Kendji Girac

Kendji "Girac" Jason Maillié, also known mononymously as Kendji, is a French singer best known for winning season 3 of the music competition series The Voice: la plus belle voix as part of Team Mika. Following his victory, he became the biggest-selling alumnus of The Voice franchise worldwide. Throughout his career, he has released a string of hit singles alongside six studio albums: Kendji, Ensemble, Amigo, Mi Vida, L'école de la vie, and Vivre...

Born on 3 July 1996, Kendji grew up in Saint-Astier as the youngest child of a Catalan Gitano family. He learned to sing and play the guitar from his grandfather and speaks Catalan with his parents. At age 16, he left school to work in his family's business as an arborist. He first gained public attention online after a friend filmed him performing a Romanes version of the song "Bella" by Gims. The video went viral, attracting 5.8 million views. He also posted other popular online covers, including "Si j'étais président" by Gérard Lenorman.

On 18 January, Kendji auditioned for season 3 of The Voice: la plus belle voix with "Bella." While judges Florent Pagny, Jenifer, and Garou refrained from turning, Mika turned his chair to select him. During the battle round broadcast on 8 March 2014, Kendji defeated Youness singing Stromae's "Tous les mêmes." He advanced through subsequent rounds performing "Hotel California" by The Eagles on 29 March 2014, followed by live round performances of Amel Bent's "Ma philosophie," Tears for Fears' "Mad World," and Johnny Hallyday's "Allumer le feu." After singing "Belle" by Garou and Daniel Lavoie in the semi-final on 3 May 2014, he qualified as Team Mika's finalist and won the season.

In June 2014, Kendji released his debut bilingual French and Spanish single, "Color Gitano," from his self-titled EP, preceding his debut album Kendji in September 2014. By January 2015, the album had sold 600,000 copies, eventually surpassing 1 million sales by October 2015 to earn a Diamond certification. It became France's second-highest selling album of 2014 behind Stromae's Racine carrée. The album yielded additional successful singles, including "Andalouse" and "Conmigo," which was featured on a repackaged release on 4 May 2015.

Kendji released his second studio album, Ensemble, on 30 October 2015, featuring notable singles such as "Me Quemo," "Les yeux de la mama," and "No Me Mires Más" featuring Soprano. His third album, Amigo, followed on 31 August 2018, opening at number one on the French sales chart with 48,408 sales. He later released his subsequent studio albums Mi Vida, L'école de la vie, and Vivre...

In December 2014, Kendji received two NRJ Music Awards for Francophone Breakthrough of the Year and Francophone Song of the Year for "Color Gitano." In 2017, he joined Les Enfoirés, a collective performing annual concerts to raise funds for the French soup kitchen network Restos du Cœur. On 22 August 2020, he joined Jenifer, Patrick Fiori, and Soprano on the jury of The Voice Kids France, marking the first time a former contestant joined the jury of the show's French franchise.