There are many people who deserve more of a spotlight. Volunteer writer Jay Bate commends the underrated artist Loic Nottet.
I would hazard a guess that the name Loic Nottet means absolutely nothing to, most likely, everybody reading this. That is a massive shame, because he is a phenomenal talent that should have a much bigger international platform than he has currently.
Loic Nottet is a 25-year-old Belgian singer, who has been successful in his home country, but has not been able to expand his audience much further than French-speaking countries. He originally emerged onto the Belgian music scene after auditioning for the third season of The Voice Belgique in 2014, where he eventually ended as the runner-up of the season. Later in the year, Belgium’s French-language broadcaster Radio Télévision Belge Francophone announced that Nottet would be representing Belgium at the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna, Austria. His song, ‘Rhythm Inside’, earned 217 points, leading Belgium to a 4th place finish, their first time placing in the Top 5 since 2003. ‘Rhythm Inside’ would end up reaching number 1 in both regions of Belgium, as well as charting in other countries like Sweden, Germany and the UK.
Loic Nottet performing ‘Rhythm Inside’ at the 60th Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna, Austria
Shortly after his Eurovision success, Nottet went viral on YouTube with his cover of Sia’s ‘Chandelier’, amazing viewers with his powerful and atypically high voice. Do yourself a favour and watch his cover of ‘Chandelier’. It highlights just how incredible his voice really is. He completed 2015 by competing in and winning the sixth season
of French version of ‘Dancing with the Stars’, showcasing that he is not only musically gifted, but a talented and successful dancer too.
Following this, in October 2016, Nottet released his second single ‘Million Eyes’, an emotional pop ballad that showcased an impressive range in his voice, alongside an accompanying music video featuring Nottet performing contemporary dance. This reached number 2 in the Wallonia region of Belgium, and number 5 in France. His first album, Selfocracy, was released in March 2017, charting number 1 in the Wallonia region of Belgium, and also reaching success in France and Switzerland. His success was rewarded in 2017, when Nottet won an MTV European Music Award for ‘Best Belgian Act’.
Nottet is not only a great artist, singer and dancer, but he has also showcased his acting abilities through his Halloween projects. In 2017, Nottet released the single ‘Doctor’, in which he wrote the song and performed from the perspective of a deranged and psychotic character. This was taken further in 2019, when Nottet released an EP called Candy. Here, he reprised the character, writing songs that provided a back story and told the narrative of a short film he starred in to accompany the project, which was uploaded onto YouTube. Nottet wrote and composed all 5 songs featured, as well as choreographed the performances in addition to being the costume designer.
Loic Nottet performing in ‘Candy’
Since then, Nottet went on to release a second studio album, Sillygomania, in May 2020, featuring a variety of uplifting pop tunes and emotional piano ballads. This album also reached number 1 in Belgium’s Wallonia region. This album also led to the release of his first French single, Mr/Mme.
Overall, Loic Nottet is an exceptionally gifted young performer, who unfortunately is not as well-known as his talent should reflect. I would highly recommend that you check out his discography, as well as the short film for Candy, and I would hope that you will be just as blown away with his voice and performance abilities as I was when I first discovered him.
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Edited by Entertainment Editor Uchenna Omo-Bamawo
Header by Assistant Head of Design, Molly Goldby
