Star Académie is a Canadian reality television series that started in 2003, aimed primarily at the Quebec television audience, featuring an array of young women and men under the age of 30 competing for the title of the next solo singing sensation. It is the French-Canadian adaptation of the French television show Star Academy produced by Dutch company Endemol, based on the Spanish format called Operación Triunfo.

There have been seasons in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2009, and 2012. In June 2019, TVA stated that a reboot for Star Académie is possible.^[1] Two months later, the network announced that the reboot is set for early 2021.^[2] On September 22, 2020, it was announced that singer Patrice Michaud would take over Julie Snyder as host for the 2021 season.^[3] In June 2021, Michaud stated that he would not return as host for the following season.^[4] In August 2021, it was announced that singer-songwriter Marc Dupré would replace Michaud as host in 2022.^[5]

Description

It is aired for two months (February to April) on the TVA network. Hosted by Julie Snyder, the show is a competition to find the best young francophone singer, not only in Quebec, but also in French-speaking regions of Canada, having auditions in Ontario (Eastern Ontario) and New Brunswick (l'Acadie). Then fourteen people (seven of each gender) are chosen to compete in front of the cameras.

It is separated in two simultaneous formats: each day during the week, a show presents moments of the life and training in the common house of the Académiciens and each weekend sees one Gala show where the contenders sing. At each of these Galas, some participants are put on the line and one is chosen to stay by the public and by the judging panel.

It proved to be immensely popular, drawing not only viewership, but genuine affection from the public for the young idealistic contenders. Pride also arises for the regions where the participants are from, like pride was felt by many from the Acadian people when Wilfred Le Bouthillier, from Acadia, was chosen for the competition and later crowned winner of the first, 2003 edition.

It has also proved to be an effective springboard for the singing careers of some of its past participants, like 2003 finalists Wilfred Le Bouthillier, who recorded with the help of renowned Cajun singer Zachary Richard, and Marie-Élaine Thibert, who also released an album and sung for the soundtrack of Léa Pool's movie The Blue Butterfly.

The show was on a 4-year hiatus due to the second pregnancy of the hostess and her busy schedule with Le Banquier, the French-Canadian version of Deal or No Deal.

Origins

It is inspired by the French show Star Academy and is similar to the Pop Idol and American Idol phenomena. The name was francized for its Quebec adaptation because of the local importance given to the respect of the French language. However, it does create a grammatically impossible phrase in French. The proper translation would be Académie des stars, although this could be considered less catchy. Francization is typically given even more importance in Quebec French than in France itself (see Office québécois de la langue française).

A relatively small, but notable difference in the show format from its French counterpart is the selection process. Each week, the French version asks the public and judging panel to vote for which one, out of the contenders in danger, should be excluded from the show. The results are announced live, on stage, to the excluded member and the viewers. While this formula was followed in the beginning for Star Académie, it soon was changed because of protests, for the system was seen as cruel treatment to the excluded participant. On one early show, singer Daniel Boucher quit the studio halfway through the show because of this impression. Consequently, the public and judges are now asked to vote for the participant to remain at the Académie. In all seasons, the results are announced live.

Criticism

Star Académie drew criticism for the capitalist and vertical integration strategies of producing megacompany Quebecor to publicize the show and make it profitable. For example, each vote from the public costs one dollar, the website is in large part reserved to paying members and the Quebecor company, massive owner of many Quebec media, heavily promoted the show via TVA (its own television network), all of its magazines and newspapers like 7 Jours and Journal de Montréal. Astral Media's RockDétente also did a lot of heavy promoting themselves during the 2005 edition, as the official stations of Star Académie. Also were criticized the instant celebrity machine and supposed lack of artistic integrity aspects of the whole enterprise.

Theme songs

• 2003: Et c'est pas fini by Stéphane Venne
• 2004: Un nouveau jour va se lever by Jacques Michel
• 2005: L'étoile d'Amérique by Claude Léveillée
• 2009: 1000 coeurs debout by Cali
• 2012: Toi + Moi by Grégoire
• 2021: Maintenant et partout by Hubert Lenoir and Jérôme 50
• 2022: Changer le monde by Laurence Nerbonne

Champions

• 2003: Wilfred Le Bouthillier from Tracadie–Sheila, New Brunswick
• 2004: Stéphanie Lapointe from Brossard, Quebec
• 2005: Marc-André Fortin from Hébertville, Quebec
• 2009: Maxime Landry from Saint-Gédéon-de-Beauce, Quebec
• 2012: Jean-Marc Couture from Val-d'Amour, New Brunswick
• 2021: William Cloutier from Victoriaville, Quebec
• 2022: Krystel Mongeau from Sherbrooke, Quebec

Académie's principal

• 2003: Josélito Michaud
• 2004: Denise Filiatrault
• 2005: Denis Bouchard (René Simard had retired before the show started)
• 2009: René Angélil
• 2012: René Angélil
• 2021: Lara Fabian^[6]
• 2022: Lara Fabian^[7]

Notable guests

Here's all the guest performers in Star Académie.

• Bryan Adams
• Charles Aznavour
• Beau Dommage
• Plastic Bertrand
• Daniel Boucher
• Isabelle Boulay
• Jean Charest
• Céline Dion
• The Lost Fingers
• Éric Lapointe
• Stromae
• Patricia Kaas
• Lady Gaga
• Lara Fabian
• Samantha Fox
• Roger Hodgson
• Bernard Landry
• Daniel Lavoie
• Claude Léveillée
• Marjo
• Jason Mraz
• Paul Piché
• Michel Rivard
• Natasha St-Pier
• Kreesha Turner
• Gino Vannelli
• Roch Voisine
• Dennis DeYoung
• Les Trois Accords
• Hedley
• These Kids Wear Crowns
• Lionel Richie
• Mika
• Charlotte Cardin

Discography

Contestants

See also

• List of Quebec television series imports and exports
• List of Quebec television series
• List of Quebec musicians
• List of Quebec regions
• Television of Quebec
• Music of Quebec
• Culture of Quebec
• Vidéotron
• The One: Making a Music Star (English adaptation broadcast on ABC and CBC)

References

External links

• Official site (in French)
• Album entry on Amazon