Star Academy 25.01.08

Not a full review as such, as Celine Dion was the guest of honour and I like to avoid her at every opportunity, also I couldn't be bothered watching Benjamin Biolay or Ophelie Winter either.

As you know I haven’t really been thrilled about this series, but there were a couple of moments this week which stood out for me. One of these was the five remaining students’ version of Marc Lavoine & Claire Keim’s "Je Ne Veux Qu’elle" which was simple and well staged without the usual big choreographical extravaganza. The other was one of those great emotional moments which you used to get all the time in this show. Quentin and Claire-Marie sang "Lucie" as a tribute to their lively little fellow student who was shockingly evicted last week - only for said Lucie to join them during the song. Not a dry eye in the house.

Above: It's all too much for Quentin & Claire-Marie

as Lucie steals the show.

Otherwise, some old familiar faces this week - cheesy old Dany Brillant, and the ever-reliable Chimene Badi who had an interesting duet of "Rehab" with Mathieu!

Quentin and Mathieu did a medley of Mika songs, whilst we had some old 80s nostalgia as Mathieu duetted with Imagination’s Leeeeeee John on a medley of their hits.

Above: No wonder Jeremy doesn't look too chuffed,

it's a "shoot the stylist" moment!

Result: if last week’s eviction was a shock, then an even bigger shock was to come as Jeremy was shown the door this week, getting the lowest public vote. This was a surprise to me as his popularity with both the profs and the viewers had grown over the weeks. I thought he’d be the biggest threat to Quentin and I had expected him to be in the final.

Celine Dion made the draw for the semi-finals. Could she have been any more annoying??? Next week’s first semi-final will be between Mathieu (a true survivor of multiple nominations), and Bertrand (I’m surprised he’s still there).

Above: it's r'n'b smoothie Mathieu versus the old
soul man Bertrand - may the best man win.

The following week, Claire-Marie and Quentin will complete for a place in this year’s final. If you’d asked me at the beginning who the semi-final line-up would be, the only one I’d have predicted would have been Quentin.

Above: Quentin and Claire-Marie.

The rest are just bland and limited, and below the standard you would expect at this stage of the contest. As we know, Star Academy has always been full of surprises - and I wouldn’t be too confident yet about Quentin, as the French public seem to have fallen for the delicate, fragile Claire-Marie. It wouldn’t be the first time someone like that went on to win....could she be another Elodie Frégé?