BOUTONNAT IS BACK : Julia , the new Alizée ?
 

Hello old friends,

It's been a while, I have unfortunately lost interest in following Alizée in the Post Blonde-era but I am still very much a fan of Alizée and Laurent Boutonnat's music...which is why you'll understand my excitement when I watched this this morning...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABPyMbKlSYo

Julia , barely 17 years old is Laurent Boutonnat's new "muse" , the similarities with the Alizée of the Gourmandises years are striking... Even this first music video reminds me SO MUCH of the L'Alizé and Gourmandises MVs ..

This kid needs our full support

More infos here (article in french) https://www.mylene.net/modules/index.php?r=4&z=4787

Bonus: ;) https://www.mylene.net/uploads/tweets/60792.jpg

Alizée is teaching her well:p https://www.instagram.com/p/BnV3aUXF...taken-by=julia

Hey Lapinschous...good to hear from you. Julia is a beautiful young lady with a very good voice and I enjoy the music, but the song doesn't grab me yet. Maybe if I listen to it a few more times, plus I'm sure there will be several more to follow, some of which I'm sure I'll like if they were produced by MF/LB.

Same, i didn't like SEXTO that much but let's see i hope the upcoming songs will be better, i can trust MF and LB and this song is not enough to criticize because there will be more interesting content (i hope at least)

Hello lapinschous!

I cannot speak for the others, but for me, Alizee was (and remains) an anomaly. I never was a fan of any other singer enough to join a fan site other than Alizee. She knocked me off my chair when I saw her for the first time. I can't explain it, it just happened. Beauty is a dime a dozen, but for someone to hold my interest for 12 years counting is really something. It goes beyond the physical.

While Julia is certainly beautiful in her own way, that is not enough for me to become a fan of something just for the sake that she is a product of MF/LB. Julia, as she stands right now, is a product to seduce the masses for profit. One could make a similar argument that Alizee was used in the same way, but Alizee proved over time there was certain things she would not sell out for. That gave me much respect for Alizee, but is still something to be determined for Julia.

Hi Scruffy , glad to see you're still here !

No I totally get it, Julia is nowhere close to having Alizée's "X-factor" , but it's Boutonnat's unmistakeable touch and style that makes me nostalgic , I see a lot potential in Julia's first music video and knowing that Alizée stands behind her and LBs project makes me look forward to see what Julia has got in store :)

I have no doubt her first album will be a success.

Alizee's "x-factor" might be as simple as the right place at the right time.

I tried listening to S.E.X.T.O. without watching the video at the same time, and I found it to be more enjoyable, and it really is a good song, except a little repetitive toward the end. In the video, the whole sexual tension squirming around and hair blowing in the wind in slow motion thing is predictable and overused. Wow, am I ever showing my age here! :secret:

Certainly MF fans will support Julia, and that alone would make her successful, but can she expand out of that circle?

However Mylene's fanbase is big, according to reactions of fans, I have doubts Julia will be very successful. Like the others, I have the same feeling they are just recycling what we had in 2000. Their project with Alizée was unique in many ways, and so it is and will be really impossible to go out from the shadow of the only and original "Lolita". They will compare everything what will be released.

The parallels are making me smile from ear to ear :)

Just look at that last little dance move at the end ;)
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bnt01Y3H...taken-by=julia

Exactly! The right time especially ! Lolitas come in 15 years cycles in France... France Gall..Vanessa Paradis... Alizée... Julia ? ;)


In order to expand out the circle of MF fans, Julia needs to succeed where Alizée failed: win the hearts of the British public , which is the door to the US market . Alizée at her peaked conquered Europe from Holland to Italy, from Spain to Russia, even managed to seduce Japan and Korea to some extent... but she never really got famous in the UK , probably due to the difficulty the Brits and Americans have with non-english songs. Julia is fluent in english , this might be the decisive factor

Interesting observation. Thank you!

The year 2000 was quite strategic to introduce the next Lolita. The Y2K fears were unfounded and the world didn't end, the world economy was roaring. Optimism was probably at an all time high. Then comes this breath of fresh air named Alizee, this beautiful and mysterious girl from Corsica, and 90% of the world has no idea where Corsica is, adding to the mystery.

