A whistleblower you haven't heard

At TEDxRotterdam, world champion whistler Geert Chatrou performs the whimsical "Eleonora" by A. Honhoff, and his own "Fête de la Belle." In a fascinating interlude, he talks about what brought him to the craft.

(Whistling)

(Whistling ends)

(Applause)

Thank you.

(Applause)

Thank you very much.

That was whistling.

I'm trying to do this in English.

What is a chubby,
curly-haired guy from Holland --

why is he whistling?

Well actually, I've been whistling
since the age of four, about four.

My dad was always whistling
around the house,

and I just thought that's part
of communication in my family.

So I whistled along with him.

And actually, until I was 34,

I always annoyed and irritated
people with whistling,

because, to be honest,

my whistling is a kind
of deviant behavior.

I whistled alone,
I whistled in the classroom,

I whistled on bike, I whistled everywhere.

And I also whistled
at a Christmas Eve party

with my family-in-law.

And they had some, in my opinion,
terrible Christmas music.

And when I hear music that I don't like,
I try to make it better.

(Laughter)

So when "Rudolph the Red-Nosed
Reindeer" -- you know it?

(Whistling)

But it can also sound like this.

(Whistling)

But during a Christmas party --

at dinner, actually -- it's very annoying.

So my sister-in-law asked me a few times,
"Please stop whistling."

And I just couldn't.

And at one point --

and I had some wine,
I have to admit that --

at one point I said,
"If there was a contest, I would join."

And two weeks later,

I received a text message:
"You're going to America."

(Laughter)

So, OK, I'm going to America.

I would love to, but why?

So I immediately called her up, of course.

She googled, and she found
this World Whistling Championship

in America, of course.

(Laughter)

She didn't expect me to go there.

And I would have lost my face.

I don't know if that's correct English.

But the Dutch people here
will understand what I mean.

(Laughter)

I lost my face.

(Applause)

And she thought, "He will never go there."

But actually, I did.

So I went to Louisburg, North Carolina,
southeast of the United States,

and I entered the world of whistling.

And I also entered the World Championship,

and I won there, in 2004.

(Applause)

That was great fun, of course.

And to defend my title --
like judokas do and sportsmen --

I thought, well let's go back in 2005 --

and I won again.

(Laughter)

Then I couldn't participate
for a few years.

And in 2008, I entered again
in Japan, Tokyo, and I won again.

So what happened now

is I'm standing here in Rotterdam,
in the beautiful city, on a big stage,

and I'm talking about whistling.

And actually, I earn my money
whistling, at the moment.

So I quit my day job as a nurse.

(Applause)

And I try to live my dream --

well, actually, it was never my dream,
but it sounds so good.

(Laughter)

OK, I'm not the only one whistling here.

You say, "Huh, what do you mean?"

Well actually, you are going
to whistle along.

And then always the same thing happens:

people are watching each other
and think, "Oh, my God.

Why? Can I go away?"

No, you can't.

(Laughter)

Actually, it's very simple.

The track that I will whistle
is called "Fête de la Belle."

It's about 80 minutes long.

(Laughter)

No, no, no. It's four minutes long.

And I want to first rehearse
with you your whistling.

Yes, so I whistle the tone.

(Whistling)

(Laughter)

Sorry, I forgot one thing --

you whistle the same tone as me.

(Laughter)

I heard a wide variety of tones.

(Geert Chatrou and audience whistling)

(Whistling ends)

This is very promising.

(Laughter)

This is very promising.

I'll ask the technicians
to start the music.

And if it's started,
I just point where you whistle along,

and we will see what happens.

(Laughter)

Oh, I'm so sorry, technicians.

(Laughter)

I'm so used to that.

(Laughter)

I start it myself.

(Laughter)

OK, here it is.

(Laughter)

(Music)

(Whistling)

(Whistling ends)

(Music)

OK.

(Whistling)

It's easy, isn't it?

(Whistling)

Now comes the solo,
I propose I do that myself, OK?

(Music)

(Whistling)

(Applause)

Max Westerman: Geert Chatrou,
the World Champion of Whistling.

Geert Chatrou: Thank you. Thank you.