Post by davidhr on Apr 20, 2021 8:03:04 GMT -5
A big night for Lara - and of course some contestants – at this week’s Star Acadmie show. Academicians joined Lara, each singing a duo with her on some of her biggest hits, accompanied by a symphony orchestra conducted by Yannick Nezet-Seguin. The six who were left sang:
"Je t'aime" by Guillaume Lafond;
"Si tu m'aimes" by Jacob Laforge
"La différence" by Lunou Zucchini
"Humana" by Queenie Clément
"Je suis malade" by Rosalie Ayotte
"J'y crois encore" by William Cloutier
Several videos were available of the Academicians rehearsing with Lara at:
www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=OxZSEoepinw&ab_channel=LaraTheRingFabian
and another at
Additional material associated with rehearsing with Lara and the orchestra was broadcast during the dailies, e.g., on last Thursday’s show.
As for the performance of these songs with Lara: Absolutely one of the highlights of the season! The Academicians were quite good, especially the last four, but the spotlight was fully on Lara, who sang the major portions of each song, with great vocal quality. She poured every bit of emotional energy she had into her performance, to such an extent that at times the singer who was involved in the duet was just watching her. Nevertheless, they all demonstrated why they deserved to be in this ‘final six’. A truly memorable segment. [Note - one can find this and other videos from the show on Daily Motion].
Then for the competition itself: it was all male gender competing, with Jacob Roberge, William Cloutier, Guillaume Laffond and all taking their turns.
Jacob went first and sang “Un peu plus haut, un peu plus loin” (you can also hear him singing this song at www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fu3w2R4Q4EI&ab_channel=JacobRoberge-Topic). No question he has a strong, resonant voice, perhaps the best of the three, although he simply stood at the microphone and sang – something one can see in opera performances that are not part of operas themselves.
William then sang “Si pour me voir”, his own composition (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhXb3GQAGcc&ab_channel=WilliamCloutier-Topic). Starting out singing, he then got up and moved around the stage. His voice is excellent, and with his overall performance looked like a professional entertainer He was also helped out on the chorus by Lunou singing backup vocals.
Finally, Guillaume sang “Budapest” a rhythmic song in the country mode (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBZVFdFxdlY&ab_channel=GuillaumeLafond-Topic). Accompanying himself on the guitar, it was another professional performance – one that one might see from an accomplished country singer.
While all these were worthwhile presentations from the semi-finalists in the show (and the show should be proud of them), to me William was overall the best from a performance+voice standpoint. The audience agreed.
A surprise was a medley of songs performed by three candidates already eliminated: Maeva, Dashny, and Shayan; they were there to promote the Star Academie album which is to be released on Thursday. All were very good, and showed why in an alternate universe they could have been among the final six. The actual final six were surprised and delighted to see them.
Here’s an article describing the show from the J. of Montreal (https://www.journaldemontreal.com/2021/04/18/star-academie-william-cloutier-passe-en-finale):
---------------------------------------------------
Star Académie: William Cloutier advances to the final
Ariane Moffatt said when announcing the result, Quebecers voted in large numbers to elect the male finalist of Star Académie 2021. And it is to William Cloutier that the title goes, despite the fierce competition between his opponents Jacob Roberge and Guillaume Lafond, at the Sunday variety.
The three contestants were roughly evenly matched, each with their dominant abilities, but William's composition, Si pour me voir, dedicated to his family, visibly moved the audience.
The finalist could hardly believe it and even asked to be shown the cardboard box with the name of the Academician chosen by viewers. William had his whistle cut with emotion.
The young dad from Victoriaville is therefore guaranteed to stay at the Waterloo academy until the grand final on May 2, during which he will face the female finalist, who will be known next Sunday.
Remember that at the end of the ultimate variety, the winner of Star Académie will pocket a reward of $125,000, while the finalist will receive $ 50,000 in cash.
Pleasure for Guillaume
Guillaume set himself only one goal on Sunday: to have pure pleasure, and it was the case. “I had fun on stage. I haven't looked at the cameras once. I looked at my family, my girlfriend, I was absorbed with pleasure, that's what I remember from my evening! " said Guillaume, also saying he was proud to have evolved as an artist, to be more comfortable in interviews and to have made it to the semi-finals of this great competition.
