À la Recherche de la Nouvelle Star

This article is about the inaugural season of French series Nouvelle Star. For other seasons, see Nouvelle Star.
À la Recherche de la Nouvelle Star
Country of originFrance
No. of seasons1
Original release
NetworkM6
Release27 March (2003-03-27) –
10 July 2003 (2003-07-10)

À la recherche de la nouvelle star (Looking for the new Star) is a reality television show based on the popular British show Pop Idol. The show is a contest to determine the best young singer in La Francophonie. It was hosted by Benjamin Castaldi. The Belgian singer Jonatan Cerrada won over Thierry Amiel with 50.4% of the total votes, and went on to represent France at the 2004 Eurovision Song Contest, with "À chaque pas".

After the first season the show was renamed Nouvelle Star.

Auditions

The inaugural season of À la Recherche de la Nouvelle Star had seven audition cities to find the best talent not only in France, but also Belgium and Canada:

Toulouse (8 February)
Lyon (14 February)
Marseille (18 February)
Rennes (22 February)
Paris (28 February)
Brussels, Belgium (7 March)
Montreal, Canada (14 March)

Finals

Finalists

(ages stated at time of contest)

Contestant Age Hometown Voted Off Liveshow Theme
Jonatan Cerrada 17 Liège, Belgium Winner Grand Finale
Thierry Amiel 20 Marseille 10 July 2003
Jean Sébastien Lavoie 24 Montreal, Canada 3 July 2003 Hommage
Alexis Juliard 21 Paris 26 June 2003 Le voyage
Laetizia Alberti 20 Corsica 19 June 2003 Années 2000
Yoann Kelyann 19 Mont-de-Marsan 12 June 2003 Funky hits
Jonathan Hassen-Ali 20 Givors 5 June 2003 Pop Hits
Cindie Bruzzi 16 29 May 2003 Film Hits
Priscilla 16 22 May 2003 My Birth Year
Gabrielle Ducomble 22 Liège, Belgium 15 May 2003 Contestant's Choice

Live Show Details

Heat 1 (24 April 2003)

Artist Song (original artists) Result
Alexis Juliard "Hello" (Lionel Richie) Advanced
Florent "Je n'ai que mon âme" (Natasha St. Pier) Eliminated
Gabrielle Ducomble "L'Air du vent" (Laura Mayne) Advanced
Jordane "Vivre la vie" (Kelly Joyce) Eliminated
Julie "La solitudine" (Laura Pausini) Eliminated
Paco "Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word" (Elton John) Eliminated
Pauline "Tu planes sur moi" (Native) Eliminated
Priscilla "Respect" (Aretha Franklin) Eliminated
Shawn "Jusqu'au bout" (David Charvet) Eliminated
Yoann Kelyann "Rêver" (Mylène Farmer) Advanced

Heat 2 (1 May 2003)

Artist Song (original artists) Result
Catherine "S'il suffisait d'aimer" (Celine Dion) Eliminated
Cindie Bruzzi "Dans un autre monde" (Celine Dion) Advanced
David "Mon frère" (Maxime Le Forestier) Eliminated
Diane "En attendant ses pas" (Celine Dion) Eliminated
Jean Sébastien Lavoie "Quand les hommes vivront d'amour" (Raymond Lévesque) Advanced
Jonatan Cerrada "I Want You Back" (The Jackson 5) Advanced
Laure-Anne "Evidemment" (France Gall) Eliminated
Nabyl "Sacrifice" (Elton John) Eliminated
Priscilla "Humana" (Lara Fabian) Eliminated
Sébastien "On va s'aimer" (Gilbert Montagné) Eliminated

Heat 3 (8 May 2003)

Artist Song (original artists) Result
Diyas "Chère amie" (Marc Lavoine) Eliminated
Isabelle "Stop!" (Sam Brown) Eliminated
Jonathan Hassen-Ali "My Girl" (The Temptations) Advanced
Kallagnani "On My Own" (Frances Ruffelle) Eliminated
Laetizia Alberti "Manhattan-Kaboul" (Renaud & Axelle Red) Advanced
Pascal "One Moment in Time" (Whitney Houston) Eliminated
Sandie "J'y crois encore" (Lara Fabian) Eliminated
Thierry Amiel "Je suis malade" (Serge Lama) Advanced
Veronique "On se retrouvera" (Francis Lalanne) Eliminated
Xavier "Hymne à l'amour" (Johnny Hallyday) Eliminated

Live Show 1 (15 May 2003)

Theme: Contestant's Choice

Artist Song (original artists) Result
Alexis Juliard "When a Man Loves a Woman" (Percy Sledge) Safe
Cindie Bruzzi "La vie fait ce qu'elle veut" (Julie Zenatti) Bottom two
Gabrielle Ducomble "Saving All My Love for You" (Whitney Houston) Eliminated
Jean Sébastien Lavoie "Les uns contre les autres" (Fabienne Thibeault) Safe
Jonatan Cerrada "Je voulais te dire que je t'attends" (Michel Jonasz) Safe
Jonathan Hassen-Ali "The World's Greatest" (R. Kelly) Safe
Laetizia Alberti "Be My Baby" (Vanessa Paradis) Safe
Priscilla "I Will Always Love You" (Whitney Houston) Safe
Thierry Amiel "L'aigle noir" (Barbara) Safe
Yoann Kelyann "La fan de sa vie" (Zazie) Bottom three

