On November 16, an emotional moment marked the live performance of the Star Academy. This season's students recorded a new song, written by Grégory Lemarchal himself. This piece entitled And if you feel will be revealed at a special bonus in his honor.
Revealed during the fourth season of the Star Academy in 2004, Grégory Lemarchal established himself with his unique talent. But behind this success was a battle against cystic fibrosis, an incurable genetic disease which took him away in 2007, at just 23 years old. Twenty years after his victory in the famous TV show, TF1 decided to pay tribute to him in a special bonus, where the students of this twelfth edition will perform a song that he had written shortly before his death. As his father, Pierre Lemarchal, explained: “We keep the surprise of course, but it is a strong text which fits perfectly with Grégory's character and which well represents the fight he led against the illness“, he indicated to our colleagues from TV Star.
Lucie Bernardoni reveals the moving story of Grégory Lemarchal's title which will be performed by the students of the Star Academy
During the live broadcast this November 16, Lucie Bernardoni, finalist against Grégory in 2004 and coach in this season, delivered poignant details about the circumstances in which the song was written. She said: “The song that Grégory wrote is called And if you feel. We talked about it quite a bit with Grégory's parents, because we found it important that you know why he wrote this song and when.” She continues, full of emotion: “He wrote it on March 15, 2007… in the hospital. He was on hold and not yet on the transplant list. So he wrote a song whose words will resonate for each of you, which resonated for him.” Quentin Mosimann, winner of Star Academy season 7 and collaborator on this projectalso explained to the students the symbolism of the song: “You will definitely hear it and they will tell you what cystic fibrosis is. Why is it a very difficult disease?.” Faced with the symbolism of this song, Lucie made an important decision which will change the interpretation of this music: “Yesterday I said to myself: 'But Gregory, what would he have done if he had been there?' Well he would have let everyone try and interpret (…) That's why we threw away all the cuts and said to ourselves that we were going to go there instinctively.”
Star Academy 2024: an exceptional bonus to celebrate the memory of Grégory Lemarchal
November 23, from 9:10 p.m., a special bonus will be broadcast live. The students of the class of 2024 will perform this new song, recorded at the Château de Dammarie-Les-Lys. An evening which promises to be rich in emotions, bringing together former candidates and those close to Grégory Lemarchal. Davide Esposito, composer of Write the storyset Grégory's text to music, with the collaboration of Quentin Mosimann. All profits linked to the song will be donated to the association Grégory Lemarchal, who actively fights against cystic fibrosis. Laurence Lemarchal, the singer's mother, expressed the importance of this project: “Since his departure, this is the first time that a text by Grégory, which was not sung by him, has been set to music and will be interpreted by you, the artists.”