Happy to know that an audience will perhaps already be waiting for him when he launches his projects, Guillaume dreams of collaborating with Patrice Michaud - whose work he has tamed in the last two months - and Vincent Vallières, for example, to concoct his future songs. He also wants to create his own repertoire. We will certainly see him on stage again soon.
“I'm going to find musicians, including good friends with whom I've been making music for a long time, I'm going to put on one or two shows, to do events, festivals. Me, I do "shows" of living room, and I will do what the world wants," portrayed Guillaume.
Two albums for Jacob
Although ousted from Star Académie, Jacob Roberge is not worried about the future : he has tons of plans for the future and he can't wait to find out what awaits him. The one who, since the age of 10, has learned to master the piano, guitar, bass, drums, ukulele, bouzouki, cello, saxophone and transverse flute is working on two album projects - one rock, in a group, with friends, and the other solo - original compositions. Because, yes, Jacob makes his own equipment, even if he played this card very little at the Academy. He even plans to simmer a Christmas record in his color.
"There are a lot of instrumentals in my music," said the young artist. "It's more focused on the whole and the arrangement, in the progressive rock style. There is vocal, but they are not big songs. It's not Mario Pelchat or Bruno Pelletier! [Smile] It was less appropriate for Star Académie."
Jacob, who worked as a consultant in a music store in Quebec before joining Star Académie, says he's glad he gained confidence during his time in Waterloo.
“I have always been someone who was really afraid of the eyes of others, and I really let go of my fool at Star Academy. I want to keep this, because it feels good! ”
Farewell, Michel Louvain
We also addressed, Sunday, a beautiful farewell to a monument of Quebec song who passed away a few days ago, Michel Louvain.
With all due respect for the legend, the tribute to the charming singer opened the evening, first with a touching montage of testimonies (François Legault, Donald Lautrec, Yvon Deschamps, Danielle Ouimet, Michèle Richard, etc.), then with a performance, both very simple and majestic, by the Academicians with a few string musicians from the Metropolitan Orchestra.
Un certain sourire, La dame en bleu, Buenas Noches Mi Amor, then our young faces turned, respectfully, towards the photo of a Michel Louvain smiling - as always - with all his teeth. A beautiful moment, sober, but at the height of the elegance of the deceased.
The 20 instrumentalists of the Metropolitan Orchestra, flanked by their conductor, the professor of artistic identity Yannick Nézet-Séguin, then continued in grace by revisiting with Lara Fabian some gems of the latter's repertoire, which we felt in turn. in turn strong and vulnerable in the grandeur of her marriage to the symphonic ensemble. The lady shared her Je t’aime, J’y crois encore, La différence, Si tu m’aimes, Humana and Je suis malade with the semi-finalists, whom she then praised. “Bravo to my little hearts [...], who were more than up to the task,” underlined the director of the Academy, who has rarely been seen so fragile and grateful. Even the theme song Maintenant et partout was revisited under the batons of the Metropolitan Orchestra for this very special gala.
Vallières and Les Louanges
The rest of the gala has poured into all registers, with a medley of pieces by Vincent Vallières (and on "Va s'aimer encore" in totality), a “nightclub” type number, with some English-speaking radio hits from the hour (where Dua Lipa, Billie Eilish and Surfaces rubbed shoulders, among others), the ex-Academicians Maëva Grelet, Dashny Jules and Shayan Heidari came to promote pieces contained on the Star Académie album which will be launched on Thursday (J’m’en veux, Ton départ NS Je veux), and a stop of Les Louanges, armed with his new extract, Pigeons.
The songs performed by the candidates in danger are available on QUB musique and on all streaming and download platforms.
------------------------------------------------
There’s a hint in this article that William’s “dedication of his song to his family” swayed the audience, as, in effect, an emotional appeal that the other candidates did not have. That may have been true, in this and the previous competitions, but he was clearly deserving of winning. Another issue is that Lunou acted as a back-up singer for William – the only time a candidate has had ‘help’ on his song. In the ‘dailies’ it was shown that it was Lara’s idea. Other candidates have had a choral backup in the competition.
