Michaël Youn
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Michaël Benayoun (; born 1973), known professionally as Michaël Youn, is a French actor, singer, comedian and television personality.


Life and career

Youn was born Michaël Benayoun in
Suresnes Suresnes () is a commune in the western inner suburbs of Paris, France. Located in Hauts-de-Seine, from the centre of Paris, it had a population of 49,482 as of 2020. Suresnes borders the Bois de Boulogne in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, ...
,
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
, to a family of Hungarian, Italian, Moroccan-Jewish, and Algerian-Jewish descent. After his education as an announcer and theater actor, Youn joined the Paris radio station Skyrock in 1998. There, he made sketches and further entertainment during the morning show. The popularity and success of Michael Youn, at the most important French private broadcast station brought Youn to the attention of French TV executives. In July 2000, he was hired for the new morning show "Morning Live" shown on M6. With Vincent Desagnat and Benjamin Morgaine, Youn did the entertainment part of the show. Like their sketches and public events (e.g. foam bath in a Paris fountain, and waking random Parisians up shooting the slogan of the show at them), their parodies were particularly successful. In particular, they parodied the music scene of
Jean-Michel Jarre Jean-Michel André Jarre (; born 24 August 1948) is a French composer, performer and record producer. He is a pioneer in the Electronic music, electronic, Ambient music, ambient and New-age music, new-age genres, and is known for organising out ...
, casting-popstars, the Grand Prix and French rappers. The success of "Morning Live" was mainly due to Youn and his colleagues – when they left the show, it remained on the air for just one more year. After leaving "Morning Live" in 2002, Youn, Desagnat and Morgaine have focused on their music parodies: The three sailors "Piotr", "Olaff" and "Dvorjak" from the Eastern European "Slowakistan", the ''Bratisla Boys'', appeared on the Western music market with their song " Stach Stach". The act became a big success and was number one on the French charts for ten weeks. On a 2004 list of the all-time best selling CDs in France, "Stach Stach" was listed number 30. The success even spread beyond the French border and reached Switzerland, where it was 2nd on the official charts. On 7 July 2002, the project was stopped by its makers. They claimed that the Bratisla Boys had vanished on the Dead Sea without a trace. In 2003, the film "La Beuze", written by Youn and Desagnat, was released. Youn played the character of Alphonse, the "unknown son" of
James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, musician, and record producer. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th-century music, he is referred to by Honorific nick ...
, who tries to start his own career – by creating a new (fictional) style called "Frunkp" (a mixture of
funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...
and
rap Rapping (also rhyming, flowing, spitting, emceeing, or MCing) is an artistic form of vocal delivery and emotive expression that incorporates " rhyme, rhythmic speech, and ommonlystreet vernacular". It is usually performed over a backin ...
). The song "
Le Frunkp "Le Frunkp" is a 2002 song performed by the fictional character Michaël Youn, Alphonse Brown (portrayed by Michaël Youn), the "unknown son" of James Brown, who tries to start his own career by creating a new (fictional) style called "Frunkp" (a ...
" was published as a CD-single and Michaël Youn (under the name of Alphonse Brown) had another hit. This time, he even reached #1 in Swiss charts. Youn had a comedy-tour, called ''Pluskapoil'' in 2003/04 (its sequel followed in 2005) and has acted in films. New music projects followed: ''Les Conards'' (The Imbeciles) with ''Comme des Connards'', a cover version of ''My Sharona'' by
The Knack The Knack was an American power pop band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1978 by Doug Fieger (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Berton Averre (lead guitar, backing vocals), Prescott Niles (bass) and Bruce Gary (drums). Spearheaded by the succes ...
, as well as a song for the movie ''Iznogoud'' (both were in the French Top 20). He had small roles in rather big films, and was part of ''
Les 11 commandements (or ''The 11 Commandments'' in English speaking countries) is a French comedy film, made in 2004, featuring Michaël Youn. It is comparable to the American TV series '' Jackass''. It was theatrically released in France in February 2004 and led ...
'' in 2004 (A French film done in the style of MTV's Jackass, together with Desagnat and Morgaine). In 2005, Youn was ''
Iznogoud ''Iznogoud'' (; from "is no good" pronounced with a French accent) is a French comics series featuring an eponymous character, created by the comics writer René Goscinny and comics artist Jean Tabary. The comic series chronicles the life and ...
'' in the film version of the comic "Iznogoud" (also known as Isnogud). In 2006, he had the main role in the film comedy ''Incontrôlable''. Those two films were not very successful, critics and viewers finding them only so-so. Both films starred Desagnat and Morgaine, but only in small roles. In 2010, he directed his first movie "Fatal" in which he also stars.


