No Philippe Katerine album had been preceded by so much commotion. Offered on a platter, on the occasion of the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games, July 26, Pacific Nakedone of the seventeen titles of ZouzouCaused a sensation, their fifteenth album released on November 8, sung by its creator painted as a Dionysian Smurf. Some had seen a blasphemy in this banquet on Olympus, confused with the meal of the Last Supper, being also convinced of the provocative nudity of an artist, even if he was in his underwear.
An extraordinary and paradoxical introduction, in any case, for an album that the zazou of Vendée considers one of their most “intimate”a praise “normality, domestic life, daily routine”. Version by Philippe Katerine.
Until this Olympic controversy, the radical fantasy of the Katerinian universe seemed to have found its place in French pop culture. Originally from the fringes of rock music, initially a solitary musician with underground preciousness, Philippe Blanchard, known as “Katerine”, has expanded his audience to the rhythm of iconoclastic singles – Fuck off (1999), The banana (2010) – and an ultra-danceable anthem, Luxor, I love it. (2005). His character with unconventional humor also traces his path in cinema, between auteur films – I am no man’s land (2011), by Thierry Jousse, A beautiful inner sun (2017), by Claire Denis – and popular hits, including The big bathroom (2018), by Gilles Lellouche, which earned him a César for best supporting actor.
Alleged taste for martyrdom
If international exposure has sometimes boosted the listening of his songs on platforms (+ 240%, on July 27, on Spotify; + 600% on YouTube), it has also made the fifty-year-old’s originality more divisive. A change from which he claims to escape on social networks – “anonymity does not interest me” –but that he was able to observe several times on the street.
“People had the courage to come talk to me to denounce my decline.the singer jokes, coinciding on October 30 at the facilities of his record company. I offer them a smile or a thank you. » When your Catholic upbringing does not suggest other responses such as “You will turn the other cheek.” EITHER “You will worship those who hate you”.
in the biography Felipe Katerine. perfect moments (Le Mot et le reste, 2020), which he dedicated to the singer, Thierry Jourdain recalled that, when he was a teenager, he had been a victim of his boarding school. “Everyone calls him “Trash”, the students but also some of his teachers. Trash is thrown in his locker and he is the subject of incessant insults and name-calling.writes Jourdain.
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