In 2016, he won the fifth season of The Voice: la plus belle voix as a 26-year-old. In 2024, as a 34-year-old, Slimane hopes to win again — this time as France’s Eurovision 2024 singer.
A well-known artist in France who has been on tour ever since his Eurovision song ‘Mon amour’ was published, here are ten facts you need to know about Slimane.
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10 Facts about Slimane
1. “Allez, reviens à Paris”
It’s no wonder why Slimane mentions the French capital in his entry: he was born in Chelles, not far from Paris, to Algerian parents. He later moved to the city itself, where he started to work.
2. He started in a choir
Slimane discovered his passion for music when he was a teenager. In 2002, he joined a choir and began performing. After finishing high school, he entered music school in Paris and he started to perform in bars at Pigalle district.
3. A TV show veteran
Eurovision isn’t Slimane’s first TV show, but neither was The Voice. Prior to his success, Slimane entered several other singing competitions, namely Popstar in 2007, Nouvelle Star in 2009, X Factor in 2011 and Encore une chance in 2012.
Meanwhile, he also opened a YouTube channel where he uploaded covers, and debuted in musical theatre in 2015.
4. ‘La plus belle voix’
Slimane entered The Voice in 2016, and all four judges turned for him because of his performance of Vitaa’s “À fleur de toi”. As a curious fact, he sang in the same show as Casanova, who tried his luck for France’s national selection in 2021. He did not advance as no judges turned for him, and two years later, he competed again, this time with a song by Slimane.
After the first show, Slimane went on to the finals performing songs by the likes of Queen, Amy Winehouse or Stromae. He won singing with his coach Florent Pagny, and he received 33% of the total vote.
5. He’s The Voice
Slimane’s love for the contest that made him rise to fame is undoubted. After winning, Slimane became a judge on Belgium’s edition of The Voice from 2018 to 2019. During his time in Belgium, he was the mentor of Eliot, who represented Belgium at Eurovision 2019 with “Wake up“.
Since last year, Slimane is back on judging duty, this time at The Voice Kids in France. One of the singers on his team, Durel, won the competition.
6. Major success
Slimane’s first album À bout de rêves went straight to number one in both France and Belgium. He’s repeated that feat three times with his albums Solune, VersuS, and Chroniques d’un Cupidon.
His numbers are remarkable: 2 million albums sold, 1 million spectators attending his shows, and nearly 2 billion streams worldwide, 5 NRJ Music Awards, and a Victoire de la Musique.
7. Duetting with Vitaa
Slimane received major attention after his audition in The Voice, when he sang one of Vitaa’s songs. Little did he know, years later he would be performing and releasing an album with her. From 2018 to 2021, both artists formed a duo.
‘VersuS‘ was their only album together, but it was a huge success in France. Their song ‘Avant toi’ has almost 100 million listens on Spotify and they received a Victoire de la Musique award for ‘Ça va, ça vient’.
8. A singer and a songwriter
Besides his singing, Slimane has written music for several artists in France, including their Eurovision 2019 representative, Bilal Hassani. Slimane is one of the writers of ‘Je danse encore‘ from Bilal’s first album, ‘Kingdom’.
Besides Hassani, Slimane has written songs for his mentor at The Voice, Florent Pagny, and the likes of Kendji Girac, Jennifer or Amel Bent.
9. A “love letter” for European hearts
Slimane was the first artist to unveil his Eurovision entry back in November 7. Yes, he was randomly announced on a Wednesday morning in November, and his song dropped that evening.
He described his entry in an interview with wiwibloggs: “It’s a love letter actually. I think we need love more than ever. In a way it’s a love letter I wanted to send to all of the European hearts”.
10. “Mon Amour” on the dancefloor
Months later, when the original version of “Mon Amour” had already racked up over 20 million listens on Spotify, it was reinvented with the brand new Meya Rework.
In this version, Slimane blends traditional sounds inspired by his Algerian heritage with touches of electro-pop. The intense ballad is transformed into a light, mesmerising track. Surprisingly, it is enhanced by a refreshing dance interlude.
Another interesting fact: during his season of The Voice he was on the same team as François Micheletto, who was the frontman of Minus One (Cyprus 2016) – Slimane beat him in their battle round en route to his overall victory
Is it so wrong that I cannot seem to take my eyes off that pic?
Slimane’s got a song with winner vibes that excels despite the relatively simple message. The entire French package of 2024 is *amazing* <3
And of course, anyone watching the show and listening to this song will be able to say “mon amour” and “je t’aime”.
If Slimane and team win in Malmø it will be interesting to study population growth stats in la France starting the first q uarter of 2025 !!
My winner!
Ty Luis, I didn’t even know that Slimane was Elliot’s coach…and that he wrote for Bilal. He had Eurovision links since long time.
One more fact: on “Destination Eurovision 2018” he came to support his friend Emmy Liyana (in competition with “Ok ou KO”) and they sang together “Viens on s’aime”
France one of those most underrated countries in ESC.
Good luck Slimane.