A promotion of around fifteen very young candidates, a choice of old-fashioned songs, and flights of Nikos Aliagas, no collegiate but a tunnel presenting the candidates… Here we go again for a ride. It’s 9:14 p.m. when the new season of “Star Academy” starts on TF 1, this Saturday evening. The face of Pierre Garnier, last year’s big winner, appears and in voice-over, the singer recounts his meteoric rise.
In order not to waste too much time, viewers directly hear “Love Generation”, by Bob Sinclar, the historic anthem of the show. Nikos Aliagas welcomes him as he should. “There were 20,000 applications,” announces the host. It’s time for the presentation with a tape recorder launched by Michael Goldman, the director of the school (who participated in the casting), describing the new faculty now composed of Malika Benjelloun (dance), Sofia Morgavi (singing), Hugues Hamelynck (theater), Ladji Doucouré (sport) and Marlène Schaff (stage expression). The idea: to do something new and create an event, while preserving the nostalgic aspect of the flagship program of the 2000s.
Mediatically speaking, the stakes are high this Saturday evening for TF 1 and the production company Endemol, in charge. After the success of the season, the time has come to write a “new story”. And on the other channels, the competition is proving to be stiff: Cyril Féraud’s very popular game “100% Logic”, on France 2 and “Meurtres sur la Côte bleue”, with a certain Jean-Pierre Foucault, on France 3. So to give the competition a facelift, the huge stage was redesigned, for greater proximity to the audience made up of 1,000 fans standing in a pit, in a concert atmosphere.
Clara Luciani, godmother of the season
The evening recorded in the immense studio 217 in Plaine-Saint-Denis, a 2,000 m2 building, does not start as usual with a collegial performance from the entire new promotion. The first candidate to open the ball is called Marine. This young 25-year-old dentist, originally from Lille, launches into an old-fashioned performance of “Ordinaire”, by Robert Charlebois. A powerful and controlled performance, which earned him a “standing ovation”. “She is a dentist but tonight, she is an artist,” says Nikos Aliagas in his works. A first page of advertising (already) and the performances of the candidates follow with Ebony and Maylis in duet on “Happy”, by Pharrell Williams.
The godmother Clara Luciani enters at 9:38 p.m. and Nikos promises that she will “invest in the castle and on the bonuses”. Before shouting in his own style: “What a godmother we aaaaa, it’s crazy! » “I didn’t hesitate for a single second, as a kid, I watched Star Ac’, the first session had a big impact on me,” explains the singer, announcing the arrival of Charles, a young 18-year-old rider. Despite his young age, here he is making a show of force on… Florent Pagny with his song “J’y va”. At the end of the title, the cameras film his father in tears in the audience.
Pierre Garnier and all the students on stage
Pierre Garnier, still sitting on the stage next to the new “academicians”, waits patiently without speaking. Julie, feverishly covering “What a feeling” by Irene Cara with a few false notes, confirms an old-fashioned choice of songs. Franck, 23 years old from Bagneux, ultra-stylish, launches into “Ne partez pas sans moi”, by Céline Dion. This young Congolese from Pointe-Noire, in France for two years, offers a moment of pure emotion when he discovers a video of his parents supporting him even though he has not seen them since his arrival in France.
The extravagant Paul continues on “Your song”, by Elton John. Emma covers “We, we know”, by Pierre Garnier. It is 10:30 p.m. Marseillais Ulysse, 24, by covering “La symphonie des éclairs”, by Zaho de Sagazan, in rock version, gives a welcome touch of modernity and originality to a well-planned start to the season . Maïa immediately appropriates “Nightcall”, by Kavinsky. She and Odysseus both end up as a duo and offer the best moment of a long evening which takes on the air of a tunnel. Maureen, still from Bagneux, presents herself with “all the cries, the SOS” and makes her boyfriend cry again, Marguerite goes to dig up “Heads or Faces”, by Corynne Charby, a title from 1987, after having tried a kind of stand-up while reading a text written by his brothers. It’s 11:15 p.m., and Noah, 20, and Thomas, 21, sing along to “The Eyes of the Mama,” by Kendji Girac in front of their respective mothers. Masseo, finally, on “Beggin”, by Madcon, a much better dancer than singer.
At 11:28 p.m., the new students conclude this first program around Pierre Garnier by singing acoustically “Ceux qu’on été”, his first single, one of the most popular hits of this year. The epilogue of an evening without much surprise before the students, all very young therefore, all go off to join the castle by bus.
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