Post by davidhr on Mar 9, 2021 7:26:29 GMT -5
Another week where the lead story concerning Lara is the Star Academie show for which she is director/teacher/judge. In this case the three contestants “in danger” were
1. William Cloutier
2. Meghan Oak
3. Guillaume Lafond
When Lara was asked what she wanted to hear from William she said it was the same thing she had seen this week, his ability to access and display his heart more strongly. He learned to do it this week, and she wanted to see if he could do it this evening. Teacher Ariane Moffatt was asked about Meghan, and she said she wanted to see whether Meghan would be capable of looking for her heart. When teacher Gregory Charles was asked what Guillaume needs to do to push his limits, he replied he must accept that he is not as limited as he thought when he arrived - vocally, musically and artistically. Gregory thought actually the “sky is the limit” for him.
Here's what happened:
1. William: He sang “You Are the Reason” by Calum Scott. Lara had asked him to sing something he had never sung before, to develop it from scratch. He has a beautiful voice – one wonders why he was ‘at risk’ so early in the proceedings (more on that in a moment). The song was a bit ‘all over the place’ but his voice followed it. Lara said that right from the first time she heard him at the decision camp she was impressed with him, and that he had shown exponential growth this evening – that he was all a great artist is, and she thanked him for the gift he provided them this night.
2. Meghan sang Lara’s “Broken Vow”. A tough song, requiring great range we know, and she did a good job with it, hitting the high notes. We’re spoiled having heard Lara sing it, and Meghan doesn’t have the same vocal power or passion, but her performance was nothing to be ashamed of. The Emcee Patrice Michaud said that Meghan had given them access to her fragility, and that didn’t prevent it from being strong.
3. Guillaume sang Dolly Parton’s song “I Will Always Love You”. As we know, that song also has great range. He performed it well, and strongly, but in a flattened form, as a low keyed country song. There was nothing he did wrong, and he has a nice voice with somewhat limited range. To get through this song he took no chances.
I thought that William had the best voice, and while Meghan’s presentation was somewhat fragile, she took more chances and accomplished more than Guillaume. The audience chose…Guillaume, attesting, perhaps, to the rise in popularity of country music in Quebec (e.g., www.soundcheckentertainment.ca/festival-country-de-lotbiniere-2017/). The article shown below also indicated his presence on social networks helped. The judges then chose William. You may remember that William’s wife gave birth to their second child a short time ago, and there were rumors that he had asked to be ‘put in danger’ because he wanted to leave and go back home with her. If true and the judges knew about that, they ignored it.
There was probably nothing Meghan could have done to win, given the other candidate's apparent advantages, but she probably made it harder on herself by choosing such a difficult song.
Here's an article about the show from the Journal de Montreal (https://www.journaldemontreal.com/2021/03/07/star-academie--meghan-decue-mais-sereine):
------------------------------------
Star Academy: Meghan disappointed, but serene
It has certainly been the most heartbreaking night of all Star Académie variety so far: After a gala where absolutely nothing was decided, it was candidate Meghan Oak who had to pack up ... with regret.
Although her comrade Guillaume Lafond was saved by the public and her good friend William Cloutier was protected by the teachers, Meghan did not have to be ashamed of her performance on Broken Vow, by Lara Fabian, but it was necessary, alas, to slice. The young woman from Coteau-du-Lac said she was disappointed, but also serene and proud of the progress made.
"It's a lot of emotions," she said at the end of the show. “At the same time, it's a competition, you have to expect everything. It kinda tore my heart to say bye to my friends, my brothers and sisters, as I like to call them, but I'm sure they will shine. I love them very much. And I'm happy with my time at the Academy.”
“I made a lot of progress, a lot more than I expected,” continued Meghan. “Of course I would have liked to have had more weeks at the Academy, but life does things well, and that's okay. I have evolved a lot, I learned a lot, I made great acquaintances. It's only positive.”
On October 23, Meghan Oak launched a very first minialbum entitled “L’Etranger”, thus realizing a dream. "Stay tuned, there will be other releases very soon!", she promises in this regard.
Until now a student in TV animation at UQAM, Meghan would like, in the long term, to reconcile song and animation. She says she is inspired by the careers of Marie-Ève Janvier or Patrice Michaud, who combine the two mediums.
