Your first experience of Alizée?

[Seapaddler]

It would be great to read everyone’s first time experience of Alizée. What were you doing at the time, how did you first hear of her, how long ago etc.

For me it was a few months ago, clicking a link on a website that led to the La Isla Bonita video on Ryoni.com. Watching this performance left me speechless; her natural beauty, her subtleties, her voice, her dancing - oh my freaking God who is this singer and why haven’t I heard of her before! Actually her music was released in Canada, where I live, and still I had never heard of her. From that point I couldn’t get enough; buying her music online and downloading anything and everything I could find. Her story of getting discovered and everything else I’ve read and seen of her interviews has imprinted a rare impression on me, I want to learn French and perhaps go to France some day to see a her in a live concert. Which incidentally many people from the West did. What person has that kind of influence? Amazing.

[brad]

i was kind of slowly exposed to her through a forum that I was on a few years ago. someone there would always post pictures of her, and people would argue about how 'perfect' she was. it was a while before I ever watched a video of her, (this was long before sites like youtube came around in 2005)

eventually i found alizee-forum, and through there downloaded some videos. once i watched the fun tv interview i was 100% hooked. i must have watched it 10 times in one day (without subtitles) .. i had no idea what they were saying but I was completely mesmerized with her.

[RadioactiveMan]

Vancouver! I'm from Kelowna, Seapaddler.

The Ryoni.com La Isla Bonita video was one of the very first ones that I saw, too (second after the J'en Ai Marre one, I think).

[LiliFan788]

I first saw Alizée in the video of her performance of "La Isla Bonita." Shortly after that, I saw the video of the March 2003 performance of "J'en ai marre." After that, I listened to samples of her songs in the French iTunes store, and bought her CDs online.

[blueskyy]

I stumbled across the J'en Ai Marre video on some website with a bunch of random video links and was just captivated. Then the La Isla Bonita video appeared on the same site. I then bought the MCE cd and really liked it. Eventually found more video's on this site and others, bought the other cd's, and now all other girls are ugly and can't dance. Nah just kidding.

[nurvonic]

my first alizee experience was somewhere mid-June of this year. i was browsing videos on some site and saw a thumbnail to her la isla bonita video. i saw her pretty face, and skipped over it cuz i just thought it was just some random hot chick. i think a couple of days later i finally clicked on the link to see what the fuss was about, and was captivated. i would go back to that site everyday just to look at that particular video..lol. then i did some google searches, some youtube searches, a wikipedia search and voila, here i am

[Cooney]

I believe it was around February of this year that I probably ran across her the first time, over on mojoflix. They had one of her well known JEAM performances posted, and I watched it... and watched it and watched it. Having taken French in the past, but having no idea what "J'en ai marre" meant, I pulled out my old French dictionary and looked it up. Shortly after that, I ran across the official Moi... Lolita video on the same site, and realized that I really liked this chanteuse, and I kept thinking about the lyrics, trying to figure them out. I'm quite intellectually curious, so when something like this gets my interest, I usually don't rest until I've got a grip on it.

I don't know where the first step over the line from casual interest to fan was, but in April I know I created an account on verbtoverbe.com in order to post and talk with people about her lyrics, specifically about the meaning of "courgettes" in JEAM. I was assuming it was slang for something, rather than literally meaning zucchinis. We couldn't figure that one out, and I became a bit obsessed with the idea of locating that information. (When I much later found out it was because she is allergic to them, I laughed and just about danced at my chair ::grins:: Thanks, FunTV!)

As I ran across more of her works, I believe ACC's video was next, I started downloading them and looking for biographical information on her. I believe that is what eventually lead me here, via the winds of a search-engine, where I discovered the video repository and forums. As soon as I saw her in interview and realized she really had her head on straight, and then saw how well she treats her fans, I was completely hooked and began hunting her products. I remained a lurker for at least a month, reading but not posting, until one day in mid-October I ran across a topic about the alcoholic beverage Alizé, which I happened to have in my refridgerator. For some reason, that inspired me to create an account and make an informational post about the drink, and it all snowballed from there.

I'm super-inquisitive by nature, and I love playing with language. Translating her songs, and the texts of interviews, is something I'd be doing even if I wasn't here. Nothing makes my brain itch more than hearing something that I can *almost* understand, but need a little clarification on - I have a whole shelf of reference books attesting to that trait. I WANT to understand; not just the literal meaning, but also the little details, the references, the thought process. Now, I've got pages and pages of print outs of stuff I've been working on translating for my own edification (this is what I post occasionally in my "Alternate Translations" threads), a stack of her CD's which are forever rotating through my car stereo, a bunch of DL'd vids, and orders placed from Taiwan to France to get things sent my way. I've got Youpidou licence plate frames, and I'm waiting on my custom plates... I'll post pictures when they arrive.