Thinking about it, how can this ever be replicated in our lifetime? :)


I think Julia has a better than good chance at the UK/US market other than she speaks fluent English, but probably better in the UK. The US is very divided right now culturally between those who would welcome an "anything goes" mentality and those who see the country slipping too much in one direction and resist. The norm has been moderate throughout the decades but that seems to be breaking down. Julia would have to be packaged well but I would not want her to sell out to one side or the other, but to appeal to the middle.

The female French singers present themselves as sexy but not trashy. There is the potential of a huge amount of people in the US who would love to see that.

Julia's looking pretty good.

https://www.facebook.com/juliacommet...034175540/?t=3

To be honest... this song is pretty lame. It doesn't get into my head and while Julia has a good voice the entire arrangement is kinda emotionless.

Apart from having nothing of Alizée's charm the song and entire performance is nothing special and rather poor to other French singers. Look at Louane for example. Same type of girl but what a voice and what emotion! Ok, maybe it's just the song itself, SEXTO isn't great. But I doubt that Julia will be very successful at least not outside France.

Edit:

It's nice to have this little behind the scenes video with Alizée tho. It looks like the girls there were actually eager to take a selfie with the former "Lolita". :)

I agree with you on almost everything. The music is uninspiring, the performance is generic, and Julia doesn't have the X-Factor. Even so, Julia's looking pretty good.


http://alizeeamerica.com/forums/pict...pictureid=2527


http://alizeeamerica.com/forums/pict...pictureid=2525


http://alizeeamerica.com/forums/pict...pictureid=2524


http://alizeeamerica.com/forums/pict...pictureid=2526

If anybody wants to download the IG clip, it is on my Google drive.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1sQ...wEStDH-uQQNZHt

Thanks CleverCowboy!

I decided to check up to see how SEXTO is doing after a few weeks on YouTube, and I would say mediocre at best. Almost a third of the votes are a thumbs down, which is really surprising. It's not a bad video at all. Maybe they did not like the music, which is pretty retro. I probably like the song and the video better this time around than when it came out.

A few things caught my attention about the video. They are not meant to poke fun at the work of Julia or MF, but I guess it struck me as a little funny:

* The guys still look like they are still in high school and they are in control of a recording studio.

* If you look like a young Ashton Kutcher, you get all the pretty girls.

* The wetting (or drying) of the lips that Julia does in video was probably schooled by MF, but the over-exaggerated one she does at 2:14 makes her look like she has a drooling problem.

* The guy doing some kind of "paperwork" at 3:12 looks more like he forgot to do his math homework.

The end.

After checking out SEXTO, which I like but don't see as standing out from thousands of other recordings by young women, I went back to "Ma Priére" to see if there was anything in it that predicted Alizée's great success. She's attractive, but not more than many other girls. She does have an outstanding voice, but so do many talent contestants. She made an excellent choice of music. She has a lot of self-confidence and an excellent stage presence. I like the little dance step she takes at the bottom of the stairs. And then there is something more: the X-factor. I have watched this video dozens of times and never grow tired of it. Having said all that, I would have been cautious in my prediction. She could become a big star--I would say--but I wouldn't guarantee it. And then came Myléne Farmer.


http://alizeeamerica.com/forums/pict...pictureid=2531


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dN1L...E-RIX&index=22

I laughed out loud with this

That doesn't surprise me. It has good music, a beautiful young lady with a very good voice, but just because you add a bunch of good ingredients, doesn't mean the broth will be any good, but if MF/LB produce an album for her, I'd be very surprised if it didn't do well.

Maybe the title was too blatant . You have this beautiful young lady or should I say girl and the first word associated with her career is Sex(to). Mylene is noted for her hidden meanings, yet with this she hits you smack in the face with it. Maybe it's a bad approach.

But all and all,the video just isn't appealing and I have to say she just doesn't have the charm of Alizee and you can't practice that, and you can't manufacture that.

Hopefully if this video isn't as successful as they thought it would be, they won't give up on her. I'm sure an album with this team will be a good one.

I have spent a lot of time over the years trying to figure out what the x-factor is with Alizee that keeps me engaged and just doesn't let up. There was a time when my attachment to a woman who I will probably never meet was really concerning to me, but now I don't care - it is what it is. Not giving her up.