"We would be due for a young girl, in our screens, who would come to sing and animate," jokes the one who says she has not yet found "her" Jean-François Breau [who was instrumental in the career of Marie-Ève Janvier, his girlfriend].
Consecrated Hawaiian
Fourth variety, new "Song of the Nation"; after “Quand les hommes vivront d’amour” , by Raymond Lévesque, and “Le Blues du businessman”, by Claude Dubois, it was the turn of “Hawaïenne “, from the Trois Accords, to be inducted as the title into the pantheon of Star Académie, during the first minutes of the show, Sunday.
We had taken out the appropriate paraphernalia for the occasion, with Hawaiian necklaces for the dancers, garishly colored shirt for Matt Moln, and a Jacob who was totally letting go of his crazy! It felt like we were at the beach in early March.
Visually and musically, the Star Académie varieties are gaining in presence every week. One has the impression of being in a crazy museum during Ariane Moffatt's number, with the dancers playing the statues, the games of projection and the smoke on the ground. The music creation teacher invited two traditional Inuit throat singers to enhance the result.
The finale, on “Miami”, was quite joyous, and Ariane later released a new title, “Beauté” , which she unveiled on the web a few days ago, in a trio with Lunou and Rosalie.
On Sunday, the Academicians had some lovely close collaboration with the various guests, which gave rise to precious moments, such as during the long opening segment with Véronic DiCaire. While she once again displayed her great talent as an imitator by reproducing the greatest female voices from here and elsewhere - Celine Dion, Lady Gaga, Adele, Diane Dufresne, Whitney Houston and a hilarious Lara Fabian, to see yourself pastiched to perfection! - our temporary residents of Waterloo outdid themselves: Meghan was excellent on Hello, the duets of Véronic with Guillaume and William, on Shallow and Je t'aime, were sparkling, Lunou radiated on Oxygen, and Dashny and Shayan breathed all their energy to the song I Wanna Dance with Somebody .
Same thing during the collage of excerpts bringing together Alicia Moffet, Ludovick Bourgeois, Sarahmée and Bleu Jeans Bleu, into which had been inserted a few peaks from the English-speaking charts: our recruits shone, in particular on Bad Guy , by Billie Eilish (Zara, Rosalie and Lunou ) and Watermelon Sugar, by Harry Styles (Dashny). Good idea to complete the sequence with Veux-tu jouer au bowling?, festive ritornello of Bleu Jeans Bleu.
The French singer-songwriter Pomme was undoubtedly a great discovery for many and aroused delight among the participants of Star Académie, many of whom admire her. Safia Nolin's accomplice has revisited part of her repertoire, including Ceux qui revent, On brulera and Soleil Soleil, with her friends for an evening.
The three songs performed by the candidates in danger are available on QUB music and on all streaming and download platforms.
Guillaume Lafond (People's choice)
Very popular on social networks, Guillaume benefited from the enthusiasm by being protected by the public. It took Star Académie to remind us that the immense I Will Always Love You, before belonging to Whitney Houston, was the work of country singer Dolly Parton. Will it now be part of Guillaume's artist's bundle as well? This one declaimed his play of endangerment while admiring his girlfriend, triggering the enthusiasm of all the romantics of Quebec! It smelled of country even in our cottages during the number, Guillaume wearing the colors of this very authentic style of music wonderfully. And the Académicien of Richelieu adapted I Will Always Love You very well in its own sauce. "It does not need to be complicated for it to be good," pointed out Gregory Charles at the end of his passage, as a summary of their exchanges in rehearsals.
William Cloutier (Professors' choice)
William Cloutier explained that he wanted to interpret You Are the Reason, a 2018 Calum Scott hit, as a message of love to himself ... but we also saw a declaration of tenderness to his family when, the song progressing, the young man gradually moved close to his family to offer them the ballad straight in the eyes. At his feet, his cute boy Liam, 4, reacted strongly as his father played it all for everything, at first laughing at seeing him up close, then in tears at not being able to touch him. The QMI Agency ran into the boy by chance backstage at the gala, shortly after William's performance, and Liam, his good humor regained, confirmed to us what we already suspected: it is because he missed his daddy that he got so emotional. William's good friend, Lunou Zucchini, eyes watering, also seemed oddly touched by the family scene playing out in front of her. William's entourage, inside and outside the Academy, can nevertheless be proud of him: the candidate stood out as a master, was touching and convinced the faculty, who then immediately returned him to Waterloo. “You are, in my opinion, everything a great artist is,” praised Lara Fabian.
