lol, my girlfriend didn't even know who Alizée was until i gave her a CD of her, now she loves her music and knows like all the songs :D
Youpidou for me!!!! :D

It's all thanks to cucumbers, really.



Like so many others, I ran across Alizée's clips on the net, while aimlessly browing a viral video site. The first I saw was the well known JEAM performance. Having some background in French, I tried to listen to it and understand parts, with minimal success as it had been years since I'd spoken French. I looked up the lyrics so I could do a dictionary translation. I had better success translating this way, but was having a bit of trouble with a few parts, most notably the word "Courgettes." I couldn't figure out what "Cucumbers" had to do with extremism and pessimism. I figured it must be some kind of slang, but didn't know what. My dictionary said nothing. Still, I was intruiged by something that unknowable, and went hunting for other clips, in case other songs had a clue to the mysterious meaning.

I found Moi... Lolita next, and rapidly acquired the lyrics to it as well. I got through translating almost all of it, though was curious about the phrase "donne ma langue au chat." It sounded like an idiomatic expression (specifically, one I didn't know), so I turned to the glorious internet for a clue. I found a web forum devoted to helping one-another out with French/English and English/French translation which had a thread on that exact phrase, and plugged the figurative meaning in to the song lyrics. It then occured to me that this would be a good place to ask about Courgettes. With the numerous native Frenchmen and fluent-level Anglophones, I was certain to find the answer I sought.

While awaiting replies there, I found the clip for ACC. This more mature Alizée, with the fully fleshed out music video, capitivated me. I found began translating it, and found a huge depth of meaning in the song. Nearly every line had double meaning (some triple!), many of which translated suprisingly well to English, and some lines were completely beyond me. I returned to the translation forum and found that the people there were just as confused by cucumbers as I was. Nobody was aware of any double meanings, slangs, or unusual implications.

Captivated by the complexity of ACC, and driven even harder to find meaning for those damnable courgettes, I went hunting for discussions of those particular songs. Much to my surprise and delight, I ran across a fan-site called moi-alizee.us, where things were in English, and there was a vast archive of videos and music information about this singer. I didn't register on the forums, lurking for several months instead. I did, however, see repeated references to "the Fun TV interview" and finally sat down to watch it, streamed from the site.

Watching the program, I was fascinated and delighted by how smart, sensible, witty, and generally pleasant Alizée was, and how unlike the ego-inflated American pop-stars she came across. I found myself falling in love with her laugh, with her smile, and the way she would become genuinely excited about this or that aspect of her life. I loved the way she credited her fans and her producers, was proud but humble, and seemed like the kind of person I would want to be friends with. Then, out of the blue, Lucas asked about the Courgettes. "I'm allergic" she replies. "Really" he asks. "Really" she says, with a huge rolled R on the beginning of the word.

Suddenly, Alizée makes sense to me. She isn't some creature from outer-space, or some strange incomprehensible being. She is a person, like you and me, and sings about her life, and the things that affect all of us. She's allergic to cucumbers, they make her vomit. Duh! Who needs slang and metaphor when you have plain and simple fact staring you in the face? I'm hooked, and I'm never going back.

I note similarities; Like Alizée, my top two front teeth are chipped off on the inner tips. Like her, I have a background in performing arts, with a major side interest in computer. Like her, cucumbers make me puke.


So, I'm a fan of Alizée, all thanks to those reprehensible green things called "Courgettes"


n.b. It was actually a discussion about the liquor called Alizé that resulted in me joining the boards here - I had just bought some due to its name, and couldn't resist signing up to join in :-)

my mom has listened to mylene my whole life, so she knew about alizée right when she started to get popular. my mom was born in angers so she doesn't listen to much music in english, some, but she sticks with her roots :D

cool! my mom knows only moilolita and desenchantee. but she don't know who has sing that songs:rolleyes: :p

when isaw her first vid i was impressed! think it is from top of the pops Im Fed Up! then surf the web bout her!:) :eek: then found this site! LoL! very good site!:) ill be on this site forever!:)

lol. i have asked my music-teacher, but she don't know her..
maybe my french teacher knows her?:p

About a year ago I was poking around the videos on Google looking for new music and I discovered JEAM. I immediately loved the song, the sound of her voice and her looks. Each day the video would play in my mind, nagging me to return to Google and watch it again. I then discovered JPVA, ACC and the rest and I was hooked. I loved her voice and the songs the most, but her presence was also intriguing to me. I then found this site and watched all the interviews and couldn’t help but to think she was someone very special.

Music is a very big part of my life and Alizée’s music has given me much joy. I think Jessica said that Alizée is the same in person as we see her in the videos. This confirms to me that she is not just a media creation, and my adoration for her is well placed.

Having read everyone’s posts, I think our devotion to Alizée is not the typical fan reaction people have to other artists. This is something different and special. Rather than think less of other artists, I think more of Alizée. She has set a higher standard. Of course I don’t know Alizée personally, but her life and happiness has become important to me and wanting the best for her makes me feel good inside.

Here is my Discovery of Alizée:
In the summer of 2008, Belgian singer Kate Ryan's new hit-single "Ella, elle l'a" was frequently played on the radio, and it got stuck im my brain. So i had to searc youtube to see if I could find here music video. After I had played in some times, I saw that there was another version of the song by an French artist called Alizée. I played the to versions back and forth, and become more and more interested of Alizée. I could not remember to have heard of this artist before, so I started to look for what other music Alizée had made.

In the beginning, I was most interested in the musicvideos, but later I listened to the full albums, at first I found "Mes Courants Électriques" best accessable to my ears. In my continued search for videos I wanted better quality, which I found at Alizée America. ;) Later I got the opportunity to see the full DVD: "Alizée En Concert" and that made everything fall in the right place. To see this astonishing beautiful girl so full of life, perform all this great music in this stylish consert environment, made me become a fan.

I saw her on TV with her music video, Moi Lolita. I recorded it off the TV and listened to it many times as I loved the song. 6 years later I heard the song again and downloaded it. Then I asked myself, "If this is good, what does her other songs sound like". So got her 2nd album and liked it very much.

Now I'm not a huge fan, and I thought the third album was average but I enjoy listening to her voice and songs and watching her. My French friends think me very strange for liking Alizee. Especially since my music collection is polar opposite to Alizee with classic rock, hard rock and heavy metal. But I still listen to her anyway.

But at least they're happy that it was Alizee that got me to like the French language where I previously didn't back many years ago.

High Five:)