Matthew Raymond-Barker (born 20 June 1989 in London, England) is an English singer who won the second season of the French ''

X Factor ''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for ''Pop Idol'' (2001–2003 ...

'' in 2011. He received the grand cash prize and a recording deal with

Sony Music Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainment ...

Early life

Born in London, Matthew William Raymond-Barker is the only son of Karen (née Jacobs) and William Francis Raymond-Barker. He lives in

Mitcham Mitcham is an area within the London Borough of Merton in South London, England. It is centred southwest of Charing Cross. Originally a village in the county of Surrey, today it is mainly a residential suburb, and includes Mitcham Common. It ha ...

, south-west London, works in

Waterford "Waterford remains the untaken city" , mapsize = 220px , pushpin_map = Ireland#Europe , pushpin_map_caption = Location within Ireland##Location within Europe , pushpin_relief = 1 , coordinates ...

and attended

Emanuel School Emanuel School is an independent, co-educational day school in Battersea, south-west London. The school was founded in 1594 by Anne Sackville, Lady Dacre and Queen Elizabeth I and occupies a 12-acre (4.9 ha) site close to Clapham Junction ra ...

in Battersea. Raymond-Barker had applied initially to the British ''

The X Factor ''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for ''Pop Idol'' (2001–2003 ...

'' competition, but was rejected after the first day of bootcamp. Raymond-Barker is a student, studying French and Spanish at the

University of Bath (Virgil, Georgics II) , mottoeng = Learn the culture proper to each after its kind , established = 1886 (Merchant Venturers Technical College) 1960 (Bristol College of Science and Technology) 1966 (Bath University of Technology) 1971 (univ ...

and was in France for a period of six months to improve his French language skills at

University of Toulouse The University of Toulouse (french: Université de Toulouse) was a university in the French city of Toulouse that was established by papal bull in 1229, making it one of the earliest universities to emerge in Europe. Suppressed during the Frenc ...

. He applied to the French ''X Factor'' in

Montpellier Montpellier (, , ; oc, Montpelhièr ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of ...

Le Figaro: Matthew Raymond-Barker remporte X Factor
(in French) after a friend of his spotted an advertisement for the French competition. He was coached in the series by

Véronic DiCaire Véronic DiCaire (born in Embrun, Ontario, Canada) is a Canadian Franco-Ontarian singer and impressionist.

Performances on ''X Factor''

Raymond-Barker qualified to the Final 12 after singing " Just the Way You Are" by

Bruno Mars Peter Gene Hernandez (born October 8, 1985), known professionally as Bruno Mars, is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is known for his stage performances, retro showmanship, and for performing in a wide range of musical s ...

in the auditions. During the live shows, he sang the following songs: During the competition, he was in Bottom two only once (week 8–7 June 2011) and sang for his life against Florian Giustiniani and was saved by unanimous vote of the judges after singing "

Use Somebody "Use Somebody" is a song recorded by the American rock group Kings of Leon. It was the second single from the band's fourth studio album ''Only by the Night'' (2008), released on December 8, 2008. The single received heavy airplay in Scandinavia, ...

" from the

Kings of Leon Kings of Leon is an American rock band formed in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1999. The band is composed of brothers Caleb, Nathan and Jared Followill, and their cousin Matthew Followill. The band's early music was a blend of Southern rock and gar ...

. In the finals, aired on 28 June, he beat Marina D'Amico who became runner-up. The difference between the two was a mere 1300 votes.Premiere: X Factor 2011 – Matthew Raymond-Barker remporte la finale!
(in French) Maryvette Lair finished third.

Post ''X Factor''

Raymond-Barker's winner's song, a cover of

Daniel Balavoine Daniel Xavier-Marie Balavoine (; 5 February 1952 – 14 January 1986) was a French singer and songwriter. He was hugely popular in the French-speaking world in the early 1980s; he inspired many singers of his generation such as Jean-Jacques Gol ...

's hit " Vivre ou survivre", was his debut single in France, and was released on 2 July 2011. The single debuted at number 94. His first album was due for release in November 2011 on

and reportedly titled ''Trash'', but never materialised. The single from the prospective album, was an electro-pop track called "Trash (Tout le monde jump sur le bar)". It was released 19 September 2011 but did not chart. In 2012 he released his debut album "One" which has never reached the French Top 250 selling fewer than 50 copies in its first week. A few months later only 500 copies have been sold. "One" is the lowest selling album from a winner of that kind of TV show in France.

Discography

Singles

References

External links

Official message board
{{DEFAULTSORT:Raymond-Barker, Matthew 1989 births Living people The X Factor winners Singers from London English expatriates in France English male singers 21st-century English singers 21st-century British male singers