Meghan Oak (Dislodged)
She will not continue the adventure, but what a star aura, all the same, this Meghan Oak! Beautiful as a movie star, the young artist tried the daring bet to embark on a composition by Lara Fabian, the intense Broken Vow, a strong piece, to pull out the game. And she defended herself honorably. Earlier this week, in rehearsal, the director of the Academy was emotionally impacted by the proposal of the participant from Coteau-du-Lac, and on Sunday, it was Meghan's colleagues, including Maëva, Queenie and William, who were not able to hold back their tears and keep their jaws from falling in front of her talent. The faculty was unanimous on Sunday: as we wanted to get her to do, Meghan managed to connect to her emotions in her interpretation, well beyond her impeccable technique. Although dislodged, Meghan Oak has progressed by leaps and bounds in three weeks at the Academy, and a great career is emerging in front of her.
----------------------------------------
Megan’s elimination was not accepted so easily by the audience in Quebec, as indicated in the article at (https://vedettequebec.com/2021/03/07/lelimination-au-gala-de-ce-soir-a-star-academie-cree-des-reactions-partout-au-quebec/):
-----------------------------------
Elimination at tonight's gala at Star Académie creates reactions across Quebec
The choice of the 3 candidates in danger had already made a lot of talk in the last days.
Indeed, Star Academy had endangered William, Meghan Oak and Guillaume.
Several viewers said they were 3 of the show's favorite candidates.
The competition was therefore very strong between the 3… And they all performed out of the ordinary.
The public finally voted for Guillaume Lafond.
It was then William who was saved by the professors of the Academy.
Meghan Oak, who was yet one of the favorites of the public, was therefore eliminated early in the show.
The comments were made by the hundreds following this elimination ... Here is what we could read:
- WELL LET'S SEE, SO DISAPPOINTED WITH THE CHOICES TONIGHT. I WISH MEGHAN THE BEST FOR THE FUTURE
-BICHETTE .. THE 3 DESERVED TO REMAIN; BIG TALENT
-WHAT? LACK OF TASTE ?? WHAT IS THAT SERIOUS?
- MEGHAN WILL LEAVE, I HAVE NOTHING AGAINST GUILLAUME BUT NO CHANCE THAT HE WAS BETTER THAN MEGHAN
-EH HERE WITH STUPID NOMINATIONS, NOT JUSTIFIED, WE END UP WITH ONE OF THE BEST SINGER FIRED: MEGHAN , BIG NONSENSE
-EUHHHH SERIOUS ?
-I KNEW THAT THE COUNTRY VOTE SHOULD NOT BE UNDERESTIMATED.
--------------------------------------------
Some of Lara’s fan sites asked their readers what they thought of Meghan’s performance. The opinion was quite strong that Meghan should not have been ‘dislodged’. However, since many of those writing in were from France, they had no vote. Regardless of what one thinks of this particular decision, there have been many other apparent misjudgements we have seen on The Voice shows the past couple of years (during Lara's tenure), so one more should come as no surprise.
As usual, there were other pictures from the program on Lara’s site, e.g.,
www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=290265242457776&set=a.259330805551220
with the caption, “Rehearsing with my little hearts and the wonderful Gregory!” [“My little hearts” is what Lara calls the Academicians].
In addition, Lara puts some videos on her FB site that can’t be seen outside Quebec (e.g., www.qub.ca/tvaplus/video/cours-0303-ced-lara-1038874216). But sometimes they do show up, e.g.,
www.facebook.com/staracademietva/videos/243745827424385/
The determination as to why some are allowed and some aren’t is not clear.
In other news, after another week of hard work, once again Lara has placed a ‘relaxed for the weekend’ picture on her FB and Instagram sites, at
www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=290971142387186&set=a.259330798884554
or
with the caption, “A morning at home... Dressed in something soft and very very relaxed 😂😂
Wishing you all a very happy weekend... 💕
The 'Lara Fabian est ton autre' site announced that the vinyls of the “Lockdown Sessions” are now beginning to be sent. A picture of Lara in the process of signing them can be seen at;
www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=272166494278159&set=a.216252733202869
“L’universe de Lara Fabian” has a new video mix, in this case of “Everland”, at
www.youtube.com/watch?v=-k7aE313Kzs
Any song covered in the Mademoiselle Zhivago movie has a built in advantage when it comes to visuals...