Lara expressed her great joy and wonder at William’s performance in her review of it in front of a now very small group of remaining Academicians at
www.facebook.com/JeanPhilippeDionOfficiel/videos/2847541028906714
An article expressing a point of view about Lara’s participation in the segment can be found at (http://linfonetrealtv.free.fr/pages/newsseul.php?idarticles=18859&idemission=45):
----------------------------------
Lara Fabian, Her Big Symphonic Medley at Star Academie
This Sunday, April 18, 2021, the director of Star Academie 2021 Lara Fabian came to promote herself by singing several of her hits on a big medley performed by the students, with the Montreal Metropolitan Orchestra present on the set.
She started with Guillaume on “Je t’aime”, William “J’y crois encore”, Lunou with “La difference” then Jacob on “Si tu m’aimes”, chained by Queenie with “Humana” and finally we will end with Rosalie: “Je suis malade”.
If William and Guillaume will be very, very average on their duo, the 4 others will be at the top giving very beautiful duets. Lara Fabian will be at the top vocally as usual but really too much in the expressions of the face with a lot of grimaces again… The arrival of this orchestra was a big plus, with these very beautiful re-orchestrations. Lara will then explain her great satisfaction for this medley.
----------------------------------
Clearly the writer is not a big fan!
For another point of view, an article discussing the audience’s reaction to the show can be found at (https://vedettequebec.com/2021/04/19/les-fans-reagissent-au-choix-du-premier-finaliste-de-star-academie/); here’s the translation:
----------------------------------------
Fans react to the choice of Star Académie's first finalist
The group acts were wonderful. Indeed, Lara Fabian touched the viewers with her incredible interpretation during her symphonic number in the company of all the Academicians. Several even agree to say that with the orchestra behind, it was the most beautiful number of the season.
Afterwards, it was the turn of the three young men to impress the audience. Jacob first sang an incredible version of Jean-Pierre Ferland's “Un peu plus haut un peu plus loin”. Although his voice is breathtaking, several viewers pointed out the lack of emotion and presence during his performance.
Then, we could see the performance of William Cloutier. He took a huge risk by presenting his first original song to the public. We can say that he raised it hands down with his moving composition "“Si pour me voir ". And then, Guillaume made everyone dance in his living room by singing in his own way the song Budapest by George Ezra.
Finally, William's risk paid off because he was the one the public chose to go to the final! Obviously, the vote was not unanimous because the three young men were all different and talented.
All seem to agree that the three semi-finalists deserved their place in the final… Bravo to all!
----------------------------------------------------------
The show was hugely successful, both artistically and from an audience point of view as noted in the following article (https://www.journaldequebec.com/2021/04/19/plus-haute-cote-decoute-de-la-saison-pour-star-academie-1):
--------------------------
Highest ratings of the season for "Star Académie"
Is it the tribute to Michel Louvain, the men's semi-final or Lara Fabian's number with the Metropolitan Orchestra that was the most anticipated at “Star Académie” on Sunday evening?
One thing is certain, fans of the show answered the call in large numbers, because this tenth variety of "Star Académie" was the most watched of the season, with its 1,402,000 viewers, including a peak audience. 1,763,000 during Lara Fabian's segment accompanied by Yannick Nézet-Séguin's symphonic ensemble. This is shown by preliminary data from Numéris, made public on Monday.
The penultimate “Star Académie” gala and women's semi-final will be broadcast next Sunday, April 24, at 7 p.m. on TVA. Sunday, the candidate William Cloutier was crowned male finalist of the 2021 edition.
--------------------------------------------------
Note that designating the two semi-final shows as “Men’s” and “Women’s” means, if this was the plan all along, that it was not a coincidence having three semi-finalists from each gender among the six candidates. If that is really so, then the results of the individual competitions might be looked upon in a different light, as ‘manipulations’ to produce this result. They probably should then have had gender-separate competitions all the way along, so as not to mislead the audience.
Alternatively, if it was just happenstance, they may have used the results to produce the semi-finals along these separate lines. That this was the case is suggested in an article at www.lanouvelle.net/2021/04/13/william-cloutier-de-nouveau-en-danger-a-star-academie/.
Looking ahead to Lara’s upcoming concerts in June – now less than two months away – here is the current situation in France, focusing on nighttime activities (https://www.gouvernement.fr/en/coronavirus-covid-19):
------------------------------------------
From Saturday 3 April, restrictive measures already in force in some parts of France are extended to the whole of the country.
