Seychelles (ⁱ/seɪˈʃɛlz/ say-SHELZ; French: [sɛʃɛl]), officially the Republic of Seychelles (French: République des Seychelles; Creole: Repiblik Sesel), is an island country spanning an archipelago of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean, some 1,500 kilometres (932 mi) east of mainland Africa, northeast of the island of Madagascar.

Other nearby island countries and territories include Zanzibar to the west, Mauritius, Rodrigues, Agalega and Réunion to the south, Comoros and Mayotte to the southwest. Seychelles, with an estimated population of 86,525, has the smallest population of any African state. It also has the highest Human Development Index in Africa.

Scholars assume that Austronesian seafarers, and later Maldivian and Arab traders were the first to visit the uninhabited Seychelles. Remains of Maldivian mariner presence from the 12th century were found in Silhouette Island. The earliest recorded sighting by Europeans took place in 1502 by the Portuguese Admiral Vasco da Gama, who passed through the Amirantes and named them after himself (islands of the Admiral).

Julien Doré (born July 7, 1982) is a French singer, winner of the fifth season of the television show Nouvelle Star, aired on the French Television M6 channel.

He is also the great-great-great-nephew of Gustave Doré, a well-known illustrator of the 19th century.

Doré was born in Alès (Gard, and grew up in Lunel. After taking his baccalauréat littéraire at the college Louis Feuillade, he attended the École des Beaux-Arts of Nîmes for five years. He is the founder of the group Dig up Elvis, with which he played in the bars of Nîmes. At that time, beer was the currency in which he was paid. In 2006, he created with Guillaume de Molina the project "The Jean d'Ormesson disco suicide", "protean group" which covered pop and disco hits. In June 2007, Doré was voted #1 in French Elle Magazine's "15 Sexiest Men" poll. He used to date Louise Bourgoin (ex-TV presenter on Canal+ channel) but they have been separated since March 2009.

Doré was selected at the time of the casting in Marseille, where he presented himself with a ukulele. At the beginning, he only participated in the casting to get free publicity for his band. He convinced the jury when he sang "A la faveur de l'automne" (originally by Tété). His most memorable performances and revelations were while singing "Moi... Lolita" (Alizée) and "...Baby One More Time" (Britney Spears), dance music songs, in acoustics. He won the finale against Tigane.