A great introduction. The 11th prize of the TF 1 singing competition opened with a cover of Jean-Jacques Goldman's "Envole-moi" by the five students still competing in "Star Academy". This collective draw was spectacular, as have many acts since the beginning of this 2023-2024 edition. While Pierre was the only serene academician, having already qualified for the upcoming semi-finals, Axel, Héléna, Julien and Lénie were playing for their place this Saturday, January 13th.
The latter, named for the first time in the adventure, launched into a duet with Bonnie Tyler on her mythical track "Total Eclipse of The Heart". At 72 years old, the British singer struggled to give voice as the young apprentice managed to save this laborious duo. "She sang it better than I did, because I'm so used to singing alone that I got tangled up in the parts," said Bonnie Tyler, praising 18-year-old Lenie's talent.
Helena, on the other hand, was better served with Hoshi. The two young women stirred up the set on "Amour Ccensor" thanks to a clear complicity. Later, Axel and Pierre de Maere nicely agreed on "Un jour je marierai un ange", which the Belgian singer never tires of sharing as he had already done in "The Voice". All this despite a small sound problem at the beginning. Julien, finally, was associated with the folk singer Eloïz and their "Hey Bro" was a success.
Lénie assures, Helena admirable
As a soloist, Julien sang with intensity "La Quest" by Jacques Brel, an artist he is particularly fond of having already covered "Ces Gens-là" a few weeks earlier. "You're a great performer," Michael Goldman, director of Star Academy, complimented him. Axel, for his part, defended his chances on "Fan" by Pascal Obispo. His performance was clean and a little shy at first but gained energy as the lyrics went by, making everyone agree. On "Baby One More Time" by "Britney Spears", Lénie had to do a choreography in addition to the singing. The challenge was met almost without a false note. There was also a big challenge for Héléna with "Memory" by Barbra Streisand. His velvet performance suffered from some frailties, but was still admirable.
Pierre, logically less in the spotlight this Saturday, still had a nice duet with MC Solaar on "Caroline". He also brilliantly appropriated Céline Dion's "Pour que tu m'aimes encore", once again confirming his status as the favourite of the competition.
The public has decided
The collective moments were among the most exciting of the evening. Like this unique exercise: a relay of duets for the four nominees on "Tu es mon autre" by Lara Fabian and Maurane. Not easy, but the result was frankly impeccable and none of them failed. It was also a rousing picture for all five academics on "Footloose". At the end of the evening, the last battle saw the quartet in the hot seat perform on "Je vais t'aimer" by Michel Sardou. The two girls and two boys put all their guts into it, for lack of nuances. The final five-way collective performance to Bob Marley's "One Love" served as a gentle conclusion.
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At the end of the show, the suspense was at its peak as all the students proved how much they had progressed since they entered the castle ten weeks earlier. But the public decided and it was Lénie who was eliminated, leaving Pierre, Héléna, Julien and Axel to return to Dammarie-les-Lys.
There will be two semi-finals that will see Pierre face off against him, and Axel against Julien. The latter will start hostilities next week.