For the ‘interesting photo(s) of the week’, we first turn to the article on Lara’s appearance on the Star Academie show, at www.envedette.ca/potins-stars-quebec/media/lara-fabian-rayonne-tenue-glamour-variete-star-academie-1.14729387?. Here’s the translation:
---------------------------------------------
LARA FABIAN SHINES IN A GLAMOROUS OUTFIT AT STAR ACADÉMIE VARIETY!
Lara Fabian is our star of the day!
The star drew all eyes on the set of Star Académie on Sunday night.
She shone in a chic and glamorous ensemble chosen by stylist Patrick Vimbor . She was made up by Marco Marsolais and styled by Dennis Voltan .
Here is the superb style of the director of the Academy:
She is magnificent!
We love the look, and you?
-----------------------------------------
And a nice picture from the “Lara Fabian Connecting People” site,
vk.com/lf_cp?z=photo-121236_457272374%2Falbum-121236_278261207%2Frev
From the “Lara Fabian Je t’aime” FB site,
www.facebook.com/larafabianjetaime/photos/a.377813869626973/927819767959711/
Then, finally, as posted by the Lara Fabian Netherlands FB site,
www.facebook.com/LaraFabianTheNetherlands/photos/a.296888595189877/302931334585603/
with the caption, “Photo Source: Pinterest
Happy International Womenʼs Day 2021
Lara Fabian is a worthy and strong representative of the Female Gender.
Musically and Socially she is committed to a better World with heart and soul.
Today we honor all Women and all Mothers in particular!"
Amen!
We’re now down to 12 Academicians, and the determination of who to keep and who to ‘dislodge’ is only likely to get harder and more controversial. It’s again most likely that it will occupy all of Lara’s time, and therefore most of these News Updates. With nothing else obviously going on for her publicly, when this show ends, Lara has to hope that her June concerts will be allowed. Coronavirus cases in France have leveled off at about 20,000 per day, still too high for comfort; and as to whether those concerts will actually be held, the following article is relevant (https://www.thelocal.fr/20210216/france-to-hold-experimental-concerts-in-the-spring/):
--------------------------------
France to hold ‘experimental’ concerts in the spring
The French Culture Minister Roselyne Bachelot on Monday evening announced plans of holding test-concerts in March and April in Paris and Marseille.
“As long as we are not in a catastrophic health situation,” she told LCI, two concerts will take place “in the second half of March” in Marseille, while the concert in Paris is set to take place in April.
France's culture sector has suffered big economic losses due to the Covid health crisis, with concert halls, theatres, cinemas and museums closed for months as part of the government's strategy to curb the spread of the virus.
The government has taken criticism for leaving the sector behind, with critics arguing that culture is essential too, equal to cheese shops and wine-cellars, which were allowed to stay open during the lockdowns in spring and autumn of 2020.
While book shops quickly reopened as the government eased restrictions to boost sales before Christmas, concert halls and other venues gathering big crowds are extra tricky because of their high risk-factor.
But the culture minister said she was optimistic about finding a solution to let seated concerts go ahead under safe circumstances, and that she hoped to reproduce the model for festivals this summer.
“I am very optimistic for seated festivals,” she said. “For standing shows, it's more complicated, that's why I'm experimenting, and these experiments are meant to really test what's going on.”
The two concerts in Marseille will be held in the concert hall Dôme with a 1,000 sitting spectators, who will have “the possibility to stand up”, Bachelot said.
Everyone will be tested before the concert, the minister said, and organisers will distribute face masks and hand sanitising gel.
In Paris, between 3,000 and 5,000 people will be allowed into Accor Arena for a “standing concert” held in partnership with the Paris public hospital group AP-HP and the national research institute Inserm, which will be testing and tracing the event.
Everyone will have to wear a protective face mask throughout the concerts. According to organisers in Paris the tracing app TousAntiCovid will function as a health pass, with proof of a PCR test result from less than 72 hours prior to the event – similar to the method used for international travel.
No exact date has yet been set for either of the concerts as it will depend on how the health situation develops until then.
---------------------------------
We’ll let Lara provide the closing, using what she wrote on her FB site accompanying the picture
www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=288300369320930
“A little thought for you...
Thank you for all your messages...