Now I'm on a quest to build a massive collection, a few pieces at a time. I rearranged my furniture the other day to make room for some new shelves I hope to get soon, where I can begin to display the stuff properly. I love her music, I love her lyrics, and I love her approach to life. What more can I say?

[Twitch]

I first saw Alizée in her Moi Lolita video back in 2001 when it aired on French Kiss on Muchmusic (music station in Canada), I just happened to wake up and turn on the TV and it was already on Much, normally I wouldn't have bothered watching French Kiss but Moi Lolita had just started it sounded interesting so I waited until they showed who the singer and what the song was. After which I had to get ready and head to class, but after class I searched the web and checked out the other song samples and videos available on the official site. And it provided an interesting dilemma, I liked it and enjoyed watching the videos (even the low quality official ones because that's all there was back then) but at the time would not have admitted to liking anything that remotely resembled pop music to my friends.

But I only had the sample files from the official site available to me until I returned home for the Holidays of that year (from an English city to a 50% French city) and saw the Gourmandises album on sale at the local Zellers while doing some last minute gift shopping, the clerk thought it was for a gift and I didn't correct her (in French markets it was mostly bought by teenage girls, not guys starting university). But after hearing the album I found other songs I liked more than the few mp3s I had found and have been keeping an eye on her ever since.

And recently after moving again and unpacking my stuff I noticed my Gourmandises album has gone missing, so now I am hoping to find another copy (buried in the back of the shelves) while doing some last minute shopping this year while I try and figure out who borrowed my first copy.

[rwd716]

I first saw her in late July of this year. A friend showed me her JEAM vid, and said that I had to see this girl. I figured it would just be another hot girl. The vid had barely started and my mouth was already wide open :eek: Then he said to wait because she does the night elf dance towards the end of the vid. He didn't have to prod me much :p

I was so "twiterpated" by this girl. She was so hot, but not a crazy slutty hot like other female singers are. I had to find out more about her, so a google search lead me here. I couldn't get enough of her interviews, so had the perfect attitude. I definitely can't deny my physical attraction for her piqued my interest, but after watching her interviews and seeing more of her performaces, I really fell in love with her as a person and an artist. The rest is history :cool:

[RadioactiveMan]

I forgot to ask in my first post, but where was her music released here? Are you referring to in Vancouver? If so, I'm interested to know what stores it was in. Or are you referring to a different part of Canada?

[Seapaddler]

I forgot to ask in my first post, but where was her music released here? Are you referring to in Vancouver? If so, I'm interested to know what stores it was in. Or are you referring to a different part of Canada?

I'm not sure if her singles were ever released in Canada but her albums were due to French speaking Quebec. The Québécois are good for something eh lol.

I went into an HMV recently in Burnaby (near Vancouver) and ordered all three, costs over $80.00. Although not stocked in stores in the West, most likely would be carried in Quebec stores. Both albums can be attained in a few days but the En Concert DVD is not stocked in Canada and still an import and will take a few weeks. Gourmandises was 22.99, Mes Courants Électriques was 27.99 and Alizée En Concert was 29.99 CAD.

[Twitch]

I know your probably asking Seapaddler but I ordered the Canadian release of the I'm not Twenty remixes from an independent store in BC (through Amazon.ca but it was the only copy they said they had), but the Gourmandises album was available here at Zellers (small city wasn't much other choice for CD's back then) in northern New Brunswick, right on Québec's border so they always have lots of French music available, but I never saw any copies of the CD's in stores in Halifax before coming home, but I wasn't looking for it either. And MCE and all the other CD's are only available as imports in Canada as far as I know. But I don't think any major store chains bothered to carry Gourmandises outside of the French regions in and around Québec.

EDIT: Those are really pricey Seapaddler, now I feel bad for buying Gourmandises on sale for about $15 back in 2001, and wish I would have known my copy was missing when I saw it again for only $12 a couple of months ago.

[Seapaddler]

Yeah they were pricey, I assumed they were becoming more rare. When you visit Amazon or HMV online you see New/Used prices and the New ones were always pricey. Are they still being produced in France?