From 7PM to 6AM, a curfew is in force in metropolitan France. You may only leave your home for the following reasons and with an exemption certificate:
Commuting to and from work, school or training place; carrying out essential business trips that cannot be postponed;
Medical appointments that cannot be carried out remotely or postponed; obtaining medicines;
Essential family reasons, assisting vulnerable persons, persons in a precarious situation or taking care of children;
Persons with a disability and their accompanying person;
Judicial or administrative summons; meetings with legal professionals that cannot be conducted remotely or postponed;
Participating in a mission of general interest upon request from an administrative authority;
Air or rail transit related to long distance journeys;
Walking a pet outdoors within 1km of one’s place of residence and for a brief amount of time.
--------------------------------
It would not appear as if concerts will easily qualify for one of those exceptions. Of course it could change – daily positive cases have been coming down, after a peak early in the month (due most likely to increases in vaccinations, and the degree of lock-down that was put in place at that time). If it continues on its current trajectory, the ‘second wave’ may well be over in the next few weeks. If so, we’ll then see whether the picture has changed sufficiently for those concerts to take place – and even if they could, whether they would be financially practical given the possible spatial distancing that might be required.
Interesting photo(s) of the week: a potpourri of Lara pictures with different topics;
First, Lara for this week’s show, from her Instagram site,
and then with the orchestra conductor (and teacher of artistic identity on the show), Yannick Nezet-Seguin, at:
with the caption, “Maestro! Thank you for this moment, so strong, so big ... and bravo to my little hearts”
Then from Freebird Studios,
www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=295719241922884&set=a.216252733202869
available to be bought at shop.freebirdstudio.be/shop/lara-fabian-studio-3/
And of Lara with her gluten free bread,
with the caption, “Ouiiiiiii I received my order of gluten-free bread! Like even when allergic we can enjoy thanks to the bakery 🥯 baked 2 go 🍞miam 🙏🏻
The ‘women’s semi-final is coming up next week. It looks like it could be quite close, with three wonderfully diverse contestants. Stay safe everybody,
David
"Je t'aime" by Guillaume Lafond;
"Si tu m'aimes" by Jacob Laforge
"La différence" by Lunou Zucchini
"Humana" by Queenie Clément
"Je suis malade" by Rosalie Ayotte
"J'y crois encore" by William Cloutier
Several videos were available of the Academicians rehearsing with Lara at:
www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=OxZSEoepinw&ab_channel=LaraTheRingFabian
and another at
http://instagram.com/p/CNxw0Rgr6_k
Additional material associated with rehearsing with Lara and the orchestra was broadcast during the dailies, e.g., on last Thursday’s show.
As for the performance of these songs with Lara: Absolutely one of the highlights of the season! The Academicians were quite good, especially the last four, but the spotlight was fully on Lara, who sang the major portions of each song, with great vocal quality. She poured every bit of emotional energy she had into her performance, to such an extent that at times the singer who was involved in the duet was just watching her. Nevertheless, they all demonstrated why they deserved to be in this ‘final six’. A truly memorable segment. [Note - one can find this and other videos from the show on Daily Motion].
Then for the competition itself: it was all male gender competing, with Jacob Roberge, William Cloutier, Guillaume Laffond and all taking their turns.
Jacob went first and sang “Un peu plus haut, un peu plus loin” (you can also hear him singing this song at www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fu3w2R4Q4EI&ab_channel=JacobRoberge-Topic). No question he has a strong, resonant voice, perhaps the best of the three, although he simply stood at the microphone and sang – something one can see in opera performances that are not part of operas themselves.
William then sang “Si pour me voir”, his own composition (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhXb3GQAGcc&ab_channel=WilliamCloutier-Topic). Starting out singing, he then got up and moved around the stage. His voice is excellent, and with his overall performance looked like a professional entertainer He was also helped out on the chorus by Lunou singing backup vocals.
Finally, Guillaume sang “Budapest” a rhythmic song in the country mode (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBZVFdFxdlY&ab_channel=GuillaumeLafond-Topic). Accompanying himself on the guitar, it was another professional performance – one that one might see from an accomplished country singer.
