Two big names from Quebec will be passing through the set of Star Academy, this Sunday. Simple Plan will open the Variety with the Academicians, while Mitsou signs the artistic direction of a number that promises to be flamboyant.
While they will soon celebrate the 20th anniversary of the release of their first album, the members of Simple Plan will share the stage of the Variété de star academy with the Academicians for a retrospective of their great successes.
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“Young people will perform with us, and sing a duet with Pierre (Bouvier), said Chuck Comeau, the group’s drummer. We have the chance to open the evening and show the extent of the career that we have had in the last 20 years. We also want to feature the Academicians in this issue.”
Simple Plan has inspired many musicians, singers and bands over the years. “It’s the ‘fun’ for us to bridge the generations. Both in Quebec and in the rest of the world, we meet young people who tell us that we have inspired them to make music or sing, it’s really flattering. And these young people, through their songs and their compositions, will influence us in turn. It’s like an inspiration circle, it’s very cool.
Single number
First artistic director of the season, Mitsou wishes to create a universe in which the Academicians will be able to explore different facets of their personality through her songs.
“It’s very interesting, for example, to see Audrey-Louise say that she was tired of hearing people say that she is ‘cute’,” she explained. She will sing Bye bye my cowboy, a song in which you have to have guts, and in which the rhythm is more important than the vibrato. She was delighted, because it’s completely different from what she usually does. What we also want is for the Academicians to have a blast during this issue.”
Mitsou will appear at some point in the issue, but the surprise remains complete. “I wanted to relive my songs through other eyes. I had seen Cassette at Paulette who did a show with my songs with lots of drags. I realized that what is interesting is to see other people singing my songs, while bringing their own color to them. This is what I imagined for Star Academy.”
She has been working on this issue since last fall and says she had complete freedom. She imagined kinds of boxes representing different worlds. “It’s funny because watching the Super Bowl halftime show, they were all in boxes. It’s not the same thing, but it’s in tune with the times.
The Academicians will therefore be immersed in different atmospheres. “First that of drags, the world of 1950s saloons, the world of pop art, and finally that of discotheques, with a nod to the Bains Douches, the famous Parisian discotheque. We are so happy to connect together and we cross our fingers that everything will succeed. The experience is really exciting.”
The French singer Yseult, female revelation at the Victoires de la Musique in 2021, is also on the program for the fifth Variété de Star AcademySunday, at 7 p.m., on TVA.