Take care of yourself... 💕”
David
1. William Cloutier
2. Meghan Oak
3. Guillaume Lafond
When Lara was asked what she wanted to hear from William she said it was the same thing she had seen this week, his ability to access and display his heart more strongly. He learned to do it this week, and she wanted to see if he could do it this evening. Teacher Ariane Moffatt was asked about Meghan, and she said she wanted to see whether Meghan would be capable of looking for her heart. When teacher Gregory Charles was asked what Guillaume needs to do to push his limits, he replied he must accept that he is not as limited as he thought when he arrived - vocally, musically and artistically. Gregory thought actually the “sky is the limit” for him.
Here's what happened:
1. William: He sang “You Are the Reason” by Calum Scott. Lara had asked him to sing something he had never sung before, to develop it from scratch. He has a beautiful voice – one wonders why he was ‘at risk’ so early in the proceedings (more on that in a moment). The song was a bit ‘all over the place’ but his voice followed it. Lara said that right from the first time she heard him at the decision camp she was impressed with him, and that he had shown exponential growth this evening – that he was all a great artist is, and she thanked him for the gift he provided them this night.
2. Meghan sang Lara’s “Broken Vow”. A tough song, requiring great range we know, and she did a good job with it, hitting the high notes. We’re spoiled having heard Lara sing it, and Meghan doesn’t have the same vocal power or passion, but her performance was nothing to be ashamed of. The Emcee Patrice Michaud said that Meghan had given them access to her fragility, and that didn’t prevent it from being strong.
3. Guillaume sang Dolly Parton’s song “I Will Always Love You”. As we know, that song also has great range. He performed it well, and strongly, but in a flattened form, as a low keyed country song. There was nothing he did wrong, and he has a nice voice with somewhat limited range. To get through this song he took no chances.
I thought that William had the best voice, and while Meghan’s presentation was somewhat fragile, she took more chances and accomplished more than Guillaume. The audience chose…Guillaume, attesting, perhaps, to the rise in popularity of country music in Quebec (e.g., www.soundcheckentertainment.ca/festival-country-de-lotbiniere-2017/). The article shown below also indicated his presence on social networks helped. The judges then chose William. You may remember that William’s wife gave birth to their second child a short time ago, and there were rumors that he had asked to be ‘put in danger’ because he wanted to leave and go back home with her. If true and the judges knew about that, they ignored it.
There was probably nothing Meghan could have done to win, given the other candidate's apparent advantages, but she probably made it harder on herself by choosing such a difficult song.
Here's an article about the show from the Journal de Montreal (https://www.journaldemontreal.com/2021/03/07/star-academie--meghan-decue-mais-sereine):
------------------------------------
Star Academy: Meghan disappointed, but serene
It has certainly been the most heartbreaking night of all Star Académie variety so far: After a gala where absolutely nothing was decided, it was candidate Meghan Oak who had to pack up ... with regret.
Although her comrade Guillaume Lafond was saved by the public and her good friend William Cloutier was protected by the teachers, Meghan did not have to be ashamed of her performance on Broken Vow, by Lara Fabian, but it was necessary, alas, to slice. The young woman from Coteau-du-Lac said she was disappointed, but also serene and proud of the progress made.
"It's a lot of emotions," she said at the end of the show. “At the same time, it's a competition, you have to expect everything. It kinda tore my heart to say bye to my friends, my brothers and sisters, as I like to call them, but I'm sure they will shine. I love them very much. And I'm happy with my time at the Academy.”
“I made a lot of progress, a lot more than I expected,” continued Meghan. “Of course I would have liked to have had more weeks at the Academy, but life does things well, and that's okay. I have evolved a lot, I learned a lot, I made great acquaintances. It's only positive.”
On October 23, Meghan Oak launched a very first minialbum entitled “L’Etranger”, thus realizing a dream. "Stay tuned, there will be other releases very soon!", she promises in this regard.
Until now a student in TV animation at UQAM, Meghan would like, in the long term, to reconcile song and animation. She says she is inspired by the careers of Marie-Ève Janvier or Patrice Michaud, who combine the two mediums.
"We would be due for a young girl, in our screens, who would come to sing and animate," jokes the one who says she has not yet found "her" Jean-François Breau [who was instrumental in the career of Marie-Ève Janvier, his girlfriend].
