1 00:00:00,817 --> 00:00:04,817 (Whistling) 2 00:02:00,784 --> 00:02:03,333 (Whistling ends) 3 00:02:04,160 --> 00:02:07,479 (Applause) 4 00:02:07,503 --> 00:02:08,976 Thank you. 5 00:02:09,000 --> 00:02:11,576 (Applause) 6 00:02:11,600 --> 00:02:12,976 Thank you very much. 7 00:02:13,734 --> 00:02:15,073 That was whistling. 8 00:02:15,097 --> 00:02:18,976 I'm trying to do this in English. 9 00:02:19,000 --> 00:02:24,092 What is a chubby, curly-haired guy from Holland -- 10 00:02:24,231 --> 00:02:25,749 why is he whistling? 11 00:02:25,773 --> 00:02:29,204 Well actually, I've been whistling since the age of four, about four. 12 00:02:29,228 --> 00:02:31,394 My dad was always whistling around the house, 13 00:02:31,418 --> 00:02:34,485 and I just thought that's part of communication in my family. 14 00:02:34,509 --> 00:02:36,208 So I whistled along with him. 15 00:02:36,232 --> 00:02:39,695 And actually, until I was 34, 16 00:02:39,719 --> 00:02:44,259 I always annoyed and irritated people with whistling, 17 00:02:44,283 --> 00:02:45,976 because, to be honest, 18 00:02:46,000 --> 00:02:48,841 my whistling is a kind of deviant behavior. 19 00:02:50,309 --> 00:02:53,574 I whistled alone, I whistled in the classroom, 20 00:02:53,598 --> 00:02:56,168 I whistled on bike, I whistled everywhere. 21 00:02:56,308 --> 00:02:59,688 And I also whistled at a Christmas Eve party 22 00:02:59,712 --> 00:03:01,433 with my family-in-law. 23 00:03:01,457 --> 00:03:06,139 And they had some, in my opinion, terrible Christmas music. 24 00:03:06,163 --> 00:03:09,901 And when I hear music that I don't like, I try to make it better. 25 00:03:09,925 --> 00:03:11,307 (Laughter) 26 00:03:11,331 --> 00:03:14,811 So when "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" -- you know it? 27 00:03:14,835 --> 00:03:17,741 (Whistling) 28 00:03:17,765 --> 00:03:19,467 But it can also sound like this. 29 00:03:19,491 --> 00:03:22,614 (Whistling) 30 00:03:22,638 --> 00:03:25,596 But during a Christmas party -- 31 00:03:25,620 --> 00:03:27,833 at dinner, actually -- it's very annoying. 32 00:03:27,857 --> 00:03:32,316 So my sister-in-law asked me a few times, "Please stop whistling." 33 00:03:32,340 --> 00:03:33,628 And I just couldn't. 34 00:03:33,652 --> 00:03:34,853 And at one point -- 35 00:03:34,877 --> 00:03:37,089 and I had some wine, I have to admit that -- 36 00:03:37,113 --> 00:03:40,388 at one point I said, "If there was a contest, I would join." 37 00:03:40,412 --> 00:03:41,854 And two weeks later, 38 00:03:41,878 --> 00:03:45,286 I received a text message: "You're going to America." 39 00:03:45,310 --> 00:03:46,976 (Laughter) 40 00:03:47,220 --> 00:03:50,048 So, OK, I'm going to America. 41 00:03:50,072 --> 00:03:51,676 I would love to, but why? 42 00:03:51,700 --> 00:03:53,857 So I immediately called her up, of course. 43 00:03:53,881 --> 00:03:58,463 She googled, and she found this World Whistling Championship 44 00:03:58,487 --> 00:04:00,264 in America, of course. 45 00:04:00,288 --> 00:04:01,438 (Laughter) 46 00:04:02,618 --> 00:04:04,976 She didn't expect me to go there. 47 00:04:05,000 --> 00:04:08,139 And I would have lost my face. 48 00:04:08,163 --> 00:04:10,149 I don't know if that's correct English. 49 00:04:10,173 --> 00:04:12,699 But the Dutch people here will understand what I mean. 50 00:04:12,723 --> 00:04:15,182 (Laughter) 51 00:04:15,206 --> 00:04:16,976 I lost my face. 52 00:04:17,000 --> 00:04:19,976 (Applause) 53 00:04:20,000 --> 00:04:22,592 And she thought, "He will never go there." 54 00:04:22,616 --> 00:04:24,202 But actually, I did. 55 00:04:24,226 --> 00:04:29,771 So I went to Louisburg, North Carolina, southeast of the United States, 56 00:04:29,795 --> 00:04:32,152 and I entered the world of whistling. 57 00:04:32,810 --> 00:04:35,320 And I also entered the World Championship, 58 00:04:35,344 --> 00:04:37,976 and I won there, in 2004. 59 00:04:38,000 --> 00:04:41,912 (Applause) 60 00:04:41,936 --> 00:04:45,257 That was great fun, of course. 