"Formidable" () is a song by

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct language ...

singer

Stromae Paul van Haver (; born 12 March 1985), better known by his stage name Stromae (), is a Belgian singer, rapper, songwriter and producer. He is mostly known for his music blending hip hop and electronic music. Stromae came to wide public attenti ...

. The song was released as a digital download in

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...

on 4 June 2013 as the second single from his second studio album ''

Racine carrée Jean-Baptiste Racine ( , ) (; 22 December 163921 April 1699) was a French dramatist, one of the three great playwrights of 17th-century France, along with Molière and Corneille as well as an important literary figure in the Western traditi ...

'' (2013). The song entered at the number 1 spot the week of its release in

and reached number 1 in France. It was his most financially successful single since "

Alors on Danse "Alors on danse" (, French for "And so we dance") is a song by Belgian rapper Stromae. It was released in September 2009 in Belgium and in February 2010 in the rest of Europe. The song reached number one in Belgium, Albania, Austria, Bulgaria, th ...

" in 2009.

Music video

On 21 May 2013, amateur videos surfaced on YouTube showing Stromae apparently drunk and wandering at the Louise/Louiza tram and metro station in Brussels during the daybreak, which eventually went viral. It was revealed days later that the incident was part of the taping for a music video; this was confirmed during the TV programme

Ce soir (ou jamais!) ''Ce soir'' (English: Tonight), was a French daily newspaper founded by the French Communist Party and directed by Louis Aragon and Jean-Richard Bloch. History The newspaper was established on the initiative of the Communist Party general sec ...

France 2 France 2 () is a French public national television channel. It is part of the state-owned France Télévisions group, along with France 3, France 4 and France 5. France Télévisions also participates in Arte and Euronews. Since 3:20 CET on ...

in which Stromae discussed and also performed "Formidable", which is about the story of a drunk man just separated from his girlfriend. The video, taken by cameras hidden around the station, appears to show a drunken, disheveled, and distraught Stromae stumbling around the station, shouting snatches of the song's lyrics at passersby, falling down, and on several occasions appearing on the verge of stepping into traffic. Onlookers are shown recording the incident with their cellphones, but only one person intervenes to prevent Stromae from sitting in the path of an oncoming tram. The music cuts off abruptly as three policemen, unaware that this is a taping, approach Stromae to assess his wellness and to inquire if he has been drinking. Stromae reassures them, and the video resumes. In the video's final scene, Stromae leaves, followed by his camera crew, and displays that his drunkenness was only an act by grinning into the camera, straightening his clothing, and clicking his heels. The video is subtitled "ceci n'est pas une leçon" ("this is not a lesson"). The video won the award for the " Music video of the year" category at the 2014

Victoires de la Musique Victoires de la Musique (; en, Victories of Music) is an annual French award ceremony where the Victoire accolade is delivered by the French Ministry of Culture to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry. The classical and jazz ...

Track listing

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

<--Post by François Delétraz a Figaro Magazine journalist-->

Release history

Cheyenne Toney cover

On 6 December 2013, during the fourth live show of the fourth season of the Dutch television programme ''

The Voice of Holland ''The Voice of Holland'', also known as ''TVOH'', is a Dutch reality television, reality TV singing competition, that became a The Voice (franchise), near global TV format franchise, created by media tycoon John de Mol and musician VanVelzen, R ...

'', Dutch singer Cheyenne Toney performed a cover of "Formidable". She sang her own written cover, with lyrics translated from French to Dutch. Her version of the song reached the peak position in the

Mega Single Top 100 The Dutch Single Top 100 or Single Top 100 is a Dutch chart, based on official physical single sales, legal downloads and since July 2013 streaming and composed by Dutch Charts. It is one of the three official charts, the other two being the ...

(charting higher than the original) and the eighteenth position in the Dutch Top 40.

Charts

Year-end charts

Arabic version

Maghrebi Arabic Maghrebi Arabic (, Western Arabic; as opposed to Eastern or Mashriqi Arabic) is a vernacular Arabic dialect continuum spoken in the Maghreb region, in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Western Sahara, and Mauritania. It includes Moroccan, Al ...

version of the song by Moroccan Canadian performer Nadia Essadiqi was an internet hit in October 2015. On 17 November, she went on to perform the song live on the VivaCité radio chart show ''Tip Top'' and on Le Petit Journal (Canal+).La Bronze « Formidable » - Le Petit Journal du 17/11

Canal+ Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flow unde ...

website, accessed 14 December 2015.

References

External links

* {{authority control 2013 singles Stromae songs Ultratop 50 Singles (Flanders) number-one singles Ultratop 50 Singles (Wallonia) number-one singles SNEP Top Singles number-one singles 2013 songs Songs written by Stromae