[Twitch]

I think so, but you always pay extra for imports because of the extra costs involved that get passed on to you, and once the overstock of the Canadian release of Gourmandises is gone, might be already since prices are going up, they will have to import that one as well, unless Universal Canada releases more, but I don't think they will bother because there isn't that much of a demand(like with Amazon.ca a few months ago they had it listed new for about $12CDN from Amazon.ca, but now its around$20CDN and up from 3rd party sellers and the label is Universal International). Just like with the I'm not Twenty remixes which only cost me about $6-7 CDN (why I bought it), once the copies released in Canada are gone you will probably have to pay more for it.

[CFHollister]

I'm very much an initiate to Alizee. It's been barely a week since I really got to know about her. My first real experience (which I go into a bit on the "What's your favorite Alizee song, part II" thread) was a J'ai Pas Vingt Ans compilation. I watched it once and thought, "That was really sexy!" I watched it again... and again, and on about the third time through in a row I realized I had become completely, utterly captivated. She was quite possibly the most beautiful, sexy, thing I had ever seen... and I don't mean "thing" in the objective sense here (I wouldn't degrade her by objectifying her), I mean "thing" as the generic form of a noun as in, she was the most beautiful "person, place, thing, etc." I had ever seen. I have a real weakness for brunettes, so you can imagine my vulnerability to the like of Alizee, but she quite literally had it all: a look more gorgeous than words, a good voice, and she knew how to move; all without destroying her natural beauty with overdone makeup or lewd or obscene clothing. I didn't understand a word she was saying, but for me anyway, that only added to the magic at first. I know J'ai Pas Vingt Ans isn't exactly the most "deep" of Alizee's songs (although certainly representative of her carefree outlook on life she portrays), but at first all I could imagine was her singing about something as beautiful and radiant as herself. Anyway that was the first real impression.

Like many others, I was compelled to learn more about her: "Who was she? Why haven't I seen/heard her before? Was she this amazing all of the time, or was this a one-time burst of flame?" My intial search wasn't very fruitful in quantity but did yield one of the popular live J'en Ai Marre performances and the La Isla Bonita performance (I could tell then that I did prefer her singing in french). But then I found my way here where I was able to finally see Alizee in interview (as well as many more performances). That's when I was finally able to get a glimps of her personality. And once I could see how kind, intelligent, and playful she was, I was, I'm running out of words here, captivated all over again. That is to say that my captivation took on a new level. Sure, I'd thought Alizee was beautiful and sexy since I had first laid eyes on her, but now I had become awestruck with her totality. It was then I knew I was a real fan.

[Pirate515]

I first heard "Moi... Lolita" when I was vacationing in Prague in October 2002. It was playing on some local radio station that our cabbie was listening to. I immediately fell in love with that song, but unfortunately, at that time I did not know its name or who sings it. When I asked the cabbie if he knew who it was, his answer was "Someone French" (gee, that was helpful, I kinda figured that part out myself). After that, I've tried for several months to find out more about that song and who sings it, but didn't have any success and eventually gave up.

Then in April of this year, someone posted a link to "J'en Ai Marre" video on YouTube on one of the web forum sites that I frequently visit, which started a very lively Alizee discussion. I loved that video as well, and went on Wikipedia to read Alizee's biography. From there, I found out that "Moi... Lolita" was her debut song that made her famous. Naturally, I next saw that video, being pleasantly surprised that I finally found that mysterious French song. Have been hooked on Alizee ever since.

I'm kind of mad at myself though. I am very much into European dance music; and given that, I should have found out about Alizee a lot sooner. But then again, better late than never.

[Seapaddler]

Great stories and anecdotes.

"awestruck with her totality" well put.

[Senshi87]

hmm moi lolita on swedish mtv was my first time seeing her, but i wasnt very fond of that type of music back then when i was 13 years old :D

wasnt for another two years ago that i got around with her music and started listening.

[Amelie]

first i saw Mylene Farmer concert "Mylenium tour" and i became a super duper Mylenes fan, then i saw that Mylene is Alizee's producer (with Laurent Boutonnat) and i remembered, that my father has her cd! i listened it three or two years ago and maybe half year ago i thought that i have to listen it one more time, then i downloaded Alizee's concert "En concert" and then i became Alizee's huge fan too. i knew and Moi...Lolita, but when it was popular i liked Britney Spears :D but real Alizee fan..maybe six or seven months ago...

[atra201]

in 2003 i saw i'm not twenty on tv unfortionatly it was the end of it so i waited for about a day or two by the tv untill they played im not 20
again then i googled Alizee
and here we R ever since i'm a big Alizee fan but i was unactive in all the other forums.

[rcs]

Early June 2006...Saw JEAM first, then La Isla Bonita.

