Christophe Frédéric Durier (; born 3 August 1983), better known by his stage name Christophe Willem (), is a French singer and the winner of the fourth edition of ''

Nouvelle Star ''Nouvelle Star'' (; also known as ''À la Recherche de la Nouvelle Star'' for the first season) is a French television series based on the popular Pop Idol programme produced by FremantleMedia. It was broadcast by M6 in seasons 1–8 before ...

'' (French version of ''

Pop Idol ''Pop Idol'' is a British music competition television series created by Simon Fuller which ran on ITV from 2001 to 2003. The aim of the show was to decide the best new young pop singer (or "pop idol") in the UK based on viewer voting and par ...

'') in 2006.

Early life

Christophe spent most of his life in

Deuil-la-Barre Deuil-la-Barre () is a commune in the northern suburbs of Paris, France. It is in the Department of Val-d'Oise and the arrondissement of Sarcelles. It is from the centre of Paris. Despite this proximity to the metropolis, Deuil has retained mu ...

(

Val-d'Oise Val-d'Oise (, "Vale of the Oise") is a department in the Île-de-France region, Northern France. It was created in 1968 following the split of the Seine-et-Oise department. In 2019, Val-d'Oise had a population of 1,249,674.

), where his parents run a driving school. As a child, he learned

figure skating Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic Games, when contested at the 1908 Olympics in London. The Olympic disciplines are me ...

and to play the piano. Later he learned to sing as part of a

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choir "Young Voices". He also was composing songs at the age of fourteen. Before deciding to study to become a lawyer and calculus professor, he continued to practice music and in 2004 he appeared in a Richard Anconina film, ''Alive'', where he played the role of Henri, a young man with a golden voice who is, nevertheless, not considered suitable for the lead role in a musical. Since his film career continued after this, he returned home, where he studied communication while working a number of part-time jobs, such as babysitting and helping in a theatre.

''Nouvelle Star''

Pushed by his family and friends, he decided to try out for the 2006 edition of Nouvelle Star. With an initial audition performance of ''Strong Enough'' by

Des'ree Desirée Annette Weekes (born 30 November 1968), known by her stage name Des'ree (), is an English pop recording artist who rose to popularity during the 1990s. She is best known for her hits " Feel So High", " You Gotta Be", "Life", and " Kiss ...

, he surprised the judges, who did not expect such a quality voice from an admittedly ungainly-looking man. Nicknamed "La Tortue" (The Turtle) by Nouvelle Star judge Marianne James, he proved to be a popular contestant, and on 8 June, was crowned the fourth Nouvelle Star.

Performances

* Initial audition : "Strong enough" (

) * Further audition : "Être à la hauteur" (

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Emmanuel Moire Emmanuel Moire (born 16 June 1979 in Le Mans) is a French singer-songwriter, best known for portraying the role of Louis XIV in the French stage musical ''Le Roi Soleil''. Moire has released four albums '' (Là) où je pars'' (2006), '' L'Équi ...

) * Top 14 : " Sunny" (

Boney M Boney M. was a German- Caribbean vocal group that specialized in disco and funk created by German record producer Frank Farian, who was the group's primary songwriter. Originally based in West Germany, the four original members of the group' ...

) * Top 14 redux : "Où sont les femmes" (

Patrick Juvet Patrick Juvet (21 August 1950 – ca. 1 April 2021) was a Swiss model and singer-songwriter, who had a string of hit records in Europe. While his early career was focused on making pop records, he found international success as a disco music p ...

) * Top 10 : " True Colors" (

Cyndi Lauper Cynthia Ann Stephanie Lauper Thornton (born June 22, 1953) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and activist. Her career has spanned over 40 years. Her album ''She's So Unusual'' (1983) was the first debut album by a female artist to achi ...

) * Top 9 : "Ça plane pour moi" (

Plastic Bertrand Roger François Jouret (born 24 February 1954), better known as Plastic Bertrand, is a Belgium, Belgian musician, songwriter, producer, editor and television presenter, best known for the 1977 international hit single "Ça plane pour moi". Bi ...

) * Top 8 : " I Am What I Am" (

Gloria Gaynor Gloria Gaynor ( née Fowles; born September 7, 1943) is an American singer, best known for the disco era hits "I Will Survive" (1978), " Let Me Know (I Have a Right)" (1979), " I Am What I Am" (1983), and her version of "Never Can Say Goodbye" ( ...

) * Top 7 : "

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" (

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) * Top 6 : "Goodbye Marylou" (

Michel Polnareff Michel Polnareff (born 3 July 1944, Nérac, Lot-et-Garonne, France) is a French singer-songwriter, who was popular in France from the mid-1960s until the early 1990s with his penultimate original album, ''Kāma-Sūtra''. He is still critically ...

), "

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" (

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) * Top 5 : "

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" (

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), "

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" (

Bee Gees The Bee Gees were a musical group formed in 1958 by brothers Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. The trio were especially successful in popular music in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and later as prominent performers in the disco music era in ...

) * Top 4 : "

Memory Memory is the faculty of the mind by which data or information is encoded, stored, and retrieved when needed. It is the retention of information over time for the purpose of influencing future action. If past events could not be remembered, ...

" – (

Barbra Streisand Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand (; born April 24, 1942) is an American singer, actress and director. With a career spanning over six decades, she has achieved success in multiple fields of entertainment, and is among the few performers List ...

), "

I Want You Back "I Want You Back" is the first national single by the Jackson 5. It was released by Motown on October 6, 1969, and became the first number-one hit for the band on January 31, 1970. It was performed on the band's first television appearances, on ...

