1 00:00:01,000 --> 00:00:06,000 (Whistling) 2 00:02:04,000 --> 00:02:07,000 (Applause) 3 00:02:07,000 --> 00:02:09,000 Thank you. 4 00:02:09,000 --> 00:02:11,000 (Applause) 5 00:02:11,000 --> 00:02:13,000 Thank you very much. 6 00:02:13,000 --> 00:02:16,000 That was whistling. 7 00:02:16,000 --> 00:02:19,000 I'm trying to do this in English. 8 00:02:19,000 --> 00:02:23,000 What is a chubby, curly-haired guy from Holland -- 9 00:02:23,000 --> 00:02:25,000 why is he whistling? 10 00:02:25,000 --> 00:02:29,000 Well actually, I've [been] whistling since the age of four, about four. 11 00:02:29,000 --> 00:02:31,000 My dad was always whistling around the house, 12 00:02:31,000 --> 00:02:34,000 and I just thought that's part of communication in my family. 13 00:02:34,000 --> 00:02:36,000 So I whistled along with him. 14 00:02:36,000 --> 00:02:40,000 And actually, till I was 34, 15 00:02:40,000 --> 00:02:44,000 I always annoyed and irritated people with whistling, 16 00:02:44,000 --> 00:02:46,000 because, to be honest, 17 00:02:46,000 --> 00:02:49,000 my whistling is a kind of deviant behavior. 18 00:02:50,000 --> 00:02:53,000 I whistled alone. I whistled in the classroom. 19 00:02:53,000 --> 00:02:56,000 I whistled on [my] bike. I whistled everywhere. 20 00:02:56,000 --> 00:02:59,000 And I also whistled at a Christmas Eve party 21 00:02:59,000 --> 00:03:01,000 with my family-in-law. 22 00:03:01,000 --> 00:03:04,000 And they had some, in my opinion, 23 00:03:04,000 --> 00:03:06,000 terrible Christmas music. 24 00:03:06,000 --> 00:03:08,000 And when I hear music that I don't like, 25 00:03:08,000 --> 00:03:11,000 I try to make it better. 26 00:03:11,000 --> 00:03:14,000 So "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" -- you know it? 27 00:03:14,000 --> 00:03:17,000 (Whistling) 28 00:03:17,000 --> 00:03:19,000 But it can also sound like this. 29 00:03:19,000 --> 00:03:22,000 (Whistling) 30 00:03:22,000 --> 00:03:24,000 But during a Christmas party -- 31 00:03:24,000 --> 00:03:27,000 at dinner actually -- it's very annoying. 32 00:03:27,000 --> 00:03:29,000 So my sister-in-law 33 00:03:29,000 --> 00:03:32,000 asked me a few times, "Please stop whistling." 34 00:03:32,000 --> 00:03:34,000 And I just couldn't. 35 00:03:34,000 --> 00:03:37,000 And at one point -- and I had some wine, I have to admit that -- 36 00:03:37,000 --> 00:03:40,000 at one point I said, "If there was a contest, I would join." 37 00:03:40,000 --> 00:03:42,000 And two weeks later 38 00:03:42,000 --> 00:03:45,000 I received a text message: "You're going to America." 39 00:03:45,000 --> 00:03:47,000 (Laughter) 40 00:03:47,000 --> 00:03:49,000 So, okay, I'm going to America. 41 00:03:49,000 --> 00:03:51,000 I would love to, but why? 42 00:03:51,000 --> 00:03:54,000 So I immediately called her up, of course. 43 00:03:54,000 --> 00:03:56,000 She Googled, 44 00:03:56,000 --> 00:03:58,000 and she found this World Whistling Championship 45 00:03:58,000 --> 00:04:00,000 in America, of course. 46 00:04:02,000 --> 00:04:05,000 She didn't expect me to go there. 47 00:04:05,000 --> 00:04:08,000 And I would have lost my face. 48 00:04:08,000 --> 00:04:10,000 I don't know if that's correct English. 49 00:04:10,000 --> 00:04:12,000 But the Dutch people here will understand what I mean. 50 00:04:12,000 --> 00:04:15,000 (Laughter) 51 00:04:15,000 --> 00:04:17,000 I lost my face. 52 00:04:17,000 --> 00:04:20,000 (Applause) 53 00:04:20,000 --> 00:04:22,000 And she thought, "He will never go there." 54 00:04:22,000 --> 00:04:24,000 But actually I did. 55 00:04:24,000 --> 00:04:26,000 So I went to Louisburg, North Carolina, 56 00:04:26,000 --> 00:04:30,000 southeast United States, 57 00:04:30,000 --> 00:04:33,000 and I entered the world of whistling. 58 00:04:33,000 --> 00:04:35,000 And I also entered the world championship, 59 00:04:35,000 --> 00:04:38,000 and I won there in 2004. 