Star Academy (French TV series)

Star Academy

Current Star Academy logo
Genre Interactive talent show
Reality
Directed by Franck Broqua
Jean-Jacques Amsellem
Presented by Nikos Aliagas
Country of origin France
Original language(s) French
No. of seasons 9
Production
Producer(s) Endemol France
Release
Original network TF1 (2001-2008)
NRJ 12 (2012-)
Original release October 20, 2001 – December 19, 2008 (TF1)
September 2012 (NRJ 12)
Chronology
Followed by The Voice: la plus belle voix (TF1)
External links
Website

Star Academy is a French reality television show produced by the Dutch company Endemol. It consists of a contest of young singers. It spawned an equally successful show in Quebec called Star Académie. It was broadcast on TF1 (2001-2008) and NRJ12 (2012). At the end of each season, selected contestants would go on tour around France, Morocco, Switzerland, Belgium, Tunisia, and other French-speaking countries.

The contestants stayed in the Dammarie-lès-Lys castle: The Vives-Eaux castle.

The reality show was hosted by Nikos Aliagas and featured guest stars such as Madonna, Britney Spears, Beyoncé, Rihanna, Katy Perry, Jonas Brothers, Miley Cyrus, Mariah Carey, Céline Dion, The Corrs, Texas, Simple Plan, Moby, Tina Arena, Nelly Furtado, Tokio Hotel, Anastacia, Alicia Keys, Craig David, 50 Cent, will.i.am, Destiny's Child, James Blunt, Diddy, Sting, David Guetta, Lenny Kravitz, Janet Jackson, Liza Minnelli, Phil Collins, Laura Pausini, Kylie Minogue, Dannii Minogue, Tina Turner, Andrea Bocelli, Charles Aznavour, Hélène Ségara, Peter Kingsbery, Lara Fabian, Shania Twain, Avril Lavigne, Alizée, Johnny Hallyday, Paul Anka, Lionel Richie, Alanis Morissette, Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, Elton John, Bee Gees, and Ricky Martin.

Star Academy runs

The contestants are classed in order.

Season 1

Season 1 was won in 2001 by Jenifer Bartoli from Nice, who has become one of France's best-loved new female singers since then. Second studio album Le Passage has songwriting contributions from Calogero and Benoît Poher from Kyo. Later she released two other studio albums, Lunatic and Apelle-moi Jen.

Carine and Mario, along with series 2 contestants Anne-Laure and Houcine and series 5 contestants Pierre and Alexia make up the cast of a new comedie-musicale in France "Salut Joe" which features the songs of legendary star Joe Dassin.

Olivia Ruiz has enjoyed critical and commercial success with her album La Femme Chocolat.

Season 2

Season 2 of Star Academy launched some singers with successful solo careers - winner Nolwenn but also Emma, who reinvented herself as France's answer to Avril Lavigne; singer, songwriter and producer Jérémy Chatelain who married Alizée; singer-songwriter Georges-Alain Jones; Aurelie Konate who appeared in the comedie-musicale Belles belles belles based on the music of Claude François.

Season 3

After the highly successful season 2, much was expected of season 3 and the favourites were named at the beginning: Sofia and Michal. As it turned out, both of them made their respective male/female semi finals, joined by Elodie and Patxi respectively. Elodie ended up making it to the finals, where she beat Polish contestant Michal and become the winner of Star Academy 3.

Michal will return to the music scene in France in 2007 with his second album All Alone with my Gueule. Sofia ended up releasing her own album Mon cabaret in 2005.

Season 4

Season 4 winner Grégory Lemarchal became the first male winner of Star Academy in France. He released his debut single "Écris l'histoire" and debut album Je deviens moi in France in 2005. Grégory also enjoyed success in 2006 with "Même si", a bilingual duet with Lucie Silvas of her song "What You're Made Of".

On April 30, 2007, Grégory Lemarchal died of complications due to cystic fibrosis while waiting for a lung transplant.

Season 5

Season 5 was notable for the return of some familiar faces - season 1 and 2 directrice Alexia Laroche-Joubert returned in the same role, after which the role was filled in season 3 by Nathalie Andre, and in season 4 by Gerard Louvin. Also back was Raphaelle Ricci as prof of scenic expression.

Despite an expanded age limit on participants, there was only one noticeably participant - Jérémy Amelin (18). His popularity grew over the series and he eventually reached the finale where he faced, and lost to, Magalie Vaé.

Among the female contestants the early favourite was Emilie, a violinist who originated from the island of Reunion. However, her popularity with the jury was seemingly not shared by the public. In the female semi final she and fellow student Ely were voted out in favour of Magalie, who had attracted much attention in France because, unlike previous Star Academy participants, she was overweight.

In the end, Magalie triumphed on 16.12.2005 and became the fifth Star Academy winner in France. Magalie sold the least CDs by a series winner compared to previous winners Jenifer and Nolwenn. This raises the question of whether the judging should be 100% in the hands of the voting public.

Season 6

All of last year's profs returned this year including directrice Alexia Laroche-Joubert and dance teacher Kamel Ouali, the latter kept French fans guessing regarding his participation up to the last minute, as he remained involved in the popular musical Le Roi Soleil. Nikos Aliagas continued to present the daily updates and weekly "Prime" on Fridays.

The focus for this season was expected to shift from traditional songs to the "nouvelle chanson francaise" style made popular by singers like Benabar, Benjamin Biolay and former Star Ac 1 contestant Olivia Ruiz. Contestants Marina and Jean-Charles reflected this new musical style and Marina, in particular, was allowed to sing her own compositions on the "Prime".

Gael, whose musical style resembled that of the Gipsy Kings, eventually quit on 13 November, allegedly in relation to the refusal of the producers to allow him to record with the Gipsy Kings, whom his musical style clearly owed an allegiance to. There was also controversy over remarks made by Raphaelle Ricci following the eviction of fan favourite Nicolas Charvillat, suggesting that her fellow "profs" had decided to evict him before he even sang a note.

In the end Cyril, the first black person to win Star Academy or any singing contest in France, triumphed by 67% of the vote over Dominique (33%) on 22 December to become the sixth Star Academy winner in France.

This year was unusual as only seven students went on the tour: Cyril, Dominique, Cynthia, Jean-Charles, Brice, Marina, and Ludovic.

Season 7

Contestants include

Maureen, the favorite, walked after 7 weeks. Mathieu had been nominated 8 times over Star Academy 7, but each time was favored by the public to continue. Until finally, improving his show greatly, ending up in the final where Quentin, the favorite of most spectators with 0 nominations, won by the close margin of 52.6% to 47.4% for Mathieu.

Season 8

The eighth season debuted on Friday September 19, 2008.

The contestants in season 8 are:

Top 2 (the finale aired on 19/12/08) -

Eliminated (in order of elimination) -

Alice has been nominated the most times, with five; but was saved by the public each time, with an overwhelming majority above two other nominees. The series also saw a decline in the ratings, as in the premiere week, it has received 5.5 million viewers with 29.6% share (mainly from their competition, NCIS on M6). This was considerably down from the previous series' 7.1 million viewers (30.7% share).

Season 9

NRJ 12 has decided to reboot the show after TF1 cancelled it in 2008, due to declining ratings. It will begin airing from December 2012.

Season 9 scholars:

Laurene has been nominated for 2 times and Zayra only one. Zayra has got the most number of marks in the history of Star academy, Zayra's and Star academy best mark was 19 out of 20.

See also

References

  1. ↑ http://www.leparisien.fr/home/loisirs/articles/EXCLUSIF-LA-STAR-AC-S-INSTALLE-A-PARIS_298648785

External links

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