Christophe Willem (real name Christophe Durier), born on August 3, 1983 in Enghien-les-Bains (Paris district), France, is a French singer and the winner of the fourth edition of Nouvelle Star (French version of Pop Idol) in 2006.
Christophe spent most of his life in Deuil-la-Barre (Val-d’Oise), where his parents run a driving school. As a child, he learned figure skating and to play the piano. Later he learned to sing as part of a gospel choir “Young Voices”. He also was composing songs at the age of fourteen.|Before deciding to study to become an economics and management professor, he continued to practice music and in 2004 he appeared in a Richard Anconina film, Alive, where he played the role of Henri, a young man with a golden voice who is, nevertheless, not considered suitable for the lead role in a musical. Since his film career did not continue after this, he returned to university, where he studied communication while working a number of part-time jobs, such as babysitting and helping in a theater.
Pushed by his family and friends, he decided to try out for the 2006 edition of Nouvelle Star. With an initial audition performance of Strong Enough by Des’ree, he surprised the judges, who did not expect such a quality voice from an admittedly ungainly-looking man. Nicknamed “La Tortue” (The Turtle) by Nouvelle Star judge Marianne James, he proved to be a popular contestant, and on June 8th, was crowned the fourth Nouvelle Star.|He has stated that he would like to record a duet on his debut album with second-place finalist Dominique Michalon.[citation needed]|He joined artists such as Tears for Fears, Lara Fabian, and Murray Head on the Night of the Proms tour 2007.|His debut album “Inventaire” was released on April 16th, 2007, while the first single, “Elu Produit De L’annee” premiered in March. the album “Inventaire” debuted at #1 on the french charts and has already sold more than 363 000 (double platinum)
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