Saturday May 11, 2024, Slimane will try to make France win Eurovision with his title “Mon amour”. A new challenge for the singer used to telecrochets.
To everyone’s surprise, it was not a budding artist who was chosen to represent France at theEurovision, which will be held in Malmö, Sweden, Saturday May 11, 2024, but a confirmed singer, a fan of telecrochets, with already great success: Slimane. “I’m not doing it to be better known,” he commented on the set of 8 p.m. on TF1, just after the announcement of his participation, in November 2023. And added: “ I do it to represent my country. » No offense to the haters.
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Since the announcement of his participation, Slimane has (again) been the target of racist criticism. “Every day, I am treated to a racist statement like “Ah, it’s the Arab who will represent us” and “there is no French singer?” “, he confided to the magazine “Têtu” in March 2024. Not enough to start his want to win with its title “My love”, on the contrary. “In my career, I have had appointments that changed my life and I know that this Eurovision can be one of them. I don’t want to miss it,” he told “20 minutes”. While waiting to know the outcome of the competition, a look back at the notable moments of Slimane’s career.
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What is the origin of Slimane?
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Born in 1989, in Chelles, in Seine-et-MarneSlimane Nebchi, his full name, comes from a family original Algerian, from Bouchagroune exactly. The eldest of a brother and two sisters, he grew up in the Paris suburbs. “I am intoxicated by what I learned there. We see things that children shouldn’t see. “, he explained in the show “Sept à quatre” in 2016. And to detail: “At five years old, I knew what a drug addict was. I knew that they injected themselves, that you could catch AIDS from that, that you shouldn’t step on the needle that was on the ground. […] It gave me incredible weapons for life. »
It was also in Chelles that Slimane began giving his first improvised concerts: “I sang at home with a big speaker which resonated throughout the city. And I was never told “stop”. » So, when he won “The Voice” in 2016, he made the whole neighborhood proud, where he went to celebrate his victory. “Everyone was shouting, everyone was happy. A bit like if we had won a football match. I say “we” because it was also my first audience “, he said.
How did Slimane become known?
It is by integrating a gospel choir, as a teenager, that Slimane discovered a passion for singing. Passion that never left him. After high school, he attended several music schools, dreaming of becoming a singer. He began singing in bars, notably in Pigalle, Paris. And he did a series of telecrochets. His goal: to get noticed. In 2007, he appeared in “Popstar” (M6), then we saw him in “Nouvelle Star” (M6) in 2009, he also participated in “X Factor” (M6) in 2011 and “Encore une chance » (NRJ12) in 2012. Enough to give it a little visibility.
But it was by participating and winning the fifth season of “The Voice”, in 2016, that Slimane’s career really exploded. From the blind auditions, he stood out by covering “À fleur de toi”, by Vitaa. If the four coaches have turned around, it is the team of Florent Pagny that Slimane decided to join. And, together, they went to the final, which he won with 33% of the public vote.
“At one point, I wanted to do shows to get into the industry and meet professionals,” he explained on the set of “C à vous” in 2016, a few days after his victory, on which he returned with humility: “This year, it was perhaps a helping hand from fate, I don’t know, I was a little lucky. » In the wake of his victory, Slimane released his first single “Paname”, the flagship title of his first album “À bout de rêve”, released in July 2016, certified double platinum – just like his second album “Solune”, released in 2018.
Slimane, in concert in Vence, in July 2017
SIPA / © SYSPEO/SIPA
How did Vitaa and Slimane meet?
Vitaa obviously heard the cover of her title by Slimane in “The Voice”, and she was “overwhelmed”, she declared in several interviews. But it was only two years after the singer’s victory in the telecrochet show that they (finally) got to know each other, on the set of the seventh season of “The Voice Belgium”, in which they were both jurors. “We met just before the show but it was during filming that our friendship was born “, the singer slipped to “RTBF” in 2023. “We formed very strong bonds because we spent hours together between filming. »
Slimane and Vitaa, in Paris, in December 2020
PARIENTE JEAN-PHILIPPE/SIPA / © PARIENTE JEAN-PHILIPPE/SIPA
Vitaa then proposed a duet to Slimane on his album “J4M” (2018), and the success of the single was such that they decided to collaborate for an entire album: “Versus” (2019). And they didn’t stop there since they released two other albums, “VersuS: Chapter II” (2020) and “VersuS: The Ultimate Chapter” (2021), and continued concerts. “It’s incredible what we experienced, I couldn’t have experienced it with anyone else. It’s such a sincere love, such a beautiful friendship. It will remain one of the most beautiful adventures of my life,” commented the singer in the show “En aside” in 2022. After more than three years of collaboration, Slimane and Vitaa preferred to devote themselves again to their solo projects.
What awards has Slimane received?
With Vitaa, Slimane has multiplied the nominations and especially the victories at the main award ceremonies. In 2019, they won the award for best French-speaking performance of the evening at the NRJ Music Awards thanks to their rendition of “ça va ça ceci” – a title which subsequently won the original song prize at the Music victories in 2020, while their hit “Avant toi” was crowned song of the year in 2020. At the NRJ Music Awards, they received three prizes in 2020 and two in 2021. Solo, Slimane was crowned French-speaking male artist of the year at the NRJ Music Awards 2023.
Is Slimane affected by the criticism?
This is the downside of success: since his victory in “The Voice”, Slimane has regularly been the target ofracist and homophobic insults. “I was called Arab, PD and I don’t know what,” he summed up in the show “Salut les terresrans” in 2018. And added that this could have hurt him. bad: “It bothered me, today it bothers me a lot less, I learned to take a step back from that. I had never experienced that, I come from a city where, on the same level, there are Jews, Muslims and Christians and we eat at each other’s houses. I didn’t know all that, and neither did I growing up in the music industry because it’s a fairly open environment. »
“It’s because people never responded to certain idiots that we experienced the worst misery on earth. And I don’t want to be one of those who stays silent,” he continued. Thus, he sometimes responded to haters: “Arab, “PD”, black, Muslim, Jewish, French, straight, flower lover! Whoever I am, I’m very happy not to be you,” he wrote for example on Twitter in 2017.
But, from now on, Slimane no longer wastes his time, he prefers to “remain in indifference”. “It’s sad to say, but maybe we get used to it more than we deal with this kind of message, this violence. Since the announcement of Eurovision, it’s worse. But today, it can even make him laugh, I find that so much pathetic “, he confided to the magazine “Têtu” in 2024. And added: “I believe that what I do, my career, my concerts, the people who come to see me from all origins and all faiths , are the best answers. »
What happened to his daughter Esmeralda?
In January 2022, Slimane became the father of a little girl – the identity of the mother is not known. Little girl named Esmeralda born prematurely. “We are very happy, it’s the happiest day of our life, and all of a sudden, we are told: ‘Okay, it’s the happiest day of your life, but in fact it’s not going well. you have to worry,” the singer confided in the show “A Sunday in the Country” in 2023. And explained: “My daughter was in neonatal for two months, his heart had difficulty functioning on its own and I spent two months staring at the screen. It’s very distressing. » Hard times which inspired the title “Thousands of I love you”, released in 2022.
After two months in hospital, Slimane was finally able to return home with his daughter, to the singer’s greatest happiness. “It calmed me, soothed me. My fears, my worries are for my daughter today. My life pretty much only revolves around her. »
