Somehow or another, I managed to miss out on the Julien Doré phenomenon here in France. He won the Nouvelle Star competition (the American Idol of France) when I did not yet live here, and his album came out the same day I flew back to the United States in June. That being said, I'm pretty much jumping on the Julien Doré bandwagon.
I first came across these videos when A. showed them to me a few weeks ago, and I think they're awesome. It's the same song, and essentially the same video, but still all strange and awesome. Then Julien showed up on Star Academy last night (yes, it is a different American Idol-like show, but one that forces the candidates to live isolated in a beautiful house down the street from the National Archives in Paris, where they are filmed 24/7 - kind of like a combo of AI and Big Brother). He was, as A. put it, "a charming scamp." I told him, "He's totally cute, I so get it!" Then after he sang, he managed to annoy the crap out of the stupid, primping, conceited host, which was pretty cool too.
After a bit of research into his background, I learned that he won Nouvelle Star with an excellent and dour cover of "Hit Me Baby One More Time" (why is that song so much better when anyone but Britney sings it?) and has helped bring about the revival of the ukulele in France, and we all know how I feel about ukuleles... and banjos... (learning to play the banjo is near the top of my list of things I need to do before I die in the scary Swiss particle accelerator).
I'm sure he will be coming soon to a Rolling Stone near you, but until then... enjoy some Julien for yourselves! I like the second video best (and there are others available on you tube or similar sites), but it makes more sense if you see the first one.
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1 comment:
what fun!! and I bet it would be even better if I knew French...I envy you.
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