Star Académie is aCanadianreality television series that started in 2003, aimed primarily at theQuebec 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 theFrench-Canadian adaptation of theFrench television showStar Academy produced byDutch companyEndemol, based on theSpanish format calledOperación Triunfo.
There have been seasons in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2009, and 2012. In June 2019,TVA stated that a reboot forStar Académie was 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 singerPatrice Michaud would take overJulie 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-songwriterMarc Dupré would replace Michaud as host in 2022.[5]
It is aired for two months (February to April) on theTVA network. Hosted byJulie 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 inOntario (Eastern Ontario) andNew 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 theAcadémiciens and each weekend sees oneGala show where the contenders sing. At each of theseGalas, 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 theAcadian people whenWilfred 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 renownedCajun singerZachary Richard, andMarie-Élaine Thibert, who also released an album and sung for the soundtrack ofLéa Pool's movieThe Blue Butterfly.
The show was on a 4-year hiatus due to the second pregnancy of the hostess and her busy schedule withLe Banquier, the French-Canadian version ofDeal or No Deal.
It is inspired by theFrench showStar Academy and is similar to thePop Idol andAmerican Idol phenomena. The name was francized for its Quebec adaptation because of the local importance given to the respect of theFrench language. However, it does create agrammatically impossible phrase in French. The proper translation would beAcadémie des stars, although this could be considered lesscatchy. Francization is typically given even more importance inQuebec French than in France itself (seeOffice 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 contendersin 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 forStar Académie, it soon was changed because of protests, for the system was seen as cruel treatment to the excluded participant. On one early show, singerDaniel 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 toremain at theAcadémie. In all seasons, the results are announced live.
Star Académie drew criticism for thecapitalist andvertical integration strategies of producing megacompanyQuebecor 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 like7 Jours andJournal de Montréal. The voting method was changed for the 2025 season, where people can vote for free via TVAd website.Astral Media'sRockDétente also did a lot of heavy promoting themselves during the 2005 edition, as the official stations ofStar Académie. Also were criticized theinstant celebrity machine and supposed lack of artistic integrity aspects of the whole enterprise.
Here's all the guest performers inStar Académie.
| Contestant | Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6 | Week 7 | Week 8 | Week 9 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maxime L. | Saved by judges | Non evaluated | Saved by public | Non evaluated | Saved by judges | Non evaluated | Saved by public | Non evaluated | Winner | ||||||||
| Carolanne | Non evaluated | Saved by public | Non evaluated | Saved by judges | Non evaluated | Saved by public | Non evaluated | Saved by public | Finalist | ||||||||
| Brigitte | Non evaluated | Saved by judges | Non evaluated | Saved by judges | Non evaluated | Saved by judges | Non evaluated | Eliminated (Week 8) | |||||||||
| Émilie | Non evaluated | Saved by judges | Non evaluated | Saved by public | Non evaluated | Saved by judges | Non evaluated | Eliminated (Week 8) | |||||||||
| Sophie | Non evaluated | Saved by judges | Non evaluated | Saved by judges | Non evaluated | Saved by judges | Non evaluated | Eliminated (Week 8) | |||||||||
| Jean-Philippe | Saved by judges | Non evaluated | Saved by judges | Non evaluated | Saved by judges | Non evaluated | Eliminated (Week 7) | ||||||||||
| Pascal | Saved by judges | Non evaluated | Saved by judges | Non evaluated | Saved by judges | Non evaluated | Eliminated (Week 7) | ||||||||||
| William | Saved by judges | Non evaluated | Saved by judges | Non evaluated | Saved by public | Non evaluated | Eliminated (Week 7) | ||||||||||
| Joanie | Non evaluated | Saved by judges | Non evaluated | Saved by judges | Non evaluated | Eliminated (Week 6) | |||||||||||
| Rich | Saved by judges | Non evaluated | Saved by judges | Non evaluated | Eliminated (Week 5) | ||||||||||||
| Vanessa | Non evaluated | Saved by judges | Non evaluated | Eliminated (Week 4) | |||||||||||||
| Maxime P. | Saved by public | Non evaluated | Eliminated (Week 3) | ||||||||||||||
| Karine | Non evaluated | Eliminated (Week 2) | |||||||||||||||
| Olivier | Eliminated (Week 1) | ||||||||||||||||
| Eliminated | Olivier | Karine | Maxime P. | Vanessa | Rich | Joanie | Jean-Philippe Pascal William | Brigitte Émilie Sophie | |||||||||
| Contestant | Gala # 1 2012-01-22 | Gala # 2 2012-01-29 | Gala # 3 2012-02-05 | Gala # 4 2012-02-12 | Gala # 5 2012-02-19 | Gala # 6 2012-02-26 | Gala # 7 2012-03-04 | Gala # 8 2012-03-11 | Gala # 9 2012-03-18 | Gala # 10 2012-03-25 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jean-Marc | Saved by judges | Not in danger | Non evaluated | Not in danger | Non evaluated | Not in danger | Non evaluated | Saved by public | Non evaluated | Winner | ||||||||
| Sophie | Saved by judges | Non evaluated | Not in danger | Non evaluated | Not in danger | Non evaluated | Not in danger | Non evaluated | Saved by public | Finalist | ||||||||
| Andréanne A . | Saved by judges | Non evaluated | Saved by judges | Non evaluated | Not in danger | Non evaluated | Saved by judges | Non evaluated | Eliminated (Gala 9) | |||||||||
| Andrée-Anne L. | Saved by judges | Non evaluated | Not in danger | Non evaluated | Saved by judges | Non evaluated | Not in danger | Non evaluated | Eliminated (Gala 9) | |||||||||
| Mélissa | Saved by public | Non evaluated | Not in danger | Non evaluated | Not in danger | Non evaluated | Saved by public | Non evaluated | Eliminated (Gala 9) | |||||||||
| Mike Lee | Saved by judges | Saved by public | Non evaluated | Saved by public | Non evaluated | Not in danger | Non evaluated | Eliminated (Gala 8) | ||||||||||
| Jason | Saved by judges | Saved by judges | Non evaluated | Not in danger | Non evaluated | Saved by public | Non evaluated | Eliminated (Gala 8) | ||||||||||
| Olivier | Saved by public | Not in danger | Non evaluated | Not in danger | Non evaluated | Saved by judges | Non evaluated | Eliminated (Gala 8) | ||||||||||
| Joanie | Saved by judges | Non evaluated | Not in danger | Non evaluated | Saved by public | Non evaluated | Eliminated (Gala 7) | |||||||||||
| Bryan | Saved by judges | Not in danger | Non evaluated | Saved by judges | Non evaluated | Eliminated (Gala 6) | ||||||||||||
| Sarah-May | Saved by judges | Non evaluated | Saved by public | Non evaluated | Eliminated (Gala 5) | |||||||||||||
| François | Saved by judges | Not in danger | Non evaluated | Eliminated (Gala 4) | ||||||||||||||
| Carole-Anne | Saved by judges | Non evaluated | Eliminated (Gala 3) | |||||||||||||||
| Simon | Saved by judges | Eliminated (Gala 2) | ||||||||||||||||
| Eliminated | Carolane Cloutier Jennifer Tessier Kelly Blais Alexandre Bélair Francis Sigouin-Allan Marc-André Valade | Simon | Carole-Anne | François | Sarah-May | Bryan | Joanie | Jason Mike Lee Olivier | Andreéanne A. André-Anne L. Mélissa | |||||||||