Consecrated Hawaiian
Fourth variety, new "Song of the Nation"; after “Quand les hommes vivront d’amour” , by Raymond Lévesque, and “Le Blues du businessman”, by Claude Dubois, it was the turn of “Hawaïenne “, from the Trois Accords, to be inducted as the title into the pantheon of Star Académie, during the first minutes of the show, Sunday.
We had taken out the appropriate paraphernalia for the occasion, with Hawaiian necklaces for the dancers, garishly colored shirt for Matt Moln, and a Jacob who was totally letting go of his crazy! It felt like we were at the beach in early March.
Visually and musically, the Star Académie varieties are gaining in presence every week. One has the impression of being in a crazy museum during Ariane Moffatt's number, with the dancers playing the statues, the games of projection and the smoke on the ground. The music creation teacher invited two traditional Inuit throat singers to enhance the result.
The finale, on “Miami”, was quite joyous, and Ariane later released a new title, “Beauté” , which she unveiled on the web a few days ago, in a trio with Lunou and Rosalie.
On Sunday, the Academicians had some lovely close collaboration with the various guests, which gave rise to precious moments, such as during the long opening segment with Véronic DiCaire. While she once again displayed her great talent as an imitator by reproducing the greatest female voices from here and elsewhere - Celine Dion, Lady Gaga, Adele, Diane Dufresne, Whitney Houston and a hilarious Lara Fabian, to see yourself pastiched to perfection! - our temporary residents of Waterloo outdid themselves: Meghan was excellent on Hello, the duets of Véronic with Guillaume and William, on Shallow and Je t'aime, were sparkling, Lunou radiated on Oxygen, and Dashny and Shayan breathed all their energy to the song I Wanna Dance with Somebody .
Same thing during the collage of excerpts bringing together Alicia Moffet, Ludovick Bourgeois, Sarahmée and Bleu Jeans Bleu, into which had been inserted a few peaks from the English-speaking charts: our recruits shone, in particular on Bad Guy , by Billie Eilish (Zara, Rosalie and Lunou ) and Watermelon Sugar, by Harry Styles (Dashny). Good idea to complete the sequence with Veux-tu jouer au bowling?, festive ritornello of Bleu Jeans Bleu.
The French singer-songwriter Pomme was undoubtedly a great discovery for many and aroused delight among the participants of Star Académie, many of whom admire her. Safia Nolin's accomplice has revisited part of her repertoire, including Ceux qui revent, On brulera and Soleil Soleil, with her friends for an evening.
The three songs performed by the candidates in danger are available on QUB music and on all streaming and download platforms.
Guillaume Lafond (People's choice)
Very popular on social networks, Guillaume benefited from the enthusiasm by being protected by the public. It took Star Académie to remind us that the immense I Will Always Love You, before belonging to Whitney Houston, was the work of country singer Dolly Parton. Will it now be part of Guillaume's artist's bundle as well? This one declaimed his play of endangerment while admiring his girlfriend, triggering the enthusiasm of all the romantics of Quebec! It smelled of country even in our cottages during the number, Guillaume wearing the colors of this very authentic style of music wonderfully. And the Académicien of Richelieu adapted I Will Always Love You very well in its own sauce. "It does not need to be complicated for it to be good," pointed out Gregory Charles at the end of his passage, as a summary of their exchanges in rehearsals.
William Cloutier (Professors' choice)
William Cloutier explained that he wanted to interpret You Are the Reason, a 2018 Calum Scott hit, as a message of love to himself ... but we also saw a declaration of tenderness to his family when, the song progressing, the young man gradually moved close to his family to offer them the ballad straight in the eyes. At his feet, his cute boy Liam, 4, reacted strongly as his father played it all for everything, at first laughing at seeing him up close, then in tears at not being able to touch him. The QMI Agency ran into the boy by chance backstage at the gala, shortly after William's performance, and Liam, his good humor regained, confirmed to us what we already suspected: it is because he missed his daddy that he got so emotional. William's good friend, Lunou Zucchini, eyes watering, also seemed oddly touched by the family scene playing out in front of her. William's entourage, inside and outside the Academy, can nevertheless be proud of him: the candidate stood out as a master, was touching and convinced the faculty, who then immediately returned him to Waterloo. “You are, in my opinion, everything a great artist is,” praised Lara Fabian.
