20 years! It’s been 20 years since Quebec got to know the first version of Star Académie.
And it wasn’t over, it was just the beginning…
• Read also: 15 things that happened in Quebec 20 years ago, in 2003
• Read also: [PHOTOS, VIDÉOS] What happened to 62 Star Academy candidates
We had the chance to see many singers from the province achieve success thanks to this singing competition, which was launched in 2003 on the airwaves of TVA.
20 years later, more than a hundred singers have taken part in the adventure. Many are very well known, sometimes even more than the winners of their year… But the fact remains that only seven of them had the chance to be crowned big winner of Star Académie.
Here are, in order, the 7 winners of Star Académie Québec and what became of them:
It should be noted that Star Académie launched a reunion album a few years ago which brings together a large part of the candidates and winners of the various first editions. you will find it ici.
1. First season, 2003 – Wilfred LeBouthillier
Originally from Tracadie-Sheila in New Brunswick, Wilfred LeBouthillier will be remembered as the very first winner in the history of Star Académie in Quebec.
The same year, his debut album earned him awards at the Independent Music Awards and Juno Awards for Best French-Language Album in Canada.
In 2011, LeBouthillier performed a dozen times at the Olympia in Paris as opening act for Véronic Dicaire.
The year 2018 marks a new turning point for the man who has sold nearly 300,000 albums in his career, as he becomes the owner of his own record label and production company called 2W Productions.
Photo: Julien Faugere
LeBouthillier married Jézabel Drolet in 2022 and partnered with his spouse to open an aesthetic medicine clinic that was the target of a lawsuit in 2022.
2. Second season, 2004 – Stephanie Lapointe
Sébastien St-Jean / QMI Agency
The singer from Brossard released two solo albums after her victory at Star Ac: Sur le fil in 2005, which earned her two nominations at the 28th ADISQ gala, and Give me something that doesn’t end in 2009 .
In addition to her singing career, Stephanie has also developed as an actress.
She obtained the role of Colette in the series Le Négociateur (2005-2007) and roles on the big screen with the films Aurore (2005), The fear of water (2010) and Liverpool (2012). She also interpreted the role of Blanche in the musical Les Filles de Caleb (2011).
Julie Artacho
Stéphanie became spokesperson for the Au Sommet project for Care Canada and completed the ascent of Kilimanjaro for the benefit of this NGO in 2005. She was named ambassador for Unicef Québec in 2007.
Since then, the artist has worked on several novel-writing projects including the Fanny Cloutier youth series, which was launched in 2018.
3. Third season, 2005 – Marc-André Fortin
Photo Stevens LeBlanc
Originally from Hébertville in Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean, Marc-André Fortin won the third edition of Star Académie. We remember him for sharing his grand prize ($50,000) with finalist Audrey Gagnon.
His first album was released in April 2007 and was one of the best-selling that same year. Until the spring of 2008, he toured Quebec with his first tour.
ARCHIVE PHOTO, QMI AGENCY
In the summer of 2010, at the age of 20, the singer had to cope with the disease while battling tongue cancer. He will return in great shape five months later on the stage of Place des Arts for the performances of “December, the Christmas of Quebec Issime”.
Between 2010 and 2019, Marc-André Fortin mainly performed on stage thanks to the various projects of the company Québec Issime, including “Starmania” and “Cow-Boys”.
4. Fourth season, 2009 – Maxime Landry
Photo Chantal Poirier
Declared big winner and public favorite at 21, Maxime Landry’s career took off during his time at Star Ac.
A few months after his triumph, he realized his greatest dreams by singing in particular in duets with Claude Dubois, Isabelle Boulay and Céline Dion.
He recorded his first solo album, Vox Pop, which appeared on December 1, 2009. Only eight weeks after its release, he obtained double platinum certification.
Photo: Frederic Auclair / TVA
At his first participation in an ADISQ gala, in 2010, Maxime won four Félix awards, including album of the year, performer of the year 2010 and popular song of the year for “Cache cache”.
The singer has since released 4 other albums and returned to his first love for his fourth opus by making a return to country. He also won a 5th Félix, this time for Album of the Year – Country, at the ADISQ gala in 2015.
In June 2019, Maxime Landry is moving as he makes his “surprise coming out” on television.
On November 22, 2019, he launched his most recent album, 10 years old already, to celebrate his ten-year career and more than 350,000 copies sold in his career.
Since then, Maxime Landry has hosted his own radio show on Rouge FM every weekday and also wrote 4 books.
5. Fifth season, 2012 – Jean-Marc Couture
Jo�l Lemay / Agence QMI
After winning top honors at Star Académie, Jean-Marc Couture continued to make music, in addition to working for the company Câble&Son.
On the musical side, he became the new member of La Chicane in 2022, after Dany Bédar announced his departure from the group.
Jo�l Lemay / Agence QMI
After breaking up with host Marie-Christine Lavoie, Jean-Marc Couture recently found love again.
Joël Lemay / Agence QMI
6. Sixth season, 2021 – William Cloutier
QMI Agency Archives Photo
After a hiatus of almost 10 years, Star Ac made its comeback on Quebec television in the midst of a pandemic.
William Cloutier, the big winner, was already known to part of the Quebec public thanks to his participation in the MixMania show in 2012.
He released his first album On ira in 2022 and went on tour alongside Lunou Zucchini, the finalist who we recently saw at Zénith on Radio-Canada.
Photo: Julien Faugere
“On ira” received a Félix Award nomination for Pop Album of the Year at the 44th Félix Awards.
William has been in Paris since the fall, where he is taking part in the new version of the rock opera Starmania. His spouse will also come to join him shortly in the City of Light with their two little boys.
Photo QMI Agency, Joël Lemay
7. Seventh season, 2022 – Krystel Mongeau
Photo QMI Agency, Joël Lemay
Krystel is the most recent winner and only second woman to claim top honors.
The singer will begin her tour across Quebec at the beginning of March 2023 alongside the 2022 finalist, Éloi Cummings.
After leaving Star Académie, Krystel separated from the husband and father of her daughter Pier-Luc Gaulin-Lussier. But we learned at the end of the year 2022 that the couple had found each other and were now living in perfect happiness.
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