Comments collected by Yohann Ruelle.
So you left the “Star Academy” last Saturday. Did you have time to digest your elimination?
Digest it in the sense of accepting it, yes completely because I had prepared myself a little psychologically for the possibility of going out so I quickly accepted the result, even if I haven’t really had the time to move on yet. something else. I’ve been doing interviews for several days and we still have the last bonus to prepare, so I’m still a little in the adventure.
In the show “Quotidien”, you confided that you were “a little upset” about leaving…
Deep down, I have a little disappointment. It’s a shame it ends there. When you are in the semi-final, the last step is the final! I would have liked to go a little further but I have no regrets about my adventure.
Are you proud of your journey?
Getting to the semi-final is no small thing! I’m quite proud of my journey, I didn’t think I’d get this far. It’s already very good, yes.
Ebony said that it was “symbolic” to see you and her in the semi-final in prime time on TF1. Did you perceive it and feel it like that too?
It was very clearly symbolic to do this bonus for two. Beyond our origins, humanly, it matches a lot between us and artistically too: we have the same influences, we listen to the same things… It was a mixture of many things which meant that if I had had the choice to compose the semi-finals, I would have composed them in the same way. I wouldn’t have done it any other way. And what’s more, it guaranteed us to have a bonus who was similar to us in the sense that she was sure that all the performances would please her since we like the same music. By taking inspiration from her or from me, therefore from us, to compose the prime, it necessarily represented us.
Ebony was the subject of a hate campaign on social networks and production had to issue a warning. Are you prepared for being confronted with the sometimes malicious gaze of others outside?
We are being prepared very clearly for the fact that there is good and bad out there, we have real follow-up on this, we candidates. Personally, I prefer to focus on the people who are there, who wish us well because there are people who take the trouble to support us! There are people who give us all their love, all their attention. And the best thing to do is just focus on the good. (Smile)
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How do you understand your new notoriety?
For the moment, I can’t tell you if it’s easy to acclimatize to it or not because I’ve only glimpsed what’s happening on social networks, which is already enormous given the number of messages I receive! (Laughs) Honestly, I haven’t had the opportunity to really interact with these people yet, so to be confronted with this popularity that the show has brought me. For the moment, I’m mainly caught up in the whole adventure exit protocol and the preparation of the last bonus. By joining the “Star Academy”, I told myself that I was going to be a little better known but at this point, no! It’s crazy. I realize that all these people are interested in what I do, there are very caring messages. It’s great. I take things little by little, as they come.
Did all this support, all the compliments you received during the show allow you to reconcile with this part of your childhood that you had buried?
To tell you the truth, I started to see this child reborn in the final stages of casting. Arriving at the castle amplified this idea but it’s true that having confirmation from people who know the profession, from a singing teacher like Sofia Morgavi or a producer like Michael Goldman, is precious. We say to ourselves that yes, maybe there is something to be done and that I was wrong to stop believing in it myself.
Where do you think you have progressed the most?
Honestly, I don’t know. I don’t really have an answer to this question because I don’t yet have the necessary perspective to realize these things. I was me the whole time, so I didn’t look at myself. (Laughs) I don’t see my progress. But what is certain is that I had a real revelation for the theater. I didn’t know this area at all and it turns out that it’s an exercise that I really like. So my progress in theater is dazzling because I had never done any! But speaking of singing or stage expression, I don’t know yet. Theater has undoubtedly helped me move forward on these points.
You have often been in the top 3 after the evaluations without being able to realize this momentum on bonuses. Do you think you suffered from good student syndrome?
I don’t believe that’s really it. The evaluation programming and the premium programming are not quite the same in terms of songs. Michael Goldman said something that struck me one evening when he came to announce the results: music is a question of encountering the right song at the right time. This is what he often told me. It must be said that I was perhaps lucky enough to often come across the right song in evaluation, and not necessarily on the bonuses. I don’t think it was the top 3 exercise that slowed me down in the adventure, a lot of people made a connection that doesn’t exist. If I felt sluggish, it was mainly because I reached a point where I had the impression of stagnating and of not having anything else to offer.
That’s to say ?