60 00:04:38,000 --> 00:04:41,000 (Applause) 61 00:04:41,000 --> 00:04:43,000 That was 62 00:04:43,000 --> 00:04:46,000 great fun, of course. 63 00:04:46,000 --> 00:04:48,000 And to defend my title -- 64 00:04:48,000 --> 00:04:51,000 like judokas do and sportsmen -- 65 00:04:51,000 --> 00:04:53,000 I thought, well let's go back in 2005, 66 00:04:53,000 --> 00:04:56,000 and I won again. 67 00:04:56,000 --> 00:04:58,000 Then I couldn't participate for a few years. 68 00:04:58,000 --> 00:05:00,000 And in 2008 I entered again 69 00:05:00,000 --> 00:05:03,000 in Japan, Tokyo, and I won again. 70 00:05:03,000 --> 00:05:06,000 So what happened now 71 00:05:06,000 --> 00:05:09,000 is I'm standing here in Rotterdam, in the beautiful city, on a big stage, 72 00:05:09,000 --> 00:05:11,000 and I'm talking about whistling. 73 00:05:11,000 --> 00:05:15,000 And actually I earn my money whistling at the moment. 74 00:05:15,000 --> 00:05:18,000 So I quit my day job as a nurse. 75 00:05:18,000 --> 00:05:23,000 (Applause) 76 00:05:23,000 --> 00:05:25,000 And I try to live my dream -- 77 00:05:25,000 --> 00:05:28,000 well, actually, it was never my dream, but it sounds so good. 78 00:05:28,000 --> 00:05:30,000 (Laughter) 79 00:05:30,000 --> 00:05:32,000 Okay, I'm not the only one whistling here. 80 00:05:32,000 --> 00:05:34,000 You say, "Huh, what do you mean?" 81 00:05:34,000 --> 00:05:37,000 Well actually, you are going to whistle along. 82 00:05:40,000 --> 00:05:43,000 And then always the same thing happens: 83 00:05:43,000 --> 00:05:45,000 people are watching each other and think, "Oh, my God. 84 00:05:45,000 --> 00:05:47,000 Why? Can I go away?" 85 00:05:47,000 --> 00:05:49,000 No, you can't. 86 00:05:51,000 --> 00:05:53,000 Actually it's very simple. 87 00:05:53,000 --> 00:05:55,000 The track that I will whistle 88 00:05:55,000 --> 00:05:57,000 is called "Fête de la Belle." 89 00:05:57,000 --> 00:06:00,000 It's about 80 minutes long. 90 00:06:00,000 --> 00:06:03,000 No, no, no. It's four minutes long. 91 00:06:03,000 --> 00:06:06,000 And I want to first rehearse with you your whistling. 92 00:06:07,000 --> 00:06:09,000 So I whistle the tone. 93 00:06:09,000 --> 00:06:11,000 (Whistling) 94 00:06:11,000 --> 00:06:13,000 (Laughter) 95 00:06:13,000 --> 00:06:16,000 Sorry. I forgot one thing. 96 00:06:16,000 --> 00:06:18,000 You whistle the same tone as me. 97 00:06:18,000 --> 00:06:20,000 (Laughter) 98 00:06:20,000 --> 00:06:26,000 I heard a wide variety of tones. 99 00:06:26,000 --> 00:06:33,000 (Whistling) 100 00:06:41,000 --> 00:06:43,000 This is very promising. 101 00:06:43,000 --> 00:06:45,000 This is very promising. 102 00:06:45,000 --> 00:06:48,000 I'll ask the technicians to start the music. 103 00:06:48,000 --> 00:06:51,000 And if it's started, I just point where you whistle along, 104 00:06:51,000 --> 00:06:53,000 and we will see what happens. 105 00:06:58,000 --> 00:07:00,000 Oh, hah. 106 00:07:00,000 --> 00:07:02,000 I'm so sorry, technicians. 107 00:07:02,000 --> 00:07:06,000 (Laughter) 108 00:07:06,000 --> 00:07:08,000 I'm so used to that. 109 00:07:08,000 --> 00:07:11,000 I start it myself. 110 00:07:11,000 --> 00:07:13,000 Okay, here it is. 111 00:07:13,000 --> 00:07:15,000 (Laughter) 112 00:07:15,000 --> 00:07:18,000 (Music) 113 00:07:18,000 --> 00:07:24,000 (Whistling) 114 00:07:33,000 --> 00:07:35,000 Okay. 115 00:07:36,000 --> 00:07:42,000 (Whistling) 116 00:08:23,000 --> 00:08:25,000 It's easy, isn't it? 117 00:08:26,000 --> 00:08:32,000 (Whistling) 118 00:09:00,000 --> 00:09:03,000 Now comes the solo. I propose I do that myself. 119 00:09:06,000 --> 00:09:12,000 (Whistling) 120 00:11:19,000 --> 00:11:30,000 (Applause) 121 00:11:30,000 --> 00:11:33,000 Max Westerman: Geert Chatrou, the World Champion [of] Whistling. 122 00:11:33,000 --> 00:11:35,000 Geert Chatrou: Thank you. Thank you.