Star Academy 7 - The Final, 15.02.08.

Photos coming soon (no time to get them on here tonight)

Guests: Johnny Hallyday, Patrick Bruel, Isabelle Boulay, Jenifer, Pascal Obispo, Raphael, Peter Cincotti, David Guetta, Matt Pokora.

The finalists: Quentin Mosimann versus Mathieu Edouard.

Prepare for a completely biased and one-sided review.

Mathieu was out of his depth singing with supercharged Johnny Hallyday on "Tout La Musique". Unlike Quentin, who stamped his own trademark vocals on "Il Suffira d’un Signe" with Pascal Obispo.

Where would we be without good old "Casser la Voix" on Star Ac. Even Bruel sounds bored singing this, and Mathieu wasn’t great here either.

I like Jenifer of course, but "Comme Un Hic" does nothing for me at present. Possibly that will change. Does she ever not look good though? Quentin is a star.
Raphael and "Caravane" - another musical style more suited to Jeremy, whom I thought was the other obvious finalist, and another style for Mathieu to flop in. At best he is only a fifth-rate Corneille.

Oh no...that old reality show staple "Angels". Quentin in a pink suit surrounded by dazzling dancers in bright yellow neon dresses. Despite the distractions, this was subtle and rather nice, although I’ve still had a gripe all season about all the English-language songs.

Quentin, Peter Cincotti and David Guetta: "Love Is Gone". An absolutely amazing showstopper. Acer Ben’s already hailed this one and no wonder: an incredible blend of dance and jazz. Welcome to Quentin’s musical universe.

Nice to see Isabelle Boulay again, doing a medley with Quentin and Mathieu. This was probably Mathieu’s best effort tonight, and more suited to his vocal style.

Oh no (again) ..."I Believe I Can Fly", with Mathieu. I can’t listen to this without thinking of the mono-brow guy from Pop Idol 2 doing this in his audition. That was better than this, which was just weak.

"Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood" by the final 6 - Quentin, Mathieu, Bertrand, Claire-Marie, Jeremy and Lucie. Nice to see them all together again. Brought back memories of the Santa Esmeralda version of this song...some of us are old enough to remember that ;-)

"Vous". Bruel again. I’ve never been a fan but Quentin did well here too even if it’s not my kind of thing.

"Mon Frere" is yet another of those clash-of-the-titans songs on Star Ac. Yet again credit must go to the fab Kamel Ouali whose extravagant choreography and staging always lifts Star Ac above every other reality pop show on the planet. I thought both Q and M did well here.

All-new Matt Pokora!!!! Now reinvented by Timbaland and singing in English - "She’s Dangerous". Again this suited Mathieu quite well. Not sure how Matt’s international career will go, most people will probably think he’s a Justin Timberlake tribute act. It’s good, but it’s not "Elle Me Controle". But then, what is? Sorry I’m going off topic here, I’m supposed to be reviewing Star Ac...

Would Quentin be able to compete with Johnny Hallyday on "Marie". Do I need to answer that?

"Un Homme Heureux" - well I just think of Mathieu Johann and Maxim Nucci duetting this on Star Ac 4....this year it was another Mathieu, in duet with Pascal Obispo. Quite nice performance actually, but by this point Mathieu knew that he was beaten.

And finally - "Tant Qu’on Reve Encore" from Le Roi Soleil, a song with such a great emotional pull. So quite fitting that both boys closed the show with it. Mathieu a bit wobbly vocally though.

Now all we needed was the result....to say the drama was all too much for Quentin was an understatement. He fell to the ground! I definitely agree with Acer Ben about his over-the-top reaction! He must have wanted it so badly. Quentin won with 52.6% of the votes cast.

The difference between Quentin and Mathieu: star quality, charisma, consistency, justified arrogance and sheer talent. One had it all...one could only watch and learn. Quentin has put the ‘Star’ back into Star Academy. Now the hard work starts and we hope that he can deliver some great music in the future. Congratulations to a very worthy winner.

But what now for Star Academy? Ratings have fallen, and the introduction of the professional jury on the prime and giving them rather than the students the right to save contestants has destroyed a major part of the show which made it special in the first place. An 8th season has been confirmed - but two very familiar faces won’t be there. Profs Matthieu Gonet and Raphaelle Ricci have both confirmed they are leaving the show. Only time will tell how long this show will survive. Oh and TF1 - can we have the old start time back (beginning of September) pretty please? Merci!