Meghan Oak (Dislodged)
She will not continue the adventure, but what a star aura, all the same, this Meghan Oak! Beautiful as a movie star, the young artist tried the daring bet to embark on a composition by Lara Fabian, the intense Broken Vow, a strong piece, to pull out the game. And she defended herself honorably. Earlier this week, in rehearsal, the director of the Academy was emotionally impacted by the proposal of the participant from Coteau-du-Lac, and on Sunday, it was Meghan's colleagues, including Maëva, Queenie and William, who were not able to hold back their tears and keep their jaws from falling in front of her talent. The faculty was unanimous on Sunday: as we wanted to get her to do, Meghan managed to connect to her emotions in her interpretation, well beyond her impeccable technique. Although dislodged, Meghan Oak has progressed by leaps and bounds in three weeks at the Academy, and a great career is emerging in front of her.
----------------------------------------
Megan’s elimination was not accepted so easily by the audience in Quebec, as indicated in the article at (https://vedettequebec.com/2021/03/07/lelimination-au-gala-de-ce-soir-a-star-academie-cree-des-reactions-partout-au-quebec/):
-----------------------------------
Elimination at tonight's gala at Star Académie creates reactions across Quebec
The choice of the 3 candidates in danger had already made a lot of talk in the last days.
Indeed, Star Academy had endangered William, Meghan Oak and Guillaume.
Several viewers said they were 3 of the show's favorite candidates.
The competition was therefore very strong between the 3… And they all performed out of the ordinary.
The public finally voted for Guillaume Lafond.
It was then William who was saved by the professors of the Academy.
Meghan Oak, who was yet one of the favorites of the public, was therefore eliminated early in the show.
The comments were made by the hundreds following this elimination ... Here is what we could read:
- WELL LET'S SEE, SO DISAPPOINTED WITH THE CHOICES TONIGHT. I WISH MEGHAN THE BEST FOR THE FUTURE
-BICHETTE .. THE 3 DESERVED TO REMAIN; BIG TALENT
-WHAT? LACK OF TASTE ?? WHAT IS THAT SERIOUS?
- MEGHAN WILL LEAVE, I HAVE NOTHING AGAINST GUILLAUME BUT NO CHANCE THAT HE WAS BETTER THAN MEGHAN
-EH HERE WITH STUPID NOMINATIONS, NOT JUSTIFIED, WE END UP WITH ONE OF THE BEST SINGER FIRED: MEGHAN , BIG NONSENSE
-EUHHHH SERIOUS ?
-I KNEW THAT THE COUNTRY VOTE SHOULD NOT BE UNDERESTIMATED.
--------------------------------------------
Some of Lara’s fan sites asked their readers what they thought of Meghan’s performance. The opinion was quite strong that Meghan should not have been ‘dislodged’. However, since many of those writing in were from France, they had no vote. Regardless of what one thinks of this particular decision, there have been many other apparent misjudgements we have seen on The Voice shows the past couple of years (during Lara's tenure), so one more should come as no surprise.
As usual, there were other pictures from the program on Lara’s site, e.g.,
www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=290265242457776&set=a.259330805551220
with the caption, “Rehearsing with my little hearts and the wonderful Gregory!” [“My little hearts” is what Lara calls the Academicians].
In addition, Lara puts some videos on her FB site that can’t be seen outside Quebec (e.g., www.qub.ca/tvaplus/video/cours-0303-ced-lara-1038874216). But sometimes they do show up, e.g.,
www.facebook.com/staracademietva/videos/243745827424385/
The determination as to why some are allowed and some aren’t is not clear.
In other news, after another week of hard work, once again Lara has placed a ‘relaxed for the weekend’ picture on her FB and Instagram sites, at
www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=290971142387186&set=a.259330798884554
or
http://instagram.com/p/CMFVQ5phUNA
with the caption, “A morning at home... Dressed in something soft and very very relaxed 😂😂
Wishing you all a very happy weekend... 💕
The 'Lara Fabian est ton autre' site announced that the vinyls of the “Lockdown Sessions” are now beginning to be sent. A picture of Lara in the process of signing them can be seen at;
www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=272166494278159&set=a.216252733202869
“L’universe de Lara Fabian” has a new video mix, in this case of “Everland”, at
www.youtube.com/watch?v=-k7aE313Kzs
Any song covered in the Mademoiselle Zhivago movie has a built in advantage when it comes to visuals...