While all these were worthwhile presentations from the semi-finalists in the show (and the show should be proud of them), to me William was overall the best from a performance+voice standpoint. The audience agreed.
A surprise was a medley of songs performed by three candidates already eliminated: Maeva, Dashny, and Shayan; they were there to promote the Star Academie album which is to be released on Thursday. All were very good, and showed why in an alternate universe they could have been among the final six. The actual final six were surprised and delighted to see them.
Here’s an article describing the show from the J. of Montreal (https://www.journaldemontreal.com/2021/04/18/star-academie-william-cloutier-passe-en-finale):
---------------------------------------------------
Star Académie: William Cloutier advances to the final
Ariane Moffatt said when announcing the result, Quebecers voted in large numbers to elect the male finalist of Star Académie 2021. And it is to William Cloutier that the title goes, despite the fierce competition between his opponents Jacob Roberge and Guillaume Lafond, at the Sunday variety.
The three contestants were roughly evenly matched, each with their dominant abilities, but William's composition, Si pour me voir, dedicated to his family, visibly moved the audience.
The finalist could hardly believe it and even asked to be shown the cardboard box with the name of the Academician chosen by viewers. William had his whistle cut with emotion.
The young dad from Victoriaville is therefore guaranteed to stay at the Waterloo academy until the grand final on May 2, during which he will face the female finalist, who will be known next Sunday.
Remember that at the end of the ultimate variety, the winner of Star Académie will pocket a reward of $125,000, while the finalist will receive $ 50,000 in cash.
Pleasure for Guillaume
Guillaume set himself only one goal on Sunday: to have pure pleasure, and it was the case. “I had fun on stage. I haven't looked at the cameras once. I looked at my family, my girlfriend, I was absorbed with pleasure, that's what I remember from my evening! " said Guillaume, also saying he was proud to have evolved as an artist, to be more comfortable in interviews and to have made it to the semi-finals of this great competition.
Happy to know that an audience will perhaps already be waiting for him when he launches his projects, Guillaume dreams of collaborating with Patrice Michaud - whose work he has tamed in the last two months - and Vincent Vallières, for example, to concoct his future songs. He also wants to create his own repertoire. We will certainly see him on stage again soon.
“I'm going to find musicians, including good friends with whom I've been making music for a long time, I'm going to put on one or two shows, to do events, festivals. Me, I do "shows" of living room, and I will do what the world wants," portrayed Guillaume.
Two albums for Jacob
Although ousted from Star Académie, Jacob Roberge is not worried about the future : he has tons of plans for the future and he can't wait to find out what awaits him. The one who, since the age of 10, has learned to master the piano, guitar, bass, drums, ukulele, bouzouki, cello, saxophone and transverse flute is working on two album projects - one rock, in a group, with friends, and the other solo - original compositions. Because, yes, Jacob makes his own equipment, even if he played this card very little at the Academy. He even plans to simmer a Christmas record in his color.
"There are a lot of instrumentals in my music," said the young artist. "It's more focused on the whole and the arrangement, in the progressive rock style. There is vocal, but they are not big songs. It's not Mario Pelchat or Bruno Pelletier! [Smile] It was less appropriate for Star Académie."
Jacob, who worked as a consultant in a music store in Quebec before joining Star Académie, says he's glad he gained confidence during his time in Waterloo.
“I have always been someone who was really afraid of the eyes of others, and I really let go of my fool at Star Academy. I want to keep this, because it feels good! ”
Farewell, Michel Louvain
We also addressed, Sunday, a beautiful farewell to a monument of Quebec song who passed away a few days ago, Michel Louvain.
With all due respect for the legend, the tribute to the charming singer opened the evening, first with a touching montage of testimonies (François Legault, Donald Lautrec, Yvon Deschamps, Danielle Ouimet, Michèle Richard, etc.), then with a performance, both very simple and majestic, by the Academicians with a few string musicians from the Metropolitan Orchestra.
Un certain sourire, La dame en bleu, Buenas Noches Mi Amor, then our young faces turned, respectfully, towards the photo of a Michel Louvain smiling - as always - with all his teeth. A beautiful moment, sober, but at the height of the elegance of the deceased.
