This Wednesday, April 10, Jenifer was the first guest on the site’s new podcast PurechartsSide A. And the singer of “On the string”revealed 22 years ago by the TF1 telecrochet, “Star Academy”looked back on her victory which changed her life forever, and sometimes also for the worse.
“I was a little afraid of the scale“
It was January 12, 2002, and that evening, against Mario Barravecchia, and in the presence of Nikos Aliagas, his parents, and millions of viewers, Jenifer emerged victorious from the very first season. Very proud of her journey, she was also “relieved to move on”afterwards, she said.
Indeed, at the time, she remembers: “I don’t realize that my life is going to change. I have a hint of conscience telling myself ‘You’re going to be able to record an album’, ‘You’re going to be able to make your music’. And yet to add his great fear: “I was a little afraid of the extent that this over-media coverage had taken on. The Star Academy, when we traveled, was the Beatles. We were aware of it when we had to go on outings“.
A notoriety that the star ended up accepting, after nine albums and more than 3 million records sold. But Jen admits that it wasn’t always easy at first. She particularly remembers a photo shoot that left her “a horrible memory”, and which still haunts her today. Tired after too short a night, the young woman then had a shock when she saw the result of the shoot.
“It was horrible”
To our colleagues, she admits: “I didn’t recognize myself, in fact, in the images. It was horrible.” Not yet the superstar she has become today, she reacted very quickly, in a good way. She remembers : “That’s when I said to myself, ‘I’m going to have to say no at this level too’. Because it’s not going to go like that. I’m going to be unhappy. Or I’m going to get into a posture, a lie, something that wasn’t me and that wasn’t possible“.