Alizee to me seemed like the girl next door, and perhaps others see that as well. That familiarity could account for the instant attraction and the feeling that there is a sincerity in her that is unlike the others. Her smile helps too! :D

Edit:

The video has a teenage fantasy message, more sensual than overtly sexual. Maybe too much or maybe not enough? Julia is still a minor and under control of her parents, so there is the chance that her parents had a say in what kind of video their daughter was going to participate in. What happens when she turns 18 is a different matter. MF might want her to go even further.

One thing I know for sure... Julia is not Alizee #2. She is very attractive and has a beautiful voice, but as you said, charm cannot be taught. You got it or you don't.

Maybe the title 'Moi Lolita' was kind of blatant too, but I think in a different way.

X-Factor.

In the pre-MCE era of Alizee, her performance of L'Alize at The Dome 21 has to be in my top few favorites. We have all seen it, but maybe a new member or two might not have. She has everything here. She's adorable, stage presence, ear to ear smile, happy, cute facial expressions, connecting with the fans. She looks like she is having a blast. What's not to love? In a clip that Scruffy recently posted in another thread where Alizee is showing some attitude to Greg when he is asking her to do the rumba, she is telling him that she cannot invent another personality. This implies that who she is on stage is what she is off stage, and it looks like that is truly the case.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ziVuxnp8Bdc


Just as a side note, this video is not the first of her early videos where she is wearing what looks to be a wedding band on her ring finger. In her most popular Moi Lolita video, same thing but looks to have a diamond on it, like an engagement ring. I know she wasn't married or engaged at the time, but I find it curious she is wearing these kind of rings on a finger reserved for something special, while leaving the others bare. I know she had some boyfriends, so maybe a promise ring? Nothing at all, just a ring?

The more I listen to SEXTO, the more I like it.

http://alizeeamerica.com/forums/pict...pictureid=2524

AIFC
Ghislain Rossi
Admin · 11 hrs
Today the new album of Mylène Farmer released: of course Alizée is linked to this great singer. And a big surprise: for the first time a Farmer album is present in top 10 ITunes in Mexico...is it an Alizée effect ?


http://alizeeamerica.com/forums/pict...pictureid=2533


http://alizeeamerica.com/forums/pict...pictureid=2532


I wonder why Mylene doesn't play the USA. Whatever her reason probably explains why Alizee never played the USA. On this video, Mylene looks huge, on a par that Alizee never came near.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aY9GJ9GVnUw


Edit:



I have also grappled with the reason for my attraction to Alizée. It strikes me as insane to be so drawn to a woman I could never have a relationship with. I can't even have a conversation with her because of the difference in languages. Never in my life have I been attracted to any entertainer the way I am to Alizée. Maybe it's because I met her once in Central Park and that has created a sense that she is approachable. I don't think that's it. I've met other famous people and they have not had an impact on me. It also disturbs me that I am much older than her, and I wonder, is this some perverted thing I should be worried about? Is this attraction to fill something missing in my life? To be honest, I live a pretty contented life. Although Alizée is a beautiful woman, the attraction--as has been mentioned by a lot of other people on this site--is not predominately sexual. So what is it? Honestly, I don't know. I've been a fan now for several years and have pretty much given up trying to figure it out or bothering to worry about it. As you say, "It is what it is." Nobody is getting hurt. Alizee doesn't know I exist, I live on the far side of the world from her, so I'm not bothering or threatening her. She lights up my life, so I'm a fan.


http://alizeeamerica.com/forums/pict...pictureid=2460

I think your questions are valid. Insanity? No. I have lived a pretty normal life, never been in trouble with the law, content on what I have accomplished and own. Sound behavior and perceptions. By mere definition, that omits myself and no doubt you and most of those bit by the Lili bug. If somebody gets to the point of being a stalker, then that crosses the line, but the overwhelming majority of her fans seem to be very respectful of her.

Perverted? The fact that you worry about it shows that it is not an issue. Alizee is more than two decades younger than me. For some, the age gap is larger. I am aware how it might look if somebody knows my attraction to a singer much younger than myself who rose to fame as a teenager. They would come to all sorts of wrong conclusions. My sense of great beauty in a female hasn't changed my whole life, but has been refined. I appreciate inward beauty more than what I used to as a younger man. If both outward and inward beauty is packaged in a woman much younger than myself and I am attracted to her and respectful towards her, no harm done.