The 20 instrumentalists of the Metropolitan Orchestra, flanked by their conductor, the professor of artistic identity Yannick Nézet-Séguin, then continued in grace by revisiting with Lara Fabian some gems of the latter's repertoire, which we felt in turn. in turn strong and vulnerable in the grandeur of her marriage to the symphonic ensemble. The lady shared her Je t’aime, J’y crois encore, La différence, Si tu m’aimes, Humana and Je suis malade with the semi-finalists, whom she then praised. “Bravo to my little hearts [...], who were more than up to the task,” underlined the director of the Academy, who has rarely been seen so fragile and grateful. Even the theme song Maintenant et partout was revisited under the batons of the Metropolitan Orchestra for this very special gala.
Vallières and Les Louanges
The rest of the gala has poured into all registers, with a medley of pieces by Vincent Vallières (and on "Va s'aimer encore" in totality), a “nightclub” type number, with some English-speaking radio hits from the hour (where Dua Lipa, Billie Eilish and Surfaces rubbed shoulders, among others), the ex-Academicians Maëva Grelet, Dashny Jules and Shayan Heidari came to promote pieces contained on the Star Académie album which will be launched on Thursday (J’m’en veux, Ton départ NS Je veux), and a stop of Les Louanges, armed with his new extract, Pigeons.
The songs performed by the candidates in danger are available on QUB musique and on all streaming and download platforms.
------------------------------------------------
There’s a hint in this article that William’s “dedication of his song to his family” swayed the audience, as, in effect, an emotional appeal that the other candidates did not have. That may have been true, in this and the previous competitions, but he was clearly deserving of winning. Another issue is that Lunou acted as a back-up singer for William – the only time a candidate has had ‘help’ on his song. In the ‘dailies’ it was shown that it was Lara’s idea. Other candidates have had a choral backup in the competition.
Lara expressed her great joy and wonder at William’s performance in her review of it in front of a now very small group of remaining Academicians at
www.facebook.com/JeanPhilippeDionOfficiel/videos/2847541028906714
An article expressing a point of view about Lara’s participation in the segment can be found at (http://linfonetrealtv.free.fr/pages/newsseul.php?idarticles=18859&idemission=45):
----------------------------------
Lara Fabian, Her Big Symphonic Medley at Star Academie
This Sunday, April 18, 2021, the director of Star Academie 2021 Lara Fabian came to promote herself by singing several of her hits on a big medley performed by the students, with the Montreal Metropolitan Orchestra present on the set.
She started with Guillaume on “Je t’aime”, William “J’y crois encore”, Lunou with “La difference” then Jacob on “Si tu m’aimes”, chained by Queenie with “Humana” and finally we will end with Rosalie: “Je suis malade”.
If William and Guillaume will be very, very average on their duo, the 4 others will be at the top giving very beautiful duets. Lara Fabian will be at the top vocally as usual but really too much in the expressions of the face with a lot of grimaces again… The arrival of this orchestra was a big plus, with these very beautiful re-orchestrations. Lara will then explain her great satisfaction for this medley.
----------------------------------
Clearly the writer is not a big fan!
For another point of view, an article discussing the audience’s reaction to the show can be found at (https://vedettequebec.com/2021/04/19/les-fans-reagissent-au-choix-du-premier-finaliste-de-star-academie/); here’s the translation:
----------------------------------------
Fans react to the choice of Star Académie's first finalist
The group acts were wonderful. Indeed, Lara Fabian touched the viewers with her incredible interpretation during her symphonic number in the company of all the Academicians. Several even agree to say that with the orchestra behind, it was the most beautiful number of the season.
Afterwards, it was the turn of the three young men to impress the audience. Jacob first sang an incredible version of Jean-Pierre Ferland's “Un peu plus haut un peu plus loin”. Although his voice is breathtaking, several viewers pointed out the lack of emotion and presence during his performance.
Then, we could see the performance of William Cloutier. He took a huge risk by presenting his first original song to the public. We can say that he raised it hands down with his moving composition "“Si pour me voir ". And then, Guillaume made everyone dance in his living room by singing in his own way the song Budapest by George Ezra.
Finally, William's risk paid off because he was the one the public chose to go to the final! Obviously, the vote was not unanimous because the three young men were all different and talented.
