Season 12 of the Star Academy has some new features, notably with the arrival of Sofia Morgavi as a singing teacher. With her atypical methods, she intrigues viewers as much as she fascinates academics… especially when she asks her students to blow through straws. A very useful technique actually!
Since October 12, 2024, the Star Academy is back on TF1, with a new group of students ready to prove their talent. At their side, a teaching team reinforced by the arrival of Sofia Morgavi, singing teacher. Succeeding Adeline Toniutti, Sofia Morgavi brings her own method based on rigor, creativity and kindness. The lyrical singer and seasoned vocal coach, however, does not hesitate to reframe certain disruptive students. Despite this firmness, his first lessons at the Château de Dammarie-les-Lys are already convincing. Among its flagship approaches: a surprising exercise where students blow into straws immersed in a glass of water.
Star Academy : blowing through a straw, an exercise with multiple benefits
Sofia Morgavi offers academicians this breathing exercise from SOVT techniques (Semi-Occluded Vocal Tract), developed by vocal scientist Ingo Titze. It involves dipping a straw into a glass of water and blowing gently. to produce regular bubbles. This technique, although not very glamorous, is actually a good exercise for working on your voice. It helps relax the vocal cords while reducing tension in the throat. It is also a good activity for learning to control your breathing. In fact, by maintaining a constant flow rate, exercise strengthens respiratory control. And no need to specify that breathing is a much-needed vocal tool to become a good singer. Unsurprisingly, blowing into a straw also helps place the voice on the breath for a more harmonious tone. Finally, this technique helps preserve the voice to warm up or recover after vocal effort. To perform this exercise best, we first ask you to breathe without sound.then add a slight vocal vibration. The academicians then progress towards modulations of notes, rising to the high notes while maintaining precise control of the breath to avoid letting the bubbles escape.
Sofia Morgavi: her other exercises to strengthen the voices of students in the Star Academy
Besides the straw exercise, Sofia Morgavi offers a variety of techniques aimed at strengthening students' vocal abilitieswhile having fun. During the course on October 22, she suggested to the academicians the cicada exercise: the students imitate the sound of the insect to work their diaphragm and their pelvic pressure, sometimes alternating with the sound of “choo choo” 'a train. She also asked them to work on dynamic articulation by repeating phrases like “I still articulate and pronounce”, a very good exercise for strengthening the lips and tongue. The exercise becomes more complex when they hold a pencil in their mouth while reciting these same words. Finally, the new singing teacher suggested that the students work on acoustic memory by training them to reproduce sounds and melodies to refine their accuracy and responsiveness.