Something missing in life? This is the most interesting question you posed. When I saw my first Alizee video in 2006, purely by accident, I was still married with a family. My wife was very beautiful and we were married for a very long time. I had a very successful business going, big house, blah blah. Somebody from the outside would say I had it all and nothing was missing. After watching JEM that first time, I could have easily went on with my life and forgot about Alizee a minute later. But I couldn't because it was like she cast some kind of magic spell on me. I still remember what I was thinking while watching her. In the age of feminism that has went overboard in my opinion where girls were trying to become more masculine in their looks and behavior, here was this French girl who looked totally comfortable with her feminine traits. Maybe what was missing was as simple as how different she was along with her stunning looks. But, I think there is much more to it than that. I will probably never know.

I've spoken in here, maybe too many times before how I was living in Georgia and got divorced in the 90s. I met another woman and it looked like this relationship would go far, but then the company I worked for pulled out of the airport I was working in. I got a job with a contract company and working with a contract company in aviation gets you no where. You're pay goes up for a few years, then another contract company comes in and undercuts the company you are working for and your only choice is to start over with that new contract company, if they'll hire you. It's a well designed way of keeping people down.

So like I said, the company I was working for pulled out of that airport. Around that time, after applying for it, I was offered a job with a major airline about 800 miles away. Now me and my ex had been in finacial trouble for years. Here was a good paying job with a pension. Financially, I needed to take this job and I took it.

Well it led to the end of that relationship and after I moved, it led to 7 years of deep depression. The only thing that kept me going was I enjoy the work I do. Then I discovered Alizee. Now the girl freind I had after I got divorced, in addition to working at the airport, also did some gigs with some freinds in a band and she was a singer. So when ever we went some place, it was usually in my pick up and I'd have all these cds made up with my favorite songs and she'd always be singing them.

Well it wasn't until I started listening to Alizee's music, that I realized how much listening to my favorite songs from over the years was depressing me. Here I had something new, something very beautiful and it brought so much enjoyment into my life.

So I heard the woman I had been in a relationship had married and had a baby girl and I thought she was happy and it was a great time for me, but it didn't last long.

I found out she had come down with breast cancer and it was in a tough area to operate on. It was removed, but then it came back. It spread to one of her lymph nodes. So she was operated on again and she lost the use of one of her arms.

So we started communicating again via FB and she told me I was still the one. About this time, the cancer came back a third time. Now she shared a FB page with her husband, so he was seeing what she was saying to me and because of that, she had to break off our communicating.

So the depression I had for 7 years, is still just around the corner. I'm afraid to check up on her.

The main thing that keeps the depression at bay is Alizee and the reason why most of the music I listen to is French music is there are no bad memories for me with French music.

I've read some of your history in pieces, but not quite all in one spot like your post here. I'm sorry to hear about your friend. All cancer sucks, but breast cancer is often very tenacious. I hope she keeps up the good fight.

Thank You!

A few days ago, a woman made a comment on the SEXTO video. I think it is a very good one.

Sofía Dinatolo 3 days ago
She's gorgeous. I have to admit, I felt a little reject the first time I saw this. I understand the critics, everyone compares her to Alizee, so did I. It's hard to "replace" her, and make a new lolita. But now I can't stop listening to this song. Julia's voice is unique. Yeah she's not Alizee, but people must give her a chance. Can't wait to hear more.


For Alizee fans, one could come to the conclusion that the introduction of Julia was to pull the rug out from under Alizee. But the commenter is right, Julia is not Alizee, and they can coexist without threatening each other's fan base.

Here are a couple of short Instagram videos that were posted by Julia and ske_lton on the making of SEXTO. They are on my google drive and can be downloaded.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1tq...Vt5fyrcMT2TQF8

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1sW...i4vphq5-YwkFJA

Ladies and gentlemen here we finally are: the Behind the Scenes video... .with some cute interactions between Alizée and Julia :) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8C4H_OWlgw0

Agreed, the stereotypical image of french singers/actresses in the US is indeed sensual/sexy I believe , but also most americans think of french girls as brunettes/black haired for some reason.. so seeing some blue eyed blonde french girl showing up in the US market would definitely add to the surprise/novelty factor , especially with america's obsession with blonde hair on teenage stars , she might be presented as the french taylor swift or britney spears :)

Don't worry , you could be 9 like you could be 99 it would be the same... I've been feeling that way towards Alizée since i'm 11..

