I guess I wasn't hanging out in the right eurotrash discos in 1992, because I missed the Macarena-grade phenomenon that was Jordy. The four-year-old French kid put out the brainless dance track, Dur Dur d'Etre Bebe ["It's Hard To Be A Baby"], produced by his musician father, that went on to sell six million copies around the world.
I do know the shallow folly that is the World Music Awards, though, one of the made up events that the Principality of Monaco tries to pad its non-summer, non-Grand Prix calendar with. I think by now we all know that wacked out expression on Whitney Houston's face has nothing to do with the lip-syncing toddler she was flown in to watch.
In 1993, his parents were lining up meetings in Hollywood and telling Voici magazine, "Mon fils Jordy sera le Michael Jackson de l'an 2000!" [no translation needed.] By the time he was six--and after tout la France had wrung out every drop of amusement from him--officials finally got to asking if Jordy's parents might be exploiting him just a little bit, and so they banned him from the airwaves. This forced his parents to open that most inadvertently fitting of celebrity spin offs, a petting zoo, named La Ferme de Jordy [Jordy's Farm]. The ponies and bunnies promptly ate through all Jordy's money.
Not to worry, though: he dumped his parents, got better management, and retook the spotlight on the French reality TV show La Ferme Celebrites 2--which he won--as soon as he turned 18. Don't you just love a happy ending? His book, Je Ne Suis Plus Un Bebe, was released last spring.
I will say this, though, he's rocking a sweet stroller in that video. That is just about the most pared down, essentialist ride I can imagine. Where'd all those rigs disappear to?
Jordy Its So Tough to be A Baby music video and WMA 'performance' [youtube]
Whatever Happened to Jordy [lj via coudal]
Jordy [wikipedia]
oh my god--Jordy! My high school french teacher made us listen to this song over and over and over, convinced it was actually cool in France. I had never seen the video though--it's really intensely creepy. Poor kid. That is one sweet stroller though.