RCA Records artists Sony Music artists Universal Music France artists Synth-pop singers World Music Awards winners