I can 100% relate ...for some reason with Alizée I never felt the urge to act on some sexual thoughts of some sort... I just enjoyed her purity/cuteness/charm or whatever that is and It just kept awakening a protector instinct in me, like a brother would want to care for his younger sister or a dad cuddling with his daughter... it's really hard to explain..

Thanks for posting this! I had a few short segments of the video that was posted on IG, but not the full thing.

Julia, cute girl and looks like a good sport when they had bloopers. When the hair blows in her face at 3:51 and she couldn't help but start laughing, that is pretty funny :D But still, I keep waiting for the next time it showed Alizee. Her little shoulder shrug at 1:24... you just can't manufacture that kind of charm.



Even though you said it is hard to explain, I think you nailed it, at least for me. I became very protective of Alizee very soon after seeing her for the first time. I get mad at lewd comments left on her videos. I'm a hugger, so it would be real nice to be able to give Alizee a big bear hug, but that's about it. :)

Edit:

Yes, America likes blondes, that's for sure. Marilyn Monroe probably started this. I never really stereotyped French woman as being only brunettes, probably because I am old enough to remember seeing movies with probably the two most famous French actresses in Hollywood back in the day, Brigitte Bardot and Catherine Deneuve. Both were blonde and extremely beautiful. Them being blonde when blonde was "in" probably helped them in their career.

Catherine Deneuve
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/3...922/u7kvU1.jpg


Brigitte Bardot
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/3...923/OFyPnW.jpg

Thanks for posting Lapinschous!

*Beep boop* This is a message from future-Shepherd *beeeeep*

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aj-F5HeR100


;)

Julia put out a short video of her performing live in front of a studio audience at some show (not sure what it is) on her IG account. When I say live, I mean "playback", but still, even Alizee did that plenty.

It's not on YouTube, but was able to rip it from IG and put it on my Google drive:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1p4...pvna7t49RONN3U

I'm kind of rooting for her now, but I was really surprised by her performance. She looks frightened, stiff, and basically near zero stage presence. She looked so comfortable and easy-going in the Making of SEXTO video. Wow. Good looks alone can't carry you in show biz. Not sure what to say.

Thanks for this CleverCowboy.

I thought she looked kind of tentative and she looked to be lip syncing which Alizee did a lot of because I think it was Madonna who said "You can have a good performance, ( Such as one with a lot of dancing in addition to singing) or you can have just good singing, but you can't have both." and Alizee did a lot of dancing in her performances.

I'm still sure she'll do quite well.

http://alizeeamerica.com/forums/pict...pictureid=2526


No one will deny that Julia has a gorgeous voice and she is attractive. If you put her up against Celine Dion when Celine was a teenager, which of the two would you predict would have greater success? I think Julia would come out pretty well in that prediction. If Julia could get the right piece of music, she'd be in. I don't think SEXTO is all that bad, but it's not cutting the mustard on the charts. I don't think that's Julia's fault.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ImNsZZEjBE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABPyMbKlSYo

I watched the entire Celine video you posted. The main difference between the Celine video and the Julia video is that Celine is really performing live, while Julia is lip-syncing in a produced music video. Celine shows a lot of passion while she is singing. There is no pressure of dancing while singing, or looking sexy.

To me, Julia's voice is more ear-pleasing than Celine. But, Julia has an image to portray, and that live video showed me she is not comfortable with what she is doing. It's not natural to her. I think you are correct though when you said that Julia would be in with the right piece of music.

Julia got noticed singing a Whitney Houston song. Here is a clip of a young Whitney Houston in 1983 on the Merv Griffin show. Amazing stage presence and she stood in one place the entire song. It's impossible to watch this song to the end on not think this young lady would make it big one day.

https://youtu.be/Dw2hjXDCM6k?t=153

I think Julia would do much better singing more classical styles of music.

Whitney Houston had an amazing voice.

I'm sure MF will be writing an album for Julia and I'm sure there will be some hits on it.

Have we heard anything about Julia as far as how she got started?

It's been a while since I checked on Julia SEXTO video. It has a little over 500K views now, but is definitely losing momentum. 1.5K dislikes compared to 4.5K likes? That is not a very good ratio.

I'm starting to root for Julia and hope she does well. I just thought her album would be out by now - it's been three months since the video was released. Maybe a month in between, but three (and probably more)? There has been too much time for people to bore of her already and move on to the next best thing. It might be a big strategic mistake.