Man’s private but epic rendition of “Chandelier” goes viral and earns him scores of new fans
Once simply known as “the boy singing ‘Chandelier'” Loïc Nottet has come a long way.
View this post on Instagram
Even though a video of him first uploaded to YouTube in 2015 was passed off by many as one in which he had no idea anyone was watching him sing, it’s pretty clear he knew he wasn’t alone.
The enormous mirror in front of him and the space in which he was practicing meant he knew anyone around might overhear him.
In fact, at no point did the uploaders of the video even say he thought he was alone – that was something made up by viewers and media outlets sharing it.
If anything, he just didn’t know he was being recorded. And at the time, he seemed really embarrassed.
After nearly 16 million views of his epic vocals and people sharing the video of him all over social media, we bet he’s not mad.
But he wasn’t plucked from obscurity after the video either – he was already a professional singer.
The very same year the video was uploaded, Loïc Nottet represented his home country of Belgium at the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest in front of a crowd of thousands of screaming fans.
His performance of Sia’s vocally-challenging “Chandelier” simply couldn’t have been sung by an amateur. It takes training to do that without blowing out your vocal cords.
It turns out, Nottet was already trained and on his way to stardom.
View this post on Instagram
Since the viral video is impressive but doesn’t give a great idea of the full range of his skills, here’s a video of him singing the same song in front of a large crowd in 2015 as well – there are even back-up dancers.
Of course, if you’re performing live or in just one part of the world, chances are you’re not entirely famous yet. Nowadays, you need social media to do that.
And that’s precisely what the surreptitious YouTube video of Nottet did – it made complete strangers the world over want to hear more.
More impressively, it did so despite being a blurry video (as opposed to the glossy performances available elsewhere).
Nottet’s career began the year before, on the third season of The Voice: Belgium, and his performance of the song “Rhythm Inside” was certified Platinum in Belgium and reached the top 20 in 6 other European countries.
The year the grainy video of him singing “Chandelier” came out, he also took part in the 6th season of the French version of Dancing With the Stars.
View this post on Instagram
It is, of course, kind of amusing to watch people argue on platforms like Reddit about whether or not the whole video was a ploy to make him go viral. In the end, does it matter?
What people loved were his vocals.
Then again, people also love a story about a young man with an amazing voice toiling away in obscurity and then becoming famous after being secretly recorded.
But commenters didn’t seem to feel cheated – they simply argued over whether or not Nottet was in on the potential marketing “scheme” and only acting surprised. But the original upload doesn’t mention him being unaware – only reposts on Reddit and Facebook do.
So, choose your own story about how his fame came about. Either way, he’s an incredible singer.
And if you love his voice, he has two albums – one of which just came out in May of 2020!
View this post on Instagram
Of course, it’s worth taking a look at the video that made him go viral as well, even if it’s not the reason he was “discovered” in the first place.
You can find it by scrolling down below.
Please SHARE this with your friends and family.
Source: dope dawg ;-; via YouTube, Eurovision Song Contests via YouTube, Wikipedia: Loïc Nottet, Loïc Nottet Official Website, Reddit