In JEAM, the first 3 kicks she does with her legs and then followed by her hand movement had me sold for life; and the video wasn't more than 10 seconds into the song. ;)

For La Isla Bonita, the first close-up of her eyes set me on fire. I wanted to know everything about this girl, or see her in real life even if it meant from a far away distance (with my own eyes, no camera or video pics). :wub:

If it wasn't for another Alizee fan posting her pic on www.Sherdog.com (mixed-martial arts site), I never may have stumbled across Alizee's stunning music (at least her voice made me relax). :)

[neoteny]

my very first experience?! La isla Bonita. back in somewhere around the middle july my brotha showed me a video on this...uh..."site for drunk people" of Alizee doing the cover of Madonna. he was like "oh my god dude isnt she hot!!" and im being nonchalant not giving a damn about his "cupid struck me in the ass" feeling for her. dont get me wrong i thot she was gorgeous. a few days i drew her portrait several times. then he showed me the site. not as big a fan as he is, but i still consider myself sometimes obsessing over her. i listen to her music while im doing the dishes...especially youpidu. i want to keess her. mmm. and that body...ooo... ANYWAY she has a great voice!!! so different from the pop stars here. which is why i liked her from the get-go. now i LUUUUUUV her...

welcome seapaddler. you might find me a little annoying, if not extremely annoying.

[zpa]

It seems that lot of us saw La Isla Bonita first, and so did I. I remember someone posting links to her pictures and stuff on irc, but I never paid attention that much. I did know that she's "some French singer" but that was it really. Then when I, lets say, was enlightened, I noticed that ML and L'Alizé were familiar somehow. Especially the bubbles in l'alizé MV :wub: I think they'd been stored in my subconsciousness since 2000 :o Cos I surely didn't listen to French pop music back then, or any pop for that matter.

[zemasterzzz]

1 day in september I was still playing wow but for some reason I wasn't playing at that moment. Anyway I remember some1 told me that all the dances were based off some real life inspiration. So I followed this link that said inspiration for the night elf dance and BAM. There was a youtube video of JEAM. I thought she was so pretty and had such a nice voice. I had to find out more about her, that's how I got here.

[Sir Wood]

1 day in september I was still playing wow but for some reason I wasn't playing at that moment. Anyway I remember some1 told me that all the dances were based off some real life inspiration. So I followed this link that said inspiration for the night elf dance and BAM. There was a youtube video of JEAM. I thought she was so pretty and had such a nice voice. I had to find out more about her, that's how I got here.
Ditto... (and all that 10 word thingy)

[MaiFromSanFrancisco]

looking up what the word lolita meant. and stumbled upon her 9/15

[newalizeefan]

i believe before summer 2006 my cousin showed me her JEM video..i thought she was fine but i didnt care much enough to watch her videos myself. around midjuly i wanted to see her videos because i was getting curious about the real female NE dance. so that night i found her jen ai marre performance on google video. i also saw her JPVA video that night. well i didnt care too much AGAIN.... but the next day i started watching all the videos i could find of her. next thing i know im hooked on alizee.

[spysmasher]

Not much to tell, really. For several years now I have been eager to sample music from other cultures and in other languages, and somewhere along the line (I don’t remember where) I had read about some popular French pop star named Alizée. While I was mildly curious about her, I did not go looking for info about her or samples of her music. It was sometime later that I stumbled across her JEAM video on Metacafe and realized, “That’s her! Wow! Look what I’ve been missing out on all this time!” After searching out all the videos I could find of her on Metacafe, I ventured further afield and eventually found my way here.

[nate714]

http://moi-alizee.us/forums/showthread.php?p=62#post62

:)

[lobowolf14]

Wow, the first time I learned of Alizee. November of Freshman year of college 2 years ago. I had a friend who always surfed forums and one day he came to us with the Alizee - J'en ai Marre video by M16. The one with the fishy. At first I really liked her, then I googled her and started to become addicted... for like 5 months straight at least.

[sting87]

I was just surfing the net one day, and somehow came across Alizee. Right when I saw her, I knew that she was the most beautiful girl in the world. Her beauty is quite unique. The most INNOCENT and CUTE face i have ever seen. It is just so pleasant looking at her face.

[guldebrett]

While working in Alaska a friend of mine sent me her "J'en Ai Marre! and Ella, Elle La" videos. He told me to watch them 3-times (on three different days) before I made a judgment either way.

The first time through watching the videos I didn't like the songs (they were too different) but I did like the pretty girl. The second time through I started becoming familiar with the music and began noticing how sexy the girl was and how she moved while performing her uniquely hypnotic dance. The third time through I couldn't think of anything else but that..dance, how sexy and exciting she was to watch and how I would probably never be able to see her in my lifetime. Damm!!!!!! It was like waving a steak in front of a dogs face while saying, "You ain't gonna get any of this, dog!"