" (

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) * Top 3 : "

I'm Still Standing "I'm Still Standing" is a song written by English musician Elton John and songwriter Bernie Taupin, from John's 1983 album ''Too Low for Zero''. It was the second single released from the album in the UK, and the first single released in the Un ...

" (

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), "Pour ne pas vivre seul" (

Dalida Iolanda Cristina Gigliotti (; 17 January 1933 – 3 May 1987), professionally known as Dalida, was an Italian-French singer and actress born in Egypt. She sang in eleven languages and sold millions of records internationally. Her best known son ...

) * Top 2 : "

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" (

Patrick Hernandez Patrick Pierre Hernandez (born 6 April 1949) is a French singer who had a worldwide hit with "Born to Be Alive" in 1979. Biography Born to a Spanish father and an Italian mother in Le Blanc-Mesnil, Seine-Saint-Denis, Hernandez grew up in the 1 ...

), "La chanson des vieux amants" (

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 ...

), " Last Dance" (

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) * Top 1 : " Someone New" (

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)

Career

His debut album ''Inventaire'' was released on 16 April 2007, while the first single, ''Élu produit de l'année'' premiered in March. In May 2007 he released the second single ''Double Je'', which went directly on the #1 in France and Belgium. The third single, ''Jacques A Dit'' came out in autumn 2007. The album was well received and sold

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 gold in Belgium and Switzerland. So far, the album has sold over 1 million copies. Willem started his first tour on 15 November 2007 and it ended on 20 July 2008. He toured France, Belgium, Switzerland and the

Overseas departments and territories of France Overseas France (french: France d'outre-mer) consists of 13 French-administered territories outside Europe, mostly the remains of the French colonial empire that chose to remain a part of the French state under various statuses after decolon ...

, such as

Réunion Réunion (; french: La Réunion, ; previously ''Île Bourbon''; rcf, label= Reunionese Creole, La Rényon) is an island in the Indian Ocean that is an overseas department and region of France. It is located approximately east of the island ...

, Mauritius and even

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. He also sang several times in Paris at

L'Olympia The Olympia (; commonly known as L'Olympia or in the English-speaking world as Olympia Hall) is a concert venue in the 9th arrondissement of Paris, France, located at 28 Boulevard des Capucines, equally distancing Madeleine church and Opéra G ...

and ''Zenith'', which are the most prestigious concert halls in Paris. In 2007 Christophe Willem appeared on the list of the 10 musicians who earn the most in France (including income, record sales, concerts and contract). Christophe Willem was in 6th place and earned a total of 1.22 million euros in 2007. He joined artists such as

Tears for Fears Tears for Fears are an English pop rock band formed in Bath, England, in 1981 by Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith. Founded after the dissolution of their first band, the mod-influenced Graduate, Tears for Fears were associated with the new wav ...

Lara Fabian Lara Sophie Katy Crokaert (born January 9, 1970), better known as Lara Fabian, is a Belgian-Canadian pop singer and songwriter. She has sold over 20 million records worldwide as of 2021Broadway World (2017)"Lara Fabian annule finalement sa tourn ...

, and

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on the

Night of the Proms Night of the Proms is a series of concerts held annually in Belgium (since 1985), the Netherlands, Germany and Luxembourg. Regularly there are also shows in France, Spain, Austria, Switzerland, Poland, Denmark, the United States and Sweden. The co ...

tour 2007. His second album, ''Caféine'', was published on 25 May 2009 and the album's first single was ''Berlin''. The second single was ''Plus Que Tout'' and the third ''Heartbox''. Caféine went immediately to #1 in France. In 2010, he joined the jury of French version of X Factor. His third album, entitled Prismophonic was released a month and a day (21 November 2011) after the first single ''Cool'' (20 September 2011). The second single from the album is called ''Si Mes Larmes Tombent'' (January 2012) In 2018, he served as one of the domestic judges for '' Destination Eurovision'', the French national selection for the

Eurovision Song Contest 2018 The Eurovision Song Contest 2018 was the 63rd edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Lisbon, Portugal, following the country's victory at the with the song " Amar pelos dois" by Salvador Sobral. Organised by the European Broa ...

. He will also join the French commentary team for the contest, teaming up with

André Manoukian André Antranik Manoukian (born 9 April 1957 in Lyon) is a French songwriter, arranger, jazz musician, and actor of Armenian descent. Between 2002-2017, he served as one of four judges in the French version of Pop Idol, ''Nouvelle Star''. Early ...

for the semifinals, as well Stéphane Bern and 2017 French representative

Alma Alma or ALMA may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Alma'' (film), a 2009 Spanish short animated film * ''Alma'' (Oswald de Andrade novel), 1922 * ''Alma'' (Le Clézio novel), 2017 * ''Alma'' (play), a 1996 drama by Joshua Sobol about Alma ...

for the final.

Philanthropy

Willem is a member of the

Les Enfoirés Les Enfoirés (, 'The Tossers' or 'The Bastards') is the name given to the singers and performers in the yearly charity concert for the Restaurants du Cœur The Restaurants du Cœur (literally ''Restaurants of the Heart'' but meaning ''Restau ...

charity ensemble since 2008."Christophe Willem"
(in French). ''Enfoires.com''. Retrieved 23 February 2017.

Discography

Albums

Singles

DVD

*2008 : ''Fermeture pour rénovation'' (#1 in France and #1 in Belgium)

Awards

References

External links

*

in English) {{DEFAULTSORT:Willem, Christophe 1983 births Living people People from Enghien-les-Bains French-language singers French pop singers World Music Awards winners Nouvelle Star winners 21st-century French singers 21st-century French male singers