M. Pokora

French singer-songwriter M. Pokora aka Matt Pokora rose to prominence after appearing on the French version of the TV reality show 'Popstars'. The singer was born Matthieu Tota in Strasbourg in 1985 and is the son of André Tota, the former French striker who played football for a number of well-known French teams. In his early life, Tota had hoped to follow his father into professional football but eventually chose music as a career and after appearing on the third season of Popstars was chosen to be a part of a new boy band called Linkup.

The band enjoyed a brief period of success when their debut single 'Mon Étoile' topped the French charts. After the initial hype from the TV show died down the band failed to make any further impression on the charts and after an abortive attempt to rescue their career by collaborating with British band Blue on a bilingual remake of Blue's song 'Bubblin' the group disbanded.

After reinventing himself as a solo R&B and hip-hop artist Tota's success in the music business improved considerably. In 2008 he signed with EMI France and began recording in New York with well-known R&B producers Ryan Leslie and J.R. Totem. The change in direction has seen Tota become one of France's most successful R&B performers and since 2008 he has released a string of successful singles and albums.