“I think the final of “The Voice” gave me a very good taste, stress-wise, of what my written baccalaureate exams will be like,” jokes Alphonse to 20 minutes this Sunday morning. Barely twelve hours earlier, the talent of the Zazie team, who has not yet turned 18 or finished his studies, won the thirteenth season of the TF1 telecrochet following a final round of voting facing Baptiste Sartoria.
Over the course of the episodes, the young man was able to find his audience by imposing his singularity: the face of a “New Wave” actor, a mature voice contrasting with his age and applied diction such as we rarely hear anymore. . Above all, he showed himself at ease in the incarnation of songs with text (Fernand by Jacques Brel, Ordinary by Robert Charlebois…). Alphonse also turns out to be an atypical winner: starting a musical career is not his priority. He will devote himself to it after his studies – his other passion is economics. For him, it will really be “Pass your baccalaureate first”.
With your trophy in hand, you looked incredulous. Is winning “The Voice” a scenario that you hadn’t considered?
To be honest, absolutely not. I was very surprised. For me, everyone deserved this place. Surprise is really the word.
During the week, did you ever think “Maybe, among the five finalists, it will be my name that Nikos Aliagas will announce”?
Yes, we necessarily think about it because it is the outcome, we will say, but we try to detach ourselves from this thought because if we think like that, we no longer concentrate on our interpretations of the songs and we forget that the most important thing is to sing, it’s the audience, without having any expectations behind it.
What do you think made the public so popular with you?
That’s part of what surprises me (laughing). I hear a lot about interpretation, so maybe that’s why. The love of words… I hope in any case that people supported me because they had fun. Joy, letting go, that’s what I tried the most to communicate.
You will pass the baccalaureate in a few weeks. Will this victory upset your plans?
There, I’m going to really concentrate on the baccalaureate. I will always have “The Voice”, singing, in the back of my mind. But my studies have priority. Even production, my coach Zazie, told me that the baccalaureate was very important.
Are you going to take part in “The Voice” tour this summer?
I do not know yet. I’m thinking about it. My decision is not made and the baccalaureate takes precedence.
At the start of the school year, will you continue your studies or do you plan to devote yourself to music?
I’m going to do economic preparation. I will continue music in parallel but, for me, studies are complementary to singing. They provide rigor, a way of approaching things from different points of view and they allow you to develop critical thinking. I think that studies can help me, in writing for example, if I make an album.
Do you want to wait until you have finished your studies to make an album or, as most of the winners of the show do, to release a record in the coming year?
An album, I don’t know. A single, maybe. It’s a bit complicated to answer because I really want to take the time and let myself think. What I know is that I am waiting until I have a diploma to devote myself fully to music. A diploma provides security and then, I love the economy, so I don’t see why I would deprive myself of doing the things I love if I can do both (laughs).
Zazie revealed that you refused the song she wrote for you. Was it hard to tell him, wasn’t it?
Hard, I don’t know. Honestly, I knew what I wanted – this might sound a bit pretentious – and in which direction I wanted to go so I said no. For this final, I wanted to defend a particular style and a particular energy. [Il a donc choisi d’interpréter A tous les coups, écrite par François Welgryn].
The song proposed by Zazie was in what style? What was she talking about?
I prefer not to reveal too much and stay classy about it but it was a rather slow piece and it didn’t suit me. That’s why I didn’t choose it.
In everything that Zazie was able to tell you during the “The Voice” adventure, what will you particularly remember?
I like his comparison that the song is like painting: we add layers to have more and more thickness, nuances, in the text. It is very important for me to combine nuance in words and sobriety.