Christophe Willem

Christophe Willem
Birth name	Christophe Durier
Born	3 August 1983 (1983-08-03) (age 28)
Origin	Enghien-les-Bains, France
Genres	Pop
Occupations	Singer-songwriter
Instruments	Vocals, piano
Years active	2006–present
Labels	Columbia Sony Music
Associated acts	Zazie Jenifer Kylie Minogue Jennifer Ayache

Christophe Willem (real name Christophe Durier), born on 3 August 1983 in Enghien-les-Bains, Val-d'Oise, is a French singer and the winner of the fourth edition of Nouvelle Star (French version of Pop Idol) in 2006.

Early life

Christophe spent most of his life in Deuil-la-Barre (Val-d'Oise), where his parents run a driving school. As a child, he learned figure skating and to play the piano. Later he learned to sing as part of a gospel 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, 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.^{[citation needed]}

Performances

• Initial audition : "Strong enough" (Des'ree)
• Further audition : "Être à la hauteur" (Le Roi Soleil/Emmanuel Moire)
• Top 14 : "Sunny" (Boney M)
• Top 14 redux : "Où sont les femmes" (Patrick Juvet)
• Top 10 : "True Colors" (Cyndi Lauper)
• Top 9 : "Ça plane pour moi" (Plastic Bertrand)
• Top 8 : "I Am What I Am" (Gloria Gaynor)
• Top 7 : "New York, New York" (Frank Sinatra)
• Top 6 : "Goodbye Marilou" (Michel Polnareff), "I Will Always Love You" (Whitney Houston)
• Top 5 : "My Heart Will Go On" (Céline Dion), "Stayin' Alive" (Bee Gees)
• Top 4 : "Memory" – (Barbra Streisand), "I Want You Back" (The Jackson Five)
• Top 3 : "I'm Still Standing" (Elton John), "Pour ne pas vivre seul" (Dalida)
• Top 2 : "Born to Be Alive" (Patrick Hernandez), "La chanson des vieux amants" (Jacques Brel), "Last Dance" (Donna Summer)
• Top 1 : "Someone New" (Eskobar)

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.^[1][2] The third single, Jacques A Dit came out in autumn 2007. The album was well received and sold double platinum in France^[3] and gold in Belgium and Switzerland. So far, the album has sold over 1 million copies.^[4][5] 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, such as Réunion, Mauritius and even New Caledonia. He also sang several times in Paris at L'Olympia 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.^[6]

He joined artists such as Tears for Fears, Lara Fabian, and Murray Head on the Night of the Proms tour 2007.

In 2008, he joined the Les Enfoires charity ensemble

His second album, Caféine, was published in 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 in November 2011, the first single being Cool

Discography

Albums

Year	Album	Date of release	Chart
			FR	FR (DD)	BEL (WA)	SWI
2007	Inventaire	16 April 2007	1	1	1	7
	Inventaire tout en acoustic	23 November 2007	22	6	-	-
2009	Caféine[7]	25 May 2009	1	1	2	10
2011	Prismophonic	21 November 2011	-	-	-	-

Singles

Year	Single	Date of release	Chart				Album
			FR	FR (DD)	BEL (WA)	SWI
2006	"Sunny"	7 July 2006	3	2	9	17	—
2007	"Élu Produit De L'année"	16 March 2007	—	2	29	—	Inventaire
	"Double Je"	May 2007	1	1	1	21
	"Jacques a dit"	October 2007	4	7	1	35
2008	"Quelle Chance / September"	April 2008	9	—	24	—
2009	"Berlin"	2009	—	5	8	57	Caféine
2009	"Plus Que Tout"	2009	—	2	6	53
2009	"Heartbox"	2009	—	—	—	—
2010	"Entre Nous Et Le Sol"	2010	—	—	—	—
2011	"Cool"	20 September 2011	—	—	—	—	Prismophonic

DVD

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

Awards

Year	Awards	Category
2008
2008	NRJ Music Awards	"Discovery of the year"
2008	NRJ Music Awards	for "Inventaire"
2008	Victoires de la Musique	for "Double Je"
2010
2010	NRJ Music Awards	for "Best French male artist of the year"
2010	NRJ Music Awards	for "Caféine"

References

1. ^ ultratop.be – Christophe Willem – Double je
2. ^ lescharts.com – Christophe Willem – Double je
3. ^ Musique sur Disque en France (SNEP) : Top 50, telechargement legal, droit d'auteur
4. ^ [1]
5. ^ fr:Inventaire (album)
6. ^ Le Figaro – Médias : Michel Polnareff, le chanteur français le mieux payé en 2007, consulté le 27 January 2008.
7. ^ http://www.nrj.fr/music/news/0/christophe-willem-se-booste-cafeine-176014.html

External links

• Christophe Willem at the Internet Movie Database
• christophe-willem.com
• Review of Cafeine(in English)

Preceded by Myriam Abel

Nouvelle Star winner 2006

Succeeded by Julien Doré

Persondata
Name	Willem, Christophe
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	3 August 1983
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death