The channel broadcasts two special evenings in February for the 20th anniversary of its programme. On the menu: archives, live performances and return of the emblematic jury.
Par Thibaut Deleaz
© Teddy ATTIA/M6 / Teddy ATTIA/M6
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« Çis getting a bit old! ” After Star Academy successfully revived on TF1, around M6 to pay tribute to its star tele-hook of the 2000s. The channel will offer two special programs on February 15 and 22 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of New starthe program launched in 2003. For the occasion, the Six is reforming the emblematic jury of big mouths, “the fantastic four” Marianne James, André Manoukian, Dove Attia and Manu Katché, who terrorized the candidates from seasons 2 to 5 .
The winners and other candidates who marked the public will come to perform during the two evenings hosted by Karine Le Marchand, recorded at the end of 2022. Julien Doré, Christophe Willem, Amel Bent, Miss Dominique or Thomas Marfisi will reinterpret their performances from the time and their titles today. All under the watchful eye of the jury, still just as intractable.
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freedom of tone
But it wouldn’t be a real anniversary show without a dive into the archives to unearth the best moments that made the show cult… But only from the M6 years, the four seasons of the time the program was on C8 being hidden. Castings in the region, where thousands of suitors waited for hours in the street, to the bonuses filmed in the iconic Baltard pavilion, we take pleasure in seeing the candidates jostled by a jury that let nothing pass.
Viewers will thus be able to rediscover the beginnings of big names in French song, including a certain Julien Doré… who almost didn’t even get an audition, caught up in extremis by the production! Without forgetting the famous saucepans. “It was the Olympics where we had losers who ran with champions”, summarizes André Manoukian, 12 seasons to his credit, with his usual outspokenness.
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This freedom of tone, whether towards the candidates, the public or even the production, is what made these four fantastic people into legend. Thus during season 2 where, dissatisfied with the choice of the public, Marianne James throws to him: “You have shit in your ears! “Or when the jurors, in turn, knock out the choice of songs performed during the show, “daubes”. “We allowed ourselves a lot of things, we were totally honest and sincere”, remembers Manu Katché. And Marianne James to regret: “It would be more complicated today…”
A test before a return?
For the juror, New star worked because it was “a pure program”, solely focused on music, which gave everyone a chance. “We did not need to make them run early in the morning in a park, nor to subtitle their conversations under the quilt”, she taunts in an implied tackle to the eternal competitor Star Academy.
Precisely, on TF1, the success of the anniversary programs for the 20 years of the Star Ac pushed the channel to reopen the doors of the castle of Dammarie-les-Lys to relaunch the program at the end of 2022. Is M6 in turn conducting a full-scale test? “Everything in its time, we say on the side of the chain. We will talk about it again if we feel a desire from the viewers… ”In 2017, a first comeback has already been attempted. Without much success.