All seem to agree that the three semi-finalists deserved their place in the final… Bravo to all!
----------------------------------------------------------
The show was hugely successful, both artistically and from an audience point of view as noted in the following article (https://www.journaldequebec.com/2021/04/19/plus-haute-cote-decoute-de-la-saison-pour-star-academie-1):
--------------------------
Highest ratings of the season for "Star Académie"
Is it the tribute to Michel Louvain, the men's semi-final or Lara Fabian's number with the Metropolitan Orchestra that was the most anticipated at “Star Académie” on Sunday evening?
One thing is certain, fans of the show answered the call in large numbers, because this tenth variety of "Star Académie" was the most watched of the season, with its 1,402,000 viewers, including a peak audience. 1,763,000 during Lara Fabian's segment accompanied by Yannick Nézet-Séguin's symphonic ensemble. This is shown by preliminary data from Numéris, made public on Monday.
The penultimate “Star Académie” gala and women's semi-final will be broadcast next Sunday, April 24, at 7 p.m. on TVA. Sunday, the candidate William Cloutier was crowned male finalist of the 2021 edition.
--------------------------------------------------
Note that designating the two semi-final shows as “Men’s” and “Women’s” means, if this was the plan all along, that it was not a coincidence having three semi-finalists from each gender among the six candidates. If that is really so, then the results of the individual competitions might be looked upon in a different light, as ‘manipulations’ to produce this result. They probably should then have had gender-separate competitions all the way along, so as not to mislead the audience.
Alternatively, if it was just happenstance, they may have used the results to produce the semi-finals along these separate lines. That this was the case is suggested in an article at www.lanouvelle.net/2021/04/13/william-cloutier-de-nouveau-en-danger-a-star-academie/.
Looking ahead to Lara’s upcoming concerts in June – now less than two months away – here is the current situation in France, focusing on nighttime activities (https://www.gouvernement.fr/en/coronavirus-covid-19):
------------------------------------------
From Saturday 3 April, restrictive measures already in force in some parts of France are extended to the whole of the country.
From 7PM to 6AM, a curfew is in force in metropolitan France. You may only leave your home for the following reasons and with an exemption certificate:
Commuting to and from work, school or training place; carrying out essential business trips that cannot be postponed;
Medical appointments that cannot be carried out remotely or postponed; obtaining medicines;
Essential family reasons, assisting vulnerable persons, persons in a precarious situation or taking care of children;
Persons with a disability and their accompanying person;
Judicial or administrative summons; meetings with legal professionals that cannot be conducted remotely or postponed;
Participating in a mission of general interest upon request from an administrative authority;
Air or rail transit related to long distance journeys;
Walking a pet outdoors within 1km of one’s place of residence and for a brief amount of time.
--------------------------------
It would not appear as if concerts will easily qualify for one of those exceptions. Of course it could change – daily positive cases have been coming down, after a peak early in the month (due most likely to increases in vaccinations, and the degree of lock-down that was put in place at that time). If it continues on its current trajectory, the ‘second wave’ may well be over in the next few weeks. If so, we’ll then see whether the picture has changed sufficiently for those concerts to take place – and even if they could, whether they would be financially practical given the possible spatial distancing that might be required.
Interesting photo(s) of the week: a potpourri of Lara pictures with different topics;
First, Lara for this week’s show, from her Instagram site,
http://instagram.com/p/CN0yb4SBc_T
and then with the orchestra conductor (and teacher of artistic identity on the show), Yannick Nezet-Seguin, at:
http://instagram.com/p/CN1KYnZhhSn
with the caption, “Maestro! Thank you for this moment, so strong, so big ... and bravo to my little hearts”
Then from Freebird Studios,
www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=295719241922884&set=a.216252733202869
available to be bought at shop.freebirdstudio.be/shop/lara-fabian-studio-3/
And of Lara with her gluten free bread,
http://instagram.com/p/CNp6MVzhOTU
with the caption, “Ouiiiiiii I received my order of gluten-free bread! Like even when allergic we can enjoy thanks to the bakery 🥯 baked 2 go 🍞miam 🙏🏻
The ‘women’s semi-final is coming up next week. It looks like it could be quite close, with three wonderfully diverse contestants. Stay safe everybody,
David