Live Show 2 (22 May 2003)

Theme: My Birth Year

Artist Song (original artists) Result
Alexis Juliard "Can You Feel It" (The Jacksons) Bottom two
Cindie Bruzzi "Ella, elle l'a" (France Gall) Bottom three
Jean Sébastien Lavoie "We Are the Champions" (Queen) Safe
Jonatan Cerrada "Je marche seul" (Jean-Jacques Goldman) Safe
Jonathan Hassen-Ali "Do I Do" (Stevie Wonder) Safe
Laetizia Alberti "Diego libre dans sa tête" (France Gall) Safe
Priscilla "Kiss" (Prince) Eliminated
Thierry Amiel "Mon fils ma bataille" (Daniel Balavoine) Safe
Yoann Kelyann "Vivre ou survivre" (Daniel Balavoine) Safe

Live Show 3 (29 May 2003)

Theme: Film Hits

Artist Song (original artists) Result
Alexis Juliard "On se retrouvera" (Francis Lalanne) Safe
Cindie Bruzzi "Hot Stuff" (Donna Summer) Eliminated
Jean Sébastien Lavoie "Calling You" (Jevetta Steele) Safe
Jonatan Cerrada "Une histoire d'amour" (Mireille Mathieu) Safe
Jonathan Hassen-Ali "Pauvres diables" (Julio Iglesias) Bottom two
Laetizia Alberti "T'en a pas" (Elsa Lunghini) Safe
Thierry Amiel "All by Myself" (Eric Carmen) Bottom three
Yoann Kelyann "Beautiful Stranger" (Madonna) Safe

Live Show 4 (5 June 2003)

Theme: Pop Hits

Artist Song (original artists) Result
Alexis Juliard "Killing Me Softly" (The Fugees) Bottom two
Jean Sébastien Lavoie "Chanter pour ceux qui sont loin de chez eux" (Michel Berger) Safe
Jonatan Cerrada "Les trois cloches" (Edith Piaf) Safe
Jonathan Hassen-Ali "Your Song" (Elton John) Eliminated
Laetizia Alberti "Eternal Flame" (The Bangles) Safe
Thierry Amiel "La vie ne m'apprend rien" (Daniel Balavoine) Safe
Yoann Kelyann "Pas toi" (Jean-Jacques Goldman) Bottom three

Live Show 5 (12 June 2003)

Theme: Funky Hits

Artist Song (original artists) Result
Alexis Juliard "Je l'aime à mourir" (Francis Cabrel) Safe
Jean Sébastien Lavoie "Le chanteur" (Daniel Balavoine) Safe
Jonatan Cerrada "Le coup de soleil" (Richard Cocciante) Safe
Laetizia Alberti "Marcia Baila" (Rita Mitsouko) Bottom two
Thierry Amiel "Quand on n'a que l'amour" (Jacques Brel) Safe
Yoann Kelyann "Sur la route" (Gérald de Palmas) Eliminated

Live Show 6 (19 June 2003)

Theme: Années 2000

Artist Song (original artists) Result
Alexis Juliard "Tu es mon autre" (Lara Fabian & Maurane) Bottom two
Jean Sébastien Lavoie "Entre nous" (Chimène Badi) Safe
Jonatan Cerrada "Suerté" (Shakira) Safe
Laetizia Alberti "Que tu reviennes" (Patrick Fiori) Eliminated
Thierry Amiel "En apesanteur" (Calogero) Safe

Live Show 7 (26 June 2003)

Theme: Le Voyage

Artist First song (original artists) Second song Result
Alexis Juliard "Belle-Île-en-Mer, Marie-Galante" (Laurent Voulzy) "Hotel California" (Eagles) Eliminated
Jean Sébastien Lavoie "Allumer le feu" (Johnny Hallyday) "Unchained Melody" (The Righteous Brothers) Safe
Jonatan Cerrada "Emmenez-moi" (Charles Aznavour) "Lettre à France" (Michel Polnareff) Bottom two
Thierry Amiel "Aller plus haut" (Tina Arena) "Amsterdam" (Jacques Brel) Safe

Live Show 8: Semi-final (3 July 2003)

Theme: Hommage

Artist First song (original artists) Second song Result
Jean Sébastien Lavoie "Doucement" (Liane Foly) "Tu ne m'as pas laissé le temps" (David Hallyday) Eliminated
Jonatan Cerrada "Alors regarde" (Patrick Bruel) "Vivre pour le meilleur" (Johnny Hallyday) Safe
Thierry Amiel "Casser la voix" (Patrick Bruel) "Fan" (Pascal Obispo) Safe

Live final (10 July 2003)

Artist First song Second song Third song Result
Jonatan Cerrada "Je voulais te dire que je t'attends" "Ma liberté de penser" "The Show Must Go On" Winner
Thierry Amiel "Avec le temps" "Je ne suis pas un héros" "Les mots bleus" Runner-up