[SupaKrupa]

I've seen Alizée in so many people's signatures on forums with the JEAM dance and I thought she was just another hottie that I'd get infatuated with and get over, so I didn't bother (!!!!!!!!!! someone e-punch me!). This was ages ago as well. Then just the other day, a friend of mine sent me a video of J'en ai Marre: "Check it out. The Nightelf dance." Being the World of Warcraft player I am, I couldn't refuse (and thank god for WoW otherwise I wouldn't have ever discovered Alizée lol!)

IThe most INNOCENT and CUTE face i have ever seen.

This is what got me absolutely hooked. Her Gourmandises performance at Absolument Ete left me speechless. "Omfg. How can someone be that beautiful." I asked myself over and over in my mind. I Youtube'd her and now I suffer from insomnia. I then found this lovely site and watched even more of her, this time her interviews as well. She's such a beautiful person, inside and out... Pity I'd probably never meet her.

[neoteny]

sup supa! velcome to ze site. i am knee ought knee.

[SupaKrupa]

Hahah, Hey "knee ought knee". Took me a while to see that one... And hello to everyone else!

[nurvonic]

I've seen Alizée in so many people's signatures on forums with the JEAM dance and I thought she was just another hottie that I'd get infatuated with and get over, so I didn't bother (!!!!!!!!!! someone e-punch me!). This was ages ago as well. Then just the other day, a friend of mine sent me a video of J'en ai Marre: "Check it out. The Nightelf dance." Being the World of Warcraft player I am, I couldn't refuse (and thank god for WoW otherwise I wouldn't have ever discovered Alizée lol!)



This is what got me absolutely hooked. Her Gourmandises performance at Absolument Ete left me speechless. "Omfg. How can someone be that beautiful." I asked myself over and over in my mind. I Youtube'd her and now I suffer from insomnia. I then found this lovely site and watched even more of her, this time her interviews as well. She's such a beautiful person, inside and out... Pity I'd probably never meet her.

lol supakrupa that was pretty funny and interesting. i thinnk you'll fit in pretty nicely here. welcome to the site again!

[Kebab]

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7241005751760048737&q=alizee

This summer my friend gave me that link to watch and we both noted on how nice her smile was. I kept listening to the same song until I found a L'Alize video on this website and went on from there. The same friend sent me her whole album after that.

[rwd716]

Yep, that's the vid that started it for me too!

[lobowolf14]

Yes, that video is also what pulled me in [and never let go].

[Matrix]

I was on Google video surfing around looking at videos and saw a pic of Alizée in that sexy black outfit she wears for J'en ai marre!

I clicked it and watched the video and obviously realized she was singing in french, and omg her french accent was so seductive that I could not stop listening

I was just entranced by the sound of the music. I gotta find more videos of this girl, soon I found Moi Lolita video and that song knocked my socks off!

Then I did some research on this amazing girl, and quickly found out that I was about five years behind on her career!!! :eek:

I was angry that I had not heard of her before and jealous that everyone else who already knew her had a huge head start on me as a fan of hers.

That's my story

[CFHollister]

What has really struck me as I've read these stories (and compared them to my own), is just how similar they are. Sure there are some variations (and loucky one who have known about Alizee for years), but there certainly is a pattern, esp. among the north american fans who have been forced to learn about Alizee through secondary sources, typically La Isla Bonita or J'en Ai Marre (and to a lesser extent, J'ai Pas Vingt Ans) videos on the internet. From there, those who have eyes to see and ears to hear are at the very least intrigued and many fall for her on first sight. The intrigued then try to learn more about her and as a result find there way here (or a similar site)... and after finding Alizee in interview are completely hooked. For that, I think a lot of us own a lot to brad.

Thanks brad!

[guldebrett]

.. and many fall for her on first sight.

She is truly unique. I'm sure Alizee knows that she's pretty and sexy but I wonder if she really knows the effect she has on the hearts of men. I doubt it; I don't think so. She probably has no idea that men are really in love with her but rather probably thinks that men just want to nail her. If she only knew. Yes, she is truly unique in the world.

[loveherfromusa]

After Alizée was mentioned in another forum, I googled her. I'm not sure what the very first image I saw of her was, but it was love at first sight. After I saw videos of songs and interviews, I was hooked. Then I found the alizee-forum.com website. She has grown in my consciousness ever since. Her effect on the hearts of men?? She is my angel. If ever I am having a bad time about anything, I listen to her and/or watch her videos. Very quickly I forget what was bothering me.