Чико Слимани: от X Factor до благотворительности и борьбы за здоровье

British singer (born 1971)

Yousseph "Chico" Slimani (born 1971) is a British singer who rose to prominence in the United Kingdom after reaching the quarter finals of the 2005 series of the talent show The X Factor. In 2006, he had a number one hit on the British charts entitled "It's Chico Time". In 2008, he appeared on the reality TV show CelebAir where he came third. In December 2019, he appeared at the 15th anniversary of Ely's Christmas light switch event.

Yousseph Slimani was born in Bridgend, Wales. He moved to live in Morocco from the age of two, when his father took him to live on the family farm. He returned to the United Kingdom with his father at the age of 14. After leaving school he trained on the Youth Training Scheme as an electrical engineer. Aspiring to have a career in arts and entertainment, Slimani took part in an exotic dance troupe called "Extreme Force" and later became a singer/compere with Lapattack. He also worked as a stripper for a while. From a young age, he continued writing and recording songs. In 2004, Slimani worked as an actor and co wrote, starred, produced and provided the soundtrack for the BAFTA nominated short film Winner Takes All alongside actor JC Mac.

Slimani is involved with a production company called Unity Films, and his daughter appeared in one of their short films, Left Holding Baby, for which Slimani composed the music. He also stars in the BAFTA nominated 2004 short film Winner Takes All, along with his brother actor JC Mac In 2005, he played a male stripper in Roberto Gomez Martin's Hell to Pay, a London underworld gangster film. In 2009, Slimani also appeared in 45, a psychological thrilling boxing movie also alongside JC Mac.

Slimani is married to Daniyela Rakic Slimani, sister of 2008 and 2009 Wimbledon Men's Doubles Champion Nenad Zimonjić. They have a daughter named Lalla Khira, and a son Zacharia.

Slimani has spoken at anti vaccination and anti lockdown protests with Piers Corbyn.

It was confirmed that Slimani had suffered a stroke on 21 September 2018 aged 47.

On 20 May 2006, Slimani appeared on ITV's coverage of The Prince's Trust 30th Birthday Concert. He took part in a Blind Date themed skit, being picked over Roger Moore and Richard E Grant by Dame Edna Everage. Slimani founded the Rainbow Child Foundation with his wife Daniyela and JC Mac, and took part in a promotional video of the foundation to open an orphanage in Cambodia. He took part in another Rainbow Child Foundation project in Malawi and South Africa with the charity One Water to see the work carried out installing Play Pumps. In 2011, Slimani visited Malawi and opened Play pumps there. Chico's single "Curvy Cola Bottle Body" is a protest against the "size zero" phenomenon. As part of its promotion, Chico teamed up with the British Eating Disorders Association (BEAT) charity. Profits from the single were donated to the charity. Proceeds from Slimani's 2010 single "It's England Time" went to the Rainbow Child Foundation to help underprivileged children in Africa. On 7 February 2015, Slimani volunteered as one of the panel judges at the Dancing Strictly 2015 live charity show held at the ArtsDepot in North Finchley, London. The event, now in its third year, raised over £20,000 for the North London Hospice charity.

Title Year Peak chart positions UK IRE"It's Chico Time"2006 1 3"D. I. S. C. O." 24 39"Curvy Cola Bottle Body Baby"2007 45 —"Are You in It for Love" — —"It's England Time" 2010 — — "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory.

Title Year Director(s) "It's Chico Time"2006 N/A "D. I. S. C. O." N/A "Curvy Cola Bottle Body Baby"2007 N/A "Are You in It For Love" N/A "It's England Time" 2010 N/A