Great thread....
I have to say I "discovered" alizee just a few months ago the way any of you have.. on the internet with her little fish dance. I didn't recall her name but when i looked up "french dance" in google.. BOOM, there she was... This little french vixen. Of course I mistakenly thought that like any other pop diva, she was a tramp with a sex tape (or the french equivalent: the "directors cut" of a film love scene), with a substance abuse problem, photos of her in clubs with the wrong crowd getting trashed.. seeking the attention she never got at home....
Boy was I Wrong!
I saw a few of her videos on youtube as well as her interviews. As far as attraction, she has this mix of Mediterranean eyes on a french face, the body of a natural, athletic beauty that she carries with a confidence on stage that defies her natural shyness. I luv her deep voice... I seem to have a thing for french girls with deep voices like Virginie Ledoyen. Off stage she seems to have the idiosyncrasies, mannerism and poise of Mediterranean women I have met in my life (spaniard, italian, latin america) that I just luv. Just qualities that either attracts you or does nothing... I.e. megan Fox's looks, while a beautiful girl (pre surgury) doesn't attract me one bit. and articles like this with her pearls of wisdom doesn't help...
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage...cle2427078.ece
Alizee says she like men who are kind and gentle and above all faithful. Megan Fox thinks all men are dirty and now is bisexual to date only lesbian women because bi women have been tainted by men. Hmm.. more guy hate talk from LA women... why aren't I surprised. The closest thing Alizee has is Mademoiselle Juliette, essentially a "girls night out" song Shakespeare-style... See why I luv Mediterranean women?
Well thats all stuff that you discover later in time that makes you fall in luv with Alizee. What kept me watching her videos beyond the evocative outfits and dance was that she was always smiling with this warmth. Most pop Divas have that "eff me" scowl or in this "almost showing nip" poses...
Constantly slut posing... not titillating.. just slut poses. Meanwhile Alizee is smiling, waving and sometimes even crying with her fans as she performs. I mean anyone who saw the M6 award show or on "Stars à Domicile" with the 10 year old fan where she was in tears of disbelief of her fortune.. how can't you feel that.
I'm a fan of how fairy tales should scare kids.. like little red riding hood ("in the company of wolves") having a mix of sensuality and horror..something that kids don't initial get, but when they revisit something, they get the additional meaning. While not as graphic or horrific, songs like Moi Lolita & Parlor Tout Bas demonstrate a bit of that. I luved how she would sing Parlor Tout Bas sitting down with a mic... very intimate with her audiences a song about leaving the innocence of childhood and becoming a young adult.
Also, if you think of her albums: Gourmandises is so energetic with youth with just a hint of innocence loss and apprehension about it. Mes Courants Electriques has teenage rebellion all over it from "J'En Ai Marre" to " J'Ai Pas Vingt Ans" to the title: my electric currents... yeah.. every daughter's fathers nightmare! Psychédélices is like so much someone in their twenties.. trying out different styles, trying to find themselves in that last emotional tie between teenager and adult. The music too is also a welcome relief from the usual R&B and hip hop that seems to dominate anything Pop these days while being syrupy fun. A nice relief from the cynicism as well.
Then it seeing her with her fans on Stars à Domicile, her generosity, her background, her childhood rise, her family values, how she protects her daughter instead of selling her photo to the highest tabloid bidder... even her supposed missteps.. . All really a stamp of her personality which we see more and more with her latest album and perhaps more. Even her promotion photos, from elegant to sexy, seem to be focused with her album and not just her life 24/7. Her decline of being an FHM object or a boozer is a private decision that she doesn't preach ( like some divas claiming to be virgins to keep their disney contracts) mainly because its not anyone's Business! Yet she makes her fans bring their A-game out in their respective lives.
So all in all, there's really not much out there like her. I like how she's (literally) miles away from her american counterparts. Almost strictly a product of not just France, but Corsica.. something thats woven into her and inseparable, flaws and all. Hence perhaps thats why she left her previous producers.
Oh and also because she's french and has the occasional biting sarcasm toward paparazzi!
Well I hope this adds to the texture of this thread!