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Alizée Jacotey (IPA: [a.li.ze]) was born August 21, 1984 in Ajaccio, Corsica. Daughter of a computer scientist and a businesswoman, with a younger brother Johann, she is a famed French singer. Her stage name is Alizée — the feminine form of alizé, or the trade wind. She is considered to be the protégée of Mylène "Farmer" Gautier, a successful Quebec-born French singer.

Biography

Early years

Also known by her nickname Lili, Alizée got drawn to dancing early in her life. By the age of four, she became quite proficient in dancing, and got drawn to show business. She is also quite proficient in painting — in 1995, she won a coloring competition organised by Air Outre Mer, a former French airline (now partly acquired by Swissair). Alizée's design won first prize and ended up being reproduced on the cabin of one of the airline's aircraft, which got named after her. Alizée won a trip to the Maldives, flying first class.

In 1999, Alizée 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. However, the dance category was reserved only for groups and Alizée contested in the singing category instead, performing the song Ma Prière. She went on to win the "Meilleure Graine" award for most promising young singing star of tomorrow.

Alizée's winning performance was seen by veteran French pop diva Mylène Farmer and Laurent Boutonnat, who were looking for a young and fresh voice to do their new project. They approached Alizée, who was selected after the studio auditions and the trio joined hands to launch her career, with the single Moi... Lolita.

Personal life

Alizée, even though she has a singing career, prefers dancing. She is quite proficient in classical dance, jazz, ballet, tap and flamenco. Alizée also likes football. She is a supporter of AC Ajaccio, and was once invited to kick off one of their matches.

Alizée is actively involved in charity work through Les Enfoirés, which is a group of French celebrities who organize fund-raising concerts every year. The proceeds from these concerts go to Les Restaurants du Coeur. The organisation, set up by French comedian Coluche, helps feed the poor. Alizée had participated in these concerts in 2001 and 2002.

Alizée married fellow French singer Jérémy Châtelain, whom she met at the Eurobest awards function in 2003. They got married on November 6, 2003 in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, and had their first child, a girl they named Anny-Lee (Annily), on April 29, 2005.

Career

Alizée made her debut with the single, Moi... Lolita, which is her most successful to date. It enjoyed success throughout most of Europe and parts of east Asia, reaching the number 1 spot in music charts of most countries it was released in. Indeed, Alizée's image was that of a seductive Lolita character, referring to the novel by Vladimir Nabokov. Her second single "L'alizé" was also successful in hitting number 1 in France. Both the singles were from her debut album, "Gourmandises", which translates to "Delicacies" in English. The album, written by Farmer and composed by Boutonnat, sold over 800,000 copies in France. It went Platinum in just 3 months. In 2001, the album was launched internationally, and she became the highest-selling female French singer in 2001.

In 2003 she returned with her second album "Mes Courants Électriques", or "My Electric Currents" in English translation. With the release of this album, she changed her image for the second album, going from that of a Lolita to a more subtle teenager image. This album also was written by Farmer and Boutonnat. The first single from this album, J'en Ai Marre, known as "Mon Bain de Mousse" in Japan, had some success in and outside France, but this second album, featuring English versions of four tracks, was not as well received as her first one, Gourmandises. It sold a little over 200,000 copies. The album was supported by a countrywide tour in the fall of 2003. A live CD and DVD a year later, in the fall of 2004, by the name "Alizée En Concert", followed. The DVD featured footage of her rehearsals.

Alizée has sold more than four million albums throughout Europe. She has starred in a Japanese commercial and has taken part in various stage shows and live performances outside of Japan. The female Night Elf dance in the computer game, World of Warcraft, published by Blizzard Entertainment, is rumored to be inspired by the choreography of her performance of J'en Ai Marre, and the stage costume for the same performance is considered by many to be inspired by a blue sailor outfit seen in the 1997 remake of Nabokov's Lolita, due to a striking similarity in design.

Since her marriage, Alizée has taken a hiatus from singing and has avoided appearing in the media since February 2004. Her first television appearance since then has been on MTV France on February 18, 2006. She currently resides in Paris, France.

Future

There has been no confirmed official word regarding Alizée's comeback into the music business for almost two years, and her official site has been down since the summer of 2005. Since then, many rumors had surfaced, only to turn out to be false.

After almost two years of fan speculation, on April 3, 2006, Alizée sent a handwritten message for the fans to the webmaster of the fansite Le Nid d' Alizée, stating that she is working on the third album. Translated to English the message is as below.

Critique

Contrary to the marketing hype and commercial success, the critics evoked a mixed response to the launch of Moi... Lolita, the first single by Alizée. The critics felt that the similarity in style to that of Mylène Farmer, was way too striking. Also to the reviewers, her Lolita image somewhat shadowed her singing prowess, which was described to be "desperately trying to be sexy", and many were ready to write her off. Still, to others, Alizée appealed because of her deep voice, and her ability to "demonstrate her impressive vocal range", a trait for which she is often praised. Some of her songs have been described to be "sweeping, atmospheric ballads" whose "melodies are so sparkling and beguiling", and into which Alizée manages to "squeeze more emotion than the usual pop package". In the two albums that have been released, Alizée has sung a wide range of songs, from catchy pop tunes to soulful ballads.

Discography

Albums

Singles

All the songs has a music video associated with it. In addition, a video for the song Amélie M'a Dit was released, for the promotion of Alizée's live album Alizée Én Concert, even though it was not released as a single. For this purpose, a video of the song featuring a collection of clips from Alizée's performances in her tour, was aired.

DVDs

• Alizée En Concert (2004)

Awards

• 2001: M6 Music Award
• 2001: DMX Music Award
• 2001: NRJ Music Award, for Best French Newcomer
• 2002: World Music Award

Picture Gallery

Audio Gallery

References

1. Daily Princetonian
2. Alizée - Biography
3. IMDb Entry
4. Interview Transcripts
5. Voila Stage 2
6. Alizée - Trivia and Bio
7. Gourmandises
8. ^ All Music Guide biography
9. MCE
10. BBC Manchester review
11. Amazon - Gourmandises
12. ^ Gourmandises review on DVD Fever
13. Amazon UK - Gourmandises
14. Chart Information
15. Alizée - FAQ
16. Chante France
17. World Music Awards

External links

Template:Alizée Singles

• 1984 births
• French female singers
• Living people
• French pop singers