World champion whistler | Geert Chatrou

2,160,695 views ・ 2011-02-15

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(Whistling)
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(Whistling ends)
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(Applause)
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Thank you.
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(Applause)
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Thank you very much.
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02:28
That was whistling.
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I'm trying to do this in English.
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What is a chubby, curly-haired guy from Holland --
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why is he whistling?
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Well actually, I've been whistling since the age of four, about four.
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My dad was always whistling around the house,
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and I just thought that's part of communication in my family.
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So I whistled along with him.
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And actually, until I was 34,
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I always annoyed and irritated people with whistling,
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because, to be honest,
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my whistling is a kind of deviant behavior.
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I whistled alone, I whistled in the classroom,
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I whistled on bike, I whistled everywhere.
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And I also whistled at a Christmas Eve party
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with my family-in-law.
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And they had some, in my opinion, terrible Christmas music.
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And when I hear music that I don't like, I try to make it better.
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(Laughter)
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So when "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" -- you know it?
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(Whistling)
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But it can also sound like this.
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(Whistling)
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But during a Christmas party --
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at dinner, actually -- it's very annoying.
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So my sister-in-law asked me a few times, "Please stop whistling."
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And I just couldn't.
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And at one point --
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and I had some wine, I have to admit that --
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at one point I said, "If there was a contest, I would join."
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And two weeks later,
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I received a text message: "You're going to America."
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(Laughter)
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So, OK, I'm going to America.
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I would love to, but why?
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So I immediately called her up, of course.
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She googled, and she found this World Whistling Championship
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in America, of course.
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(Laughter)
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She didn't expect me to go there.
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And I would have lost my face.
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I don't know if that's correct English.
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But the Dutch people here will understand what I mean.
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(Laughter)
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I lost my face.
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(Applause)
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And she thought, "He will never go there."
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But actually, I did.
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So I went to Louisburg, North Carolina, southeast of the United States,
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and I entered the world of whistling.
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And I also entered the World Championship,
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and I won there, in 2004.
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(Applause)
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That was great fun, of course.
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And to defend my title -- like judokas do and sportsmen --
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I thought, well let's go back in 2005 --
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and I won again.
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(Laughter)
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Then I couldn't participate for a few years.
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And in 2008, I entered again in Japan, Tokyo, and I won again.
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So what happened now
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is I'm standing here in Rotterdam, in the beautiful city, on a big stage,
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and I'm talking about whistling.
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And actually, I earn my money whistling, at the moment.
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So I quit my day job as a nurse.
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(Applause)
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And I try to live my dream --
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well, actually, it was never my dream, but it sounds so good.
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(Laughter)
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OK, I'm not the only one whistling here.
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You say, "Huh, what do you mean?"
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Well actually, you are going to whistle along.
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And then always the same thing happens:
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people are watching each other and think, "Oh, my God.
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Why? Can I go away?"
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No, you can't.
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(Laughter)
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Actually, it's very simple.
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The track that I will whistle is called "Fête de la Belle."
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It's about 80 minutes long.
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(Laughter)
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No, no, no. It's four minutes long.
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And I want to first rehearse with you your whistling.
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Yes, so I whistle the tone.
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(Whistling)
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(Laughter)
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Sorry, I forgot one thing --
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you whistle the same tone as me.
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(Laughter)
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I heard a wide variety of tones.
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(Geert Chatrou and audience whistling)
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(Whistling ends)
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This is very promising.
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(Laughter)
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This is very promising.
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I'll ask the technicians to start the music.
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And if it's started, I just point where you whistle along,
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and we will see what happens.
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(Laughter)
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Oh, I'm so sorry, technicians.
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(Laughter)
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I'm so used to that.
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(Laughter)
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I start it myself.
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(Laughter)
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OK, here it is.
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(Laughter)
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(Music)
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(Whistling)
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(Whistling ends)
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(Music)
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OK.
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(Whistling)
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It's easy, isn't it?
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(Whistling)
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Now comes the solo, I propose I do that myself, OK?
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(Music)
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09:21
(Whistling)
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(Applause)
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Max Westerman: Geert Chatrou, the World Champion of Whistling.
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Geert Chatrou: Thank you. Thank you.
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