Christophe Frédéric Durier (; born 3 August 1983), better known by his stage name Christophe Willem (), is a French singer and the winner of the fourth edition of Nouvelle Star (French version of Pop Idol) in 2006. Early life Christophe spent most of his life in Deuil-la-Barre (Val-d'Oise), where his parents run a driving school. As a child, he learned figure skating and to play the piano. Later he learned to sing as part of a gospel choir "Young Voices". He also was composing songs at the age of fourteen. Before deciding to study to become a lawyer and calculus professor, he continued to practice music and in 2004 he appeared in a Richard Anconina film, Alive, where he played the role of Henri, a young man with a golden voice who is, nevertheless, not considered suitable for the lead role in a musical. Since his film career continued after this, he returned home, where he studied communication while working a number of part-time jobs, such as babysitting and helping in a theatre. Nouvelle Star Pushed by his family and friends, he decided to try out for the 2006 edition of Nouvelle Star. With an initial audition performance of Strong Enough by Des'ree, he surprised the judges, who did not expect such a quality voice from an admittedly ungainly-looking man. Nicknamed "La Tortue" (The Turtle) by Nouvelle Star judge Marianne James, he proved to be a popular contestant, and on 8 June, was crowned the fourth Nouvelle Star. Performances Initial audition : "Strong enough" (Des'ree) Further audition : "Être à la hauteur" (Le Roi Soleil/Emmanuel Moire) Top 14 : "Sunny" (Boney M) Top 14 redux : "Où sont les femmes" (Patrick Juvet) Top 10 : "True Colors" (Cyndi Lauper) Top 9 : "Ça plane pour moi" (Plastic Bertrand) Top 8 : "I Am What I Am" (Gloria Gaynor) Top 7 : "New York, New York" (Frank Sinatra) Top 6 : "Goodbye Marylou" (Michel Polnareff), "I Will Always Love You" (Whitney Houston) Top 5 : "My Heart Will Go On" (Céline Dion), "Stayin' Alive" (Bee Gees) Top 4 : "Memory" – (Barbra Streisand), "I Want You Back" (The Jackson Five) Top 3 : "I'm Still Standing" (Elton John), "Pour ne pas vivre seul" (Dalida) Top 2 : "Born to Be Alive" (Patrick Hernandez), "La chanson des vieux amants" (Jacques Brel), "Last Dance" (Donna Summer) Top 1 : "Someone New" (Eskobar)