For the ‘interesting photo(s) of the week’, we first turn to the article on Lara’s appearance on the Star Academie show, at www.envedette.ca/potins-stars-quebec/media/lara-fabian-rayonne-tenue-glamour-variete-star-academie-1.14729387?. Here’s the translation:
---------------------------------------------
LARA FABIAN SHINES IN A GLAMOROUS OUTFIT AT STAR ACADÉMIE VARIETY!
Lara Fabian is our star of the day!
The star drew all eyes on the set of Star Académie on Sunday night.
She shone in a chic and glamorous ensemble chosen by stylist Patrick Vimbor . She was made up by Marco Marsolais and styled by Dennis Voltan .
Here is the superb style of the director of the Academy:
http://instagram.com/p/CMI8k8Pnn11
She is magnificent!
We love the look, and you?
-----------------------------------------
And a nice picture from the “Lara Fabian Connecting People” site,
vk.com/lf_cp?z=photo-121236_457272374%2Falbum-121236_278261207%2Frev
From the “Lara Fabian Je t’aime” FB site,
www.facebook.com/larafabianjetaime/photos/a.377813869626973/927819767959711/
Then, finally, as posted by the Lara Fabian Netherlands FB site,
www.facebook.com/LaraFabianTheNetherlands/photos/a.296888595189877/302931334585603/
with the caption, “Photo Source: Pinterest
Happy International Womenʼs Day 2021
Lara Fabian is a worthy and strong representative of the Female Gender.
Musically and Socially she is committed to a better World with heart and soul.
Today we honor all Women and all Mothers in particular!"
Amen!
We’re now down to 12 Academicians, and the determination of who to keep and who to ‘dislodge’ is only likely to get harder and more controversial. It’s again most likely that it will occupy all of Lara’s time, and therefore most of these News Updates. With nothing else obviously going on for her publicly, when this show ends, Lara has to hope that her June concerts will be allowed. Coronavirus cases in France have leveled off at about 20,000 per day, still too high for comfort; and as to whether those concerts will actually be held, the following article is relevant (https://www.thelocal.fr/20210216/france-to-hold-experimental-concerts-in-the-spring/):
--------------------------------
France to hold ‘experimental’ concerts in the spring
The French Culture Minister Roselyne Bachelot on Monday evening announced plans of holding test-concerts in March and April in Paris and Marseille.
“As long as we are not in a catastrophic health situation,” she told LCI, two concerts will take place “in the second half of March” in Marseille, while the concert in Paris is set to take place in April.
France's culture sector has suffered big economic losses due to the Covid health crisis, with concert halls, theatres, cinemas and museums closed for months as part of the government's strategy to curb the spread of the virus.
The government has taken criticism for leaving the sector behind, with critics arguing that culture is essential too, equal to cheese shops and wine-cellars, which were allowed to stay open during the lockdowns in spring and autumn of 2020.
While book shops quickly reopened as the government eased restrictions to boost sales before Christmas, concert halls and other venues gathering big crowds are extra tricky because of their high risk-factor.
But the culture minister said she was optimistic about finding a solution to let seated concerts go ahead under safe circumstances, and that she hoped to reproduce the model for festivals this summer.
“I am very optimistic for seated festivals,” she said. “For standing shows, it's more complicated, that's why I'm experimenting, and these experiments are meant to really test what's going on.”
The two concerts in Marseille will be held in the concert hall Dôme with a 1,000 sitting spectators, who will have “the possibility to stand up”, Bachelot said.
Everyone will be tested before the concert, the minister said, and organisers will distribute face masks and hand sanitising gel.
In Paris, between 3,000 and 5,000 people will be allowed into Accor Arena for a “standing concert” held in partnership with the Paris public hospital group AP-HP and the national research institute Inserm, which will be testing and tracing the event.
Everyone will have to wear a protective face mask throughout the concerts. According to organisers in Paris the tracing app TousAntiCovid will function as a health pass, with proof of a PCR test result from less than 72 hours prior to the event – similar to the method used for international travel.
No exact date has yet been set for either of the concerts as it will depend on how the health situation develops until then.
---------------------------------
We’ll let Lara provide the closing, using what she wrote on her FB site accompanying the picture
www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=288300369320930
“A little thought for you...
Thank you for all your messages...
Take care of yourself... 💕”
David