Amaury Vassili Chotard (born 8 June 1989) is a French opera singer and professional

tenor A tenor is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The lo ...

. His debut album ''Vincerò'' from 2009 went

double platinum Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

in France, and he has had international success with releases in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

and

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

Biography

Amaury Vassili Chotard was born in

Rouen Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine in northern France. It is the prefecture of the Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one of ...

Upper Normandy Upper Normandy (french: Haute-Normandie, ; nrf, Ĥâote-Normaundie) is a former administrative region of France. On 1 January 2016, Upper and Lower Normandy merged becoming one region called Normandy. History It was created in 1956 from two d ...

, and began singing around the age of 9 years, enrolled by his mother at a musical school in Rouen, created by Albert and Elizabeth Amsallem. At 14, Vassili competed in his first singing contest, where he won in singing "

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

" by

Jacques Brel Jacques Romain Georges Brel (, ; 8 April 1929 – 9 October 1978) was a Belgian singer and actor who composed and performed literate, thoughtful, and theatrical songs that generated a large, devoted following—initially in Belgium and France, l ...

(an idol of Vassili). In Vassili's second contest, in front of a full house, he sang " Les Lacs du Connemara" by

Michel Sardou Michel Charles Sardou (; born 26 January 1947) is a French singer and occasional actor. He is known not only for his love songs ("La maladie d'amour", "Je vais t'aimer"), but also for songs dealing with various social and political issues, su ...

; however he did not qualify for the final, despite receiving a standing ovation from the crowd. During the contest, his mother realised how much he enjoyed being on the stage and especially the impact he had on the public, saying "C'est son truc !" ("it's his thing!"). In 2004, Vassili took first place in the Coupe de France de la chanson française. He became famous with his debut album ''Vincerò'' from 2009, which went

(over 250,000 copies) after a worldwide release. His second album ''Canterò'' was released in November 2010. Vassili describes his music style as "lyrical pop". France at ESC 2011

Eurovision Song Contest 2011

On 27 January 2011, it was announced by the French broadcaster

France Télévisions France Télévisions (; stylized since 2018 as ) is the French national public television broadcaster. It is a state-owned company formed from the integration of the public television channels France 2 (formerly Antenne 2) and France 3 (former ...

, that Vassili would be the French entry at the

Eurovision Song Contest 2011 The Eurovision Song Contest 2011 was the 56th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Düsseldorf, Germany, following the country's victory at the with the song "Satellite" by Lena. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union ...

to be held in

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in th ...

, Germany. The song was revealed as "

Sognu "Sognu" (English: ''"I Dream"'') is a song by Amaury Vassili that was the entry for France in the 2011 Eurovision Song Contest, held in Düsseldorf, Germany. Although it was a favourite to win the contest, it ended up in 15th position. Backgroun ...

", and was performed in Corsican. It marks the second French Eurovision entry to be performed in the language after

Patrick Fiori Patrick Fiori (; born Patrick Jean-François Chouchayan, 23 September 1969) is a French singer of Armenian descent. Biography Beginnings Fiori was born to a French-Armenian father (Jacques Chouchayan) and a Corsican mother (Marie Antoinette Fi ...

received fourth place with "

Mama Corsica Mama(s) or Mamma or Momma may refer to: Roles *Mother, a female parent *Mama-san, in Japan and East Asia, a woman in a position of authority *Mamas, a name for female associates of the Hells Angels Places *Mama, Russia, an urban-type settlement ...

" in

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...

. Vassili eventually placed 15th with 82 points.

After Eurovision-present

Vassili was the spokesperson for France during the

Eurovision Song Contest 2012 The Eurovision Song Contest 2012 was the 57th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Baku, Azerbaijan, following the country's victory at the with the song " Running Scared" by the duo Ell & Nikki. It was the first time Azerb ...

and presented the country's voting results. Due to an unknown reason as yet, Georgia did not reveal their votes, leaving only 41 countries voting in total. He participated on the French version of

Mask Singer ''Masked Singer'' is an international music reality game show franchise. It originated from the South Korean program '' The King of Mask Singer'', developed by Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation. Format The format features the celebrities who pe ...

as Turtle and became the first male contestant to win the show

Discography

Albums

Singles

Other songs

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vassili, Amaury 1989 births Living people Musicians from Rouen Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 2011 Eurovision Song Contest entrants for France French operatic tenors Opera crossover singers Warner Music France artists 21st-century French singers 21st-century French male singers