The incredible performances of Anik St-Pierre at The Voice, in France, are talked about as much on the other side of the Atlantic as here, in Quebec. The competition is not over as the phone is already ringing for the 48-year-old singer from Shawinigan.
What an incredible journey she lived to get to battles, last Saturday, at TF1. “It’s the adventure of a lifetime”, she drops on the other end of the line, during an interview with The newspaper.
At first glance, Anik St-Pierre had applied late for this 10e tele-hook season. But, in front of her talent, the production called her all the same. It is surprising to learn that she had already tried her luck at several pre-auditions of The voice, in Quebec, but it was never retained.
After a few virtual auditions in front of the producers, she learned, in October, that she was invited to the blind auditions. But now, two days later, France announces that it is closing its borders to Canadians.
The production team tried by all means to get them to surrender anyway, but they were denied the waiver. Anik St-Pierre managed to get it by doing his own procedures, and by respecting a rigorous quarantine process.
For the blind hearing, it offers nothing less than a rereading of All by Myself, Celine Dion, who sends her to Marc Lavoine’s team. Her performance has been viewed over 300,000 times on YouTube.
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Last Saturday, she measured herself against a young singer, Arthur, on the occasion of battles. They interpret Under Pressure, Queen and David Bowie. Despite her vocal prowess, she was not chosen by her coach. But, surprise: singer Amel Bent pressed the buzzer to repatriate Anik St-Pierre to his team.
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“There cannot be The Voice if there is no Anik. It is THE voice of this program, you have to be there, ”explained the French singer.
Great spinoffs
“At that point, my knees gave way,” recalls Anik St-Pierre. His battle has earned him a very laudatory full article in the newspaperThe Parisian.
However, the flights of candidates to The Voice do not function like the battlefields in the Quebec version. Coaches can steal as many candidates as they want, but if Amel Bent steals another, it will definitely kick Anik St-Pierre out of the competition.
It is this Saturday that we will know if Amel Bent will get his hands on another candidate or not. Anik St-Pierre already knows his fate, since the recordings were made four months ago. “I can say it’s been an incredible emotional lift,” she says.
An album in the works
A program gathering an average of five to six million viewers each week, the visibility enjoyed by Anik St-Pierre is starting to be felt. She has had several contract proposals both here and in Europe, “but with COVID, it complicates things,” she said. In the meantime, she is preparing her first album of original songs.
She also operates a singing school and teaches about a hundred students. Since the start of the pandemic, she has had to alternate between face-to-face and online courses. On the positive side, the switch to virtual enabled her to welcome new French students, who contacted her when the host of the show The Voice Nikos Aliagas mentioned on the air that Anik St-Pierre was a voice teacher.
“It’s incredible to see this enthusiasm,” she comments.
Anik St-Pierre has been singing since she was six years old, but she has always had a career behind the scenes, whether working in the studio, as a backing vocalist for other artists or doing corporate shows. “I just walked through a door that allows the general public to know me,” she rejoices.