61 00:04:46,321 --> 00:04:51,817 And to defend my title -- like judokas do and sportsmen -- 62 00:04:51,841 --> 00:04:54,182 I thought, well let's go back in 2005 -- 63 00:04:54,206 --> 00:04:55,365 and I won again. 64 00:04:55,389 --> 00:04:56,825 (Laughter) 65 00:04:56,928 --> 00:04:59,025 Then I couldn't participate for a few years. 66 00:04:59,049 --> 00:05:03,591 And in 2008, I entered again in Japan, Tokyo, and I won again. 67 00:05:03,615 --> 00:05:05,976 So what happened now 68 00:05:06,000 --> 00:05:09,816 is I'm standing here in Rotterdam, in the beautiful city, on a big stage, 69 00:05:09,840 --> 00:05:11,750 and I'm talking about whistling. 70 00:05:11,774 --> 00:05:15,253 And actually, I earn my money whistling, at the moment. 71 00:05:15,277 --> 00:05:17,976 So I quit my day job as a nurse. 72 00:05:18,000 --> 00:05:22,976 (Applause) 73 00:05:23,000 --> 00:05:24,976 And I try to live my dream -- 74 00:05:25,000 --> 00:05:28,145 well, actually, it was never my dream, but it sounds so good. 75 00:05:28,169 --> 00:05:29,976 (Laughter) 76 00:05:30,000 --> 00:05:32,293 OK, I'm not the only one whistling here. 77 00:05:32,317 --> 00:05:34,442 You say, "Huh, what do you mean?" 78 00:05:34,466 --> 00:05:37,024 Well actually, you are going to whistle along. 79 00:05:40,476 --> 00:05:42,914 And then always the same thing happens: 80 00:05:42,938 --> 00:05:45,712 people are watching each other and think, "Oh, my God. 81 00:05:45,736 --> 00:05:47,890 Why? Can I go away?" 82 00:05:47,914 --> 00:05:49,323 No, you can't. 83 00:05:49,347 --> 00:05:51,267 (Laughter) 84 00:05:51,846 --> 00:05:53,194 Actually, it's very simple. 85 00:05:53,218 --> 00:05:56,638 The track that I will whistle is called "Fête de la Belle." 86 00:05:57,154 --> 00:05:58,971 It's about 80 minutes long. 87 00:05:58,995 --> 00:06:00,400 (Laughter) 88 00:06:00,424 --> 00:06:02,976 No, no, no. It's four minutes long. 89 00:06:03,000 --> 00:06:06,308 And I want to first rehearse with you your whistling. 90 00:06:07,167 --> 00:06:08,919 Yes, so I whistle the tone. 91 00:06:08,943 --> 00:06:10,976 (Whistling) 92 00:06:11,000 --> 00:06:13,216 (Laughter) 93 00:06:13,348 --> 00:06:15,362 Sorry, I forgot one thing -- 94 00:06:16,163 --> 00:06:18,732 you whistle the same tone as me. 95 00:06:18,756 --> 00:06:20,605 (Laughter) 96 00:06:20,629 --> 00:06:26,559 I heard a wide variety of tones. 97 00:06:26,790 --> 00:06:31,847 (Geert Chatrou and audience whistling) 98 00:06:40,099 --> 00:06:41,305 (Whistling ends) 99 00:06:41,329 --> 00:06:42,688 This is very promising. 100 00:06:42,712 --> 00:06:43,899 (Laughter) 101 00:06:43,923 --> 00:06:45,264 This is very promising. 102 00:06:45,288 --> 00:06:47,976 I'll ask the technicians to start the music. 103 00:06:48,000 --> 00:06:51,238 And if it's started, I just point where you whistle along, 104 00:06:51,262 --> 00:06:52,835 and we will see what happens. 105 00:06:52,859 --> 00:06:54,994 (Laughter) 106 00:06:58,623 --> 00:07:02,646 Oh, I'm so sorry, technicians. 107 00:07:02,670 --> 00:07:06,899 (Laughter) 108 00:07:06,923 --> 00:07:08,121 I'm so used to that. 109 00:07:08,145 --> 00:07:09,169 (Laughter) 110 00:07:09,193 --> 00:07:10,518 I start it myself. 111 00:07:10,542 --> 00:07:11,703 (Laughter) 112 00:07:11,727 --> 00:07:12,976 OK, here it is. 113 00:07:13,000 --> 00:07:16,349 (Laughter) 114 00:07:16,373 --> 00:07:18,319 (Music) 115 00:07:18,343 --> 00:07:24,000 (Whistling) 116 00:07:29,108 --> 00:07:30,259 (Whistling ends) 117 00:07:30,283 --> 00:07:32,975 (Music) 118 00:07:34,322 --> 00:07:35,502 OK. 119 00:07:36,426 --> 00:07:41,666 (Whistling) 120 00:08:23,819 --> 00:08:25,571 It's easy, isn't it? 121 00:08:26,000 --> 00:08:32,000 (Whistling) 122 00:09:00,349 --> 00:09:03,349 Now comes the solo, I propose I do that myself, OK? 123 00:09:03,373 --> 00:09:05,976 (Music) 124 00:09:06,000 --> 00:09:12,000 (Whistling) 125 00:11:19,000 --> 00:11:25,253 (Applause) 126 00:11:30,000 --> 00:11:33,729 Max Westerman: Geert Chatrou, the World Champion of Whistling. 127 00:11:33,753 --> 00:11:35,928 Geert Chatrou: Thank you. Thank you.