At the end of 2011, Eric Cowet, then 23 years old, tried his luck in auditioning for “Star Académie 2012”. To do so, he had gone to Sherbrooke and passed Andrea A. Mallet and her guitar in the waiting room.
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However, unlike the songwriter, Eric was not selected for the show and then was not heard from again before the “Star Académie” judges.
The musician was not embittered by this failed attempt. First, because around the same time, he and his brother Sonny founded the duo, 2Frères, who conquered producer Mario Belshat, then the audience rose to glory until they sold over 200,000 albums and – a dedication! -, he will be a special guest of honor from the “Star Académie” group on Sunday, as the season is just beginning.
But above all, because Eric, in hindsight, admits that he may not have been happy in this type of intense training, which is very nutritious in terms of learning, but is also very demanding.
He managed to see it on Wednesday when he and Sony toured the academy to rehearse their Sunday plays with the nominees, around a campfire, under the light of Waterloo. We were able to see an extract from their visit on Thursday.
“I don’t think that would have been my place,” admits Eric. It is an environment in which they are highly motivated. I don’t know if this method will work for me. Maybe they felt it in my hearing. I think the path we took was the right path for us. But I saw in the eyes of the young people, at the academy, that they seemed to be “winning” and happy to be there! “
Sony, for his part, claims to not be a “reality TV listener”, but he often excludes some “Star Academy” episodes.
“Since I have met the academics, I seem more interested in listening to him,” he says. I found them charming, bright, gentle and welcoming. It was really nice, it was a very nice afternoon. “
On Sunday, 2Frères will present a mix of some of its best titles, to great fun, as one would imagine, from Liam, the young four-year-old boy to candidate William Cloutier, and who appears to be an avid follower of “other Us,” one of the first tandem tubes. 2Frères will revisit the classic Beau Dommage, “Le Picbois”.
“We never did this song live, but Beau Dommage is a group that is so meaningful to us,” Sony says. Our parents sang “Échappé belle” a lot when we were young, and his music rocked us, is familiar to us and means a lot to us. And “Le Picbois” is really fun to sing! “
2Frères will likely resume its “À tous les vents” tour – of which she performed only five when a jail sentence was issued last year – in a “light” version as soon as health conditions permit, and will also continue her audio tour, and is already working on his fourth album.
Sunday’s Star Académie meeting will also be an opportunity for audiences in Quebec to meet a “new kid” on the world music scene, Toronto singer Johnny Orlando.
At the age of 18, between two classes in high school, the boy started causing a frenzy on the Internet. As evidenced by his stats of 550 million listeners on music platforms, 500 million views on his YouTube channel and nearly 25 million “fans” around the world. A rising star, you say?
He admitted in an interview with QMI: “It’s a bit difficult to achieve. The fact that people don’t see ‘for real’ separates us from reality. My song ‘What If’ has gotten over 3 million views on Tik Tok, but I don’t quite realize it. Little bit, when you think about it! ”
Johnny Orlando said he’s excited to be sharing the stage with academics this weekend.
“You have to trust yourself and feel comfortable on stage. The danger, especially in live broadcasts, is to focus too much on your presentation, on your image, to think that everyone is watching us or judging us. You have to stay” cool! “The artist launched by advice to his friends Newcomers to “Star Académie”.
Variety “Star Académie”, Sunday, 7 pm, at TVA.
– In collaboration with Samuel Bradier