The three Academicians in danger have already experienced the stress of being subjected to public scrutiny. Édouard and Olivier were put on waivers during the very first Variété before being saved by the public. Endangered in the second week, Mathieu was able to keep his place thanks to the teachers.
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The cycle of evaluations at the start of the week, followed by endangerments, is now well established at “Star Académie”. All Academicians, apart from Krystel, have been there, but that does not prevent stress, questioning and concerns.
Édouard Lagacé quickly made the choice of his song for the endangerment, which will be the same as he did in evaluation with the teachers. “‘High Hopes,’ by Kodaline, is a song I’ve loved for a long time,” he said. She touches me with the story she tells. I feel very comfortable doing it on stage.”
For this first endangerment, he spent a relatively serene week. “I feel good. Considering this may be my last week at the Academy, I was able to enjoy it more. I had the chance to have meetings with Lara Fabian and Gregory Charles. I lived these last days in a positive way and I had a lot of fun.
Several times since the beginning, the teachers asked him to take his place, to put himself a little more forward. “I have to stop asking myself questions and do what I’m asked to do. There are still a lot of times when I let myself go, even if it doesn’t always show. I rapped twice, for example, when I had never done that. We also do choreography, something I wouldn’t usually do.”
He approaches this fifth Variety with a good state of mind. “I just feel like having fun and enjoying the moment.”
Back to positive
Mathieu Rhéault’s week was much more complicated. “I lived a week in a roller coaster, but I’m starting to get used to it since I’ve been here,” said the Academician, laughing. I went through the questioning, the worries, and I finally regained my self-confidence. The workshops of the week confirmed to me that I had my place and that I should not worry regarding what will follow followingwards. I just need to focus on the work, I don’t need to visualize where I’m going to be in 10 years.”
The production gave him a nice surprise during the week, with the visit of his dog, which he missed a lot. “I still have a hard time believing it happened. It did me a lot of good and it gave me a burst of energy to continue the adventure. This visit really put me back on my feet.”
After a long search, he decided to perform Serge Gainsbourg’s classic “I came to tell you that I’m leaving”. “I’m going to go on the Variety stage thinking that no matter what happens, I just want to be proud of my performance and that it touches people. I have no power over the rest.”
Strong motivation
For Olivier, his disastrous evaluation performance completely destabilized him. “I was really not happy with myself, he confessed, still angry. But I take the fact of being in danger as an opportunity to be able to sing solo in front of everyone.
Olivier knows he is capable of doing much better. His motivation to stay as long as possible at the Academy guides him and pushes him to work ever harder. “The teachers want me to be able to connect my body with the emotions that I sing. I had never done a scene in my life, it’s still something new for me. I will have to improve quickly.”
To defend his place, he bet on “At the height of man”, by Vincent Vallières. “The text tells my life. My mom cuts my hair, my dad gets up at 3 a.m., my grandpa used to work in the fields, and my grandma actually has a knitting company… It’s weird to sing that, but it’s easy to see the images because it brings back memories.”