Fatal Bazooka

Towards the end of 2006 they picked up a parody from their old ''Morning-Live'' times: the hardcore rappers ''Fatal Bazooka'' ("Lethal Bazooka"), in which they played two rappers called "Profanation Fonky" and "La Marmotte Infernale" who wore balaclavas. Using a hardcore style of rap, they rapped ''Fous ta cagoule'' ("Put on your balaclava"). It reached #1 on the French charts. The CD-single is " Fous ta cagoule" of 2006. The song parodies multiple French rappers, in particular slammer
Grand Corps Malade Fabien Marsaud (born 31 July 1977), known professionally as Grand Corps Malade (GCM), is a French poet and songwriter. He has released seven studio albums so far, all of them reaching top-five status on the French SNEP chart. GCM started writing ...
and
Booba Élie Thitia Yaffa (; born 9 December 1976), better known under his stage name Booba, is a French rapper. After a brief stint as a break dancer in the early 1990s, Booba partnered with his friend Ali to form Lunatic. The duo released a crit ...
. The video clip was made by
Nicolas Benamou Nicolas or Nicolás may refer to: People Given name * Nicolas (given name) Mononym * Nicolas (footballer, born 1999), Brazilian footballer * Nicolas (footballer, born 2000), Brazilian footballer Surname Nicolas * Dafydd Nicolas (c.1705–1774), ...
. His first single of 2007, "Mauvaise foi nocturne"' with
Pascal Obispo Pascal Michel Obispo (; born 8 January 1965) is a French pop and rock singer, music producer and songwriter. Early life Pascal Obispo, son of Max Obispo (a former Bordeaux Girondins football player of Basque origin) and Nicole Guérin (origin ...
parodied ''Confessions nocturnes'' by
Diam's Mélanie Georgiades (; born 25 July 1980, in Nicosia), better known by her stage name Diam's (), is a retired French rapper of Greek-speaking Cypriot origin. Biography Mélanie Marie Georgiades was born on 25 July 1980, in Nicosia, capital ...
and
Vitaa Charlotte Gonin (; born 14 March 1983), known by her stage name Vitaa (), is a French singer-songwriter. Early life Born March 14, 1983, in Mulhouse, Charlotte Gonin, also known as Vitaa, grew up in Lucenay. Her father is French and her mothe ...
(mentioned in "Parle à ma main" as well) also went to #1 in France. Fatal Bazooka released a full LP titled ''T'as vu ?'' in the last week of May 2007 selling over 300,000 copies in France and scored another N1 single (Christmas 2007 number one) with "
Parle à ma main "Parle à ma main" ( French for " Talk to my hand") is a song recorded by French act Fatal Bazooka featuring Yelle and released on October 15, 2007. It was the fifth and last single from the album '' T'as vu''. It was particularly successful in ...
" ("Talk to my hand") featuring
Yelle Yelle is a French electronic band founded by lead singer and namesake Yelle (Julie Budet) and GrandMarnier (Jean-François Perrier). A third member, Tepr (Tanguy Destable), joined the band before the recording of their debut album. Yelle and G ...
released at the end of 2007. This time they attacked another phenomenon of French society : the "lolitas" and their antics. The album was released through Jam Block entertainment/Warner Music France.


Discography

(For discography as part of
Fatal Bazooka Fatal Bazooka () is a French comedy rap character by Michaël Youn, and a former band including himself, Vincent Desagnat and Benjamin Morgaine. The act originated in a 2002 TV show which its members hosted at the time. Fatal Bazooka is also ...
, refer to their page)


Albums


Singles


Filmography


Television


Music videos


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Youn, Michael 1973 births Living people People from Suresnes Male actors from Île-de-France French male film actors French-language singers French male comedians 20th-century French Jews French parodists French comedy musicians French people of Algerian-Jewish descent French people of Hungarian descent French people of Italian descent French people of Moroccan-Jewish descent Cours Florent alumni French LGBTQ rights activists 21st-century French male actors 21st-century French singers 21st-century French male singers Comedians from Île-de-France