With the release date of Luce's debut announced, 31 March, 2011, and the inminent cancellation, it hasn't been officialy announced yet, of the French version of Idol, which will now be replaced by the X Factor, I thought it was about time I covered one of the best seasons the show has had. A really talented Top 15 and some of the bests performers ever, the show left with a bang! The ranking is based on my favourites and not on how they ended in the show.

Read my comments, check my ratings and watch the videos after the JUMP ...



1. Lucie Brunet (aka Luce)


(1st) Probably my favourite since day one, when she auditioned with a silly drawn moustache on her face, Luce proved not only me but all France that she wasn't a joke throughout the season. She was simply the sickiest performer on the show and definitely the best singer, charming everyone with her vocal tricks and big register. Judges favourite, crowd pleaser and my top contestant since she performed an amazing cover of -M-'s "Qui de nous deux", Luce easily sailed through this season and eventually won it, collecting the biggest amount of blues (the rating system the judges use consists of a blue/red light, blue being positive and red negative) which made Luce's victory no surprsie. Fantastic performances, an incredible voice and amazing faces while singing made this little nurse student the best and final champion, and probably the quirckiest ever! She's got a great future ahead ...

Watch "Qui de nous deux" HERE.
Watch "Mad about You" HERE.
Watch "Over the Rainbow" HERE.
Watch "Tainted Love" HERE.
Watch "Beautiful" HERE.

2. Benjamin Bohem


(5th) My favourite male contestant and probably the one who should have joined Luce in the final. Benjamin has a nice pleasant voice, very low indeed, maybe he's more of a Justin Nozuka guy than a Jason Mraz, but that's ok, Justin is good for me too, and he showed this by singing his most famous song, "After Tonight". If not the best voice, he definitely had the most unique, plus he had the cute card! This kid needs an album!

Watch "Somewhere Only We Know" HERE.
Watch "Mad World" HERE.
Watch "After Tonight" HERE.

3. François Raoult


(2nd) Although I placed him 3rd, he really deserved his runner up postion! The guy rocked every single performance and had one of the best voices, very husky and smokey, which, mixed with his beautiful accent, made wonderful vocal performances. And, as Luce, François had the crazy factor, he looks all calm and shy but when he starts singing he goes insane! Best performance has to be "Machistador" if not the jazzy rendition of "Don't Stop the Music" or even the crazy "Born to be Wild". A real star and one who also needs an album, it'll be criminal if not! I really need my own record label ...

Watch "Machistador" HERE.
Watch "Don't Stop the Music" HERE.
Watch "Sittin on the Dock of the Bay" HERE.
Watch "Born to be Wild" HERE.
Watch "La Superbe" HERE.

4. Ramon Mirabet


(3rd) The Spanish charmed France with his nice looks and his raspy voice but could only manage a 3rd position, which is really admirable for a foreigner. I personally found his french songs a bit akward, I don't know if he is pronuncing correctly but I still found them wierd, and that's the single reason why I placed him below François, in english, however, he's magnificent! "Last Request" was such an emotional and intense performance, his singing was really on fire and that probably was one of the stand outs of the season. The men were definitely better than women, and that never happens ...

Watch "Last Request" HERE.
Watch "Champs Elysees" HERE.
Watch "Black Hole Sun" HERE.
Watch "Le Sud" HERE.
Watch "Ain't No Sunshine" HERE.

5. Lucie Lebrun (aka Lussi)


(4th) The season's hard rocker, as crazy as it sounds! A lascive Betty Boop with Janice Joplin's voice, Lussi was one of my favourites from the start. My problem with her was that she turned to be a one-trick pony. She covered massive rock songs but her voice was, although consistently good, pretty much the same every week. She had no variety and I guess that played against her, making her place 4th, tough it's a very respectable position! Would I buy her album? Of course! But only if she shows variety ...

Watch "Venus" HERE.
Watch "Whole lotta love" HERE.
Watch "Thriller" HERE.
Watch "Les histoires d'a" HERE.
Watch "Highway to hell" HERE.

