Star Academy

There is this show on French TV called Star Academy. It is similar to Australian Idol but not a clone like most countries. It has a range of amateur individuals who want to make it big and they are selected by a series of judges and are put into a house. The camera films a lot of what goes on in the house as well as all the singing and dancing practices. There is a big show once a week where they perform in front of a live audience and get rated by the judges. The interesting thing about the show is the elimination section. What happens is that three individuals with the lowest average judge score at the end of the live show based on their performance get nominated to be eliminated. Then during the week people call in to vote for their favourite. In Australian Idol you vote for who you want to eliminate and the two with the lowest score stay. In Star Academy you vote for the individual you want to stay then they are guaranteed a place if they have the majority. Then there are two left to be eliminated and to decide on who is going to stay the rest of the contestants verbally vote on the live show for who they want to stay. This seems crazy because once one person has the majority and the contestants feel like it is going a certain way, they all vote for the same person - because why would you vote for the loser and then be stuck in the house with someone who knows you voted against them and may well do the same back to you. It seems crazy and is typically french.

I have three days left of freedom before starting work so I am enjoying it by relaxing and not doing too much. I have trivia night tonight which is always fun and I will probably take it easy during the day. The nice weather has returned so it is beautiful in Paris and very relaxing.