When we are at the bottom of the ranking, we have real areas of improvement, we have real areas of work. At the beginning, all the feedback I got was congratulations and applause… until I was finally told: “Well, it’s quite monotonous. What you’re proposing is is good, but something else is needed. It pained me because I didn’t understand the meaning of these words. No one had ever pointed out a fault in me. This is what led me to periods of down where I was a little lost… The top 3, I had a bad experience but for something else: after a while, we didn’t don’t want to make 10 top 3s and 10 flops! (Laughs) It’s more of a fight against yourself.
Which was more difficult, ultimately: performing in front of strangers at the station or in front of millions of television viewers?
It’s true that when you know you’re being watched by millions of people, it adds a lot of stress! At the station, I never sang for people. When I went there, I would sing just for myself, with friends, and sometimes people would arrive on occasion and it was beautiful. Being aware that I’m singing for people who are going to watch me scared me a little at first, it was difficult. But very quickly, I sort of legitimized myself, I accepted that I deserved my place and everything went much better.
It’s true that behind our screen, we don’t realize the whole television aspect of a prime, between the preparation of the tables, the management of the cameras, the teleprompter for the words… It seems easy but it requires a lot of effort. implication!
That’s exactly it. As you say, these are things that people are not necessarily aware of. It’s a lot of work, a lot of information to remember at once. You have to find these brands a bit.
What performance will remain your best memory on one of the prizes?
I loved doing “Heal” by Tom Odell, it’s one of my favorites. I provided the DA myself [direction artistique, ndlr] of this performance and I loved doing it. It’s one of the rare times where I sang a song that I really like, that I knew and that is already in my repertoire on a prime. That wasn’t always the case.
Exactly, is there a song in particular that you would have liked to sing on a prime?
There are way too many! I couldn’t give just one title.
Let’s talk about the final which will pit Ebony against Marine. In terms of popularity, who do you think has the best chance of winning?
Since I got my phone back, I haven’t looked at the popularity ratings of Ebony and Marine. Each has its own support, each arouses its own enthusiasm! In addition, it’s not exactly the same audience so… The audience will choose and the result will necessarily be good.
What will be the next step in your projects? Are you going to continue your studies?
I was in the middle of a reorientation, they are not finished. I was preparing for a BTS but for now, I’m going to try to make a career out of all this. And then we’ll see later how I manage to reconcile with studies because it’s always good to have an emergency net.
Will the single you worked on at the “Star Academy” with authors and composers be released soon?
I don’t know it myself. We have not yet been able to discuss the subject with the Sony and TF1 teams.
Which musical universe would you like to turn to for the future?
That’s a question I don’t like to answer because saying it gives you a place where people will inevitably expect you. (Smile) So I want to explore a lot of things! So we stay tuned and see what the future holds.
Okay, but perhaps you already have a vision, particularly on the style of music?
Yes, very clearly, I have some leads. I’ve tried quite a few things that I can see myself moving towards. But I wouldn’t be able to give you a precise answer. In any case, I want my songs to have strong lyrics. No matter the style, whether it’s danceable or not, whether it’s piano or guitar, organic or more digital, I want songs with a certain depth.
If we allow ourselves to dream a little, which artists would you like to collaborate with?
In France, I want a duo with Tayc! I-want-a-duet-with-Tayc. (Laughs) Internationally, the list would be long but I would love to do a duet with Labrinth, with Giveon, with Ayra Starr too, who is a Nigerian artist that I adore. And if we see further, say Celine Dion, let’s go for it!
Plus she watches “Star Academy”, she sent you a video message!
Yes, we had received a little message. That was adorable of him.
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The next deadline is the tour. In a month, you will be on stage! Have rehearsals already started?
Not yet no, they will start after a two-week break I think. It’s going to be quite a challenge.
The dates keep getting longer. Are you feeling up to it?
I definitely feel up to it. I think the show won’t be that much different than the bonuses, ultimately. So of course, the audience will not be the same, there will be much more scale and scope and the preparation will be more intense! But that almost amounts to ensuring a bonus. It’s just that you have to do them several times over a longer period of time. (Laughs) The advantage, unlike bonuses, is that we will offer the same show which will be done again and again, with songs that we have already worked on in the show. So yeah, I think it will. (Smile) The Star Academy prepared us for this. I think we’re all ready.
Finally, how are you approaching this final?
I’m happy to go back. I’m sure it’s going to be a nice, nice, nice bonus. And I can’t wait to see the outcome and for people to discover the show.