6. Annabelle


(7th) A girl who really impressed me, unless for one week when she sang an amazing version of Alicia Key's "Empire State of Mind", Annabelle was a clear case of "good voice but don't know how to use it". She shown signs of amazing artistry in many of her performances but her voice didn't pay off as much as she hoped, she struggled with the bigger notes and sometimes she was lost in the song. However, with some serious work, she could really turn to be a great act!


Watch "Empire state of mind" HERE.
Watch "Hot Stuff" HERE.
Watch "La Ceinture" HERE.
Watch "Black horse and the cherry tree" HERE.
Watch "Evidemment" HERE.

7. Stéphanie Vondenhoff


(8th) Another rock chick but this one lacked the powerful voice Lussi had. Although she had a really interesting tone and some quirckiness but that wasn't enough. Her voice lacked something, it was plain, dead. There was no passion in her performances and that played against her.

Watch "Faith" HERE.
Watch "Chanson sur une drôle de vie" HERE.
Watch "Sober" HERE.

8. Manon Trinquier


(Semi-finalist) Manon had a beautiful jazzy voice but her song choice ruined her chances of making the Top 10. She nailed the song but it was an old fashioned and dull performance. She should have gone for something more contemporary and uptempo and leave that song for later in the competition. With another week, this girl could have really gone up on this list.

Watch "Où je vais" HERE.

9. Sacha Page


(9th) I originally placed him 13th but after hearing him again, I actually like this kid, so he's up to 9! "I Will Survive" was actually a wonderful performance but what I don't get is his attitude. He seems sleep, like a zombie, he always has the same expression. I doubt if he has some personality at all but vocally speaking, he's great.

Watch "I Will Survive" HERE.
Watch "La bombe humaine" HERE.

10. Marine Villeret


(10th) Decent voice, good looking, but nothing more. Marine was the judges wildcard to advance to the finals, which I must say was not the best choice. Her performing skills were also decent but she wasn't special, no uniqueness, just a decent singer.


Watch "Be My Baby" HERE.
Watch "Sous le soleil exactement" HERE.

11. Ambre Dupont


(Semi-finalist) Again, fantastic voice but the worst song choice ever! I really liked her raspy rock tone and she was a great performer but the song was just wrong! Still, she should have been given the wildcard instead of Marine, she had a much more contemporary voice and more power in it!

Watch "Quelque chose de Tennessee" HERE.

12. Dave Mgy


(6th) I never liked Dave. Maybe it was because he was the cursiest contestant or because he always sang chick love songs. Truth is he has a terrific pleasant voice but his song choices didn't work for me. Plus his style of performing is just to boring for me. I was impressed he got to the 6th place by serenading all the season ...

Watch "Beggin" HERE.
Watch "How deep is your love" HERE.
Watch "Du côté de chez swann" HERE. 

13. Anna Torné


(Semi-finalist) She isn't the best singer, nor the best performer. In fact, her only performance was one of the worsts, if not the worst. "Elle panique"? Come on! There's no more hedious song than that! But she was really sweet! That's the only reason I didn't place her below. It was cute seeing her performer, like if she was a 3 year old girl singing, apart from that, dullness everywhere.

Watch "Elle panique" HERE.

14. Siegfried Martin-Diaz


(Semi-finalist) I'm not sure why I don't like him. He's a good voice and the amount of quirckiness I like but he's got some sort of cockyness that turns me down. The performance was pretty good and it was really intense but there was something missing. It just didn't work for me.

Watch "Pile ou face" HERE.

15. Lucia de Carvalho


(Semi-finalist) Same case again, good voice, good look, decemt performance but dreadful song choice. She had loads of potential, her voice had lots of interesting tones and her phrasing was really nice but that song was just wrong. They don't seem to understant, first week you should end with a bang, then sing horrible songs you like.

Watch "Je suis un homme" HERE.

Vote for your favourite 3 contestants, only one vote per person.


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