If you followed the second season of New star, in 2004, Charles is not completely unknown to you. The singer, who had participated in the M6 telecrochet, is trying his luck this year at The Voice. His passage on the set of TF1, this Saturday evening, promises to be rich in emotions. The 30-year-old will be accompanied by his companion, Eliane, who will translate the lyrics of the song he has chosen to perform, Leave me a place by Julien Clerc, in sign language. He tells us why…
How did you end up at the blind auditions for “The Voice”?
I was approached through my tribute band [groupe hommage] in Calogero, A Perfect Day. Bruno Berberes [le directeur de casting]whom I have known since my time at New star, asked me to come on the show. I hesitated. Then, I quickly thought about our family situation, our sick child, our association and I said to myself that switching to TF1 could be an opportunity to talk about our daily struggle.
What is this fight?
Lucien, the eldest of our two children, was a healthy baby, a little grumpy, he cried a lot and always sought contact with mum and dad. He was growing well, he quickly got to his feet. At 3 years old, he counted to ten in English and also knew the colors in this language. But, at this same age, we noticed that he brought his eyes closer to the books to look at the drawings. The ophthalmologist told us that there was a big problem because he had a pale pupil. We did tests at the hospital and, after nine months, we had the diagnosis: our son has Brown-Vialetto-Van Lear (BVVL) syndrome. It is an orphan disease – there are a hundred patients in the world – which affects the nerves. It involves rapid degeneration, my son has difficulty moving around, his optic nerves are atrophied… Around the age of 4, he became deaf. It was a test for us. There are still solutions, the most suitable for communicating with our children is sign language. Today Lucien is 6 years old. He no longer says a word but he manages to make himself understood with signs.
Is your objective to go far in the competition or simply to deliver your testimony?
When you have this opportunity, you necessarily try to project yourself far into the show. So I live the adventure for two things. The first is the wonderful opportunity to make our association known, Lulu’s little bubble and to call for donations. It is directly linked to the Cure RTD foundation which, in the United States and Canada, does research on the disease. My participation in The Voice allows me to talk about this disease at prime time, to raise public awareness. Maybe people will recognize themselves through our history. The second, as an artist and singer, is that it can be a spotlight, a great springboard. Everything was going well and all of a sudden everything collapsed. Our association
On stage you were accompanied by your companion…
Yes, she translates the song into sign language. We wanted Lucien, when he is older, to understand the text when he sees his mother sign it.
In 2004, you were a candidate for “Nouvelle Star”, what do you remember of it?
AT New star, I celebrated my 17th birthday – I’m soon to be 36. Nineteen years later, I have a somewhat blurred, vague memory. It was a wonderful adventure, I was lucky to be in the right place at the right time. At the casting, I was unanimous on SOS a landowner in distress, in the theater, it was more complicated. Then, the premiums, it’s a great memory. We were on M6 in front of millions of viewers, there was an impossible pressure that disappeared as soon as we started to sing… There was a great atmosphere with everyone.
During a prime, you were the last candidate qualified by the public while Simongad was eliminated. Marianne James then had this sentence become cult: “You have shit in your ears! “. How did you experience it?
I quickly relativized. The order in which the host, Benjamin Castaldi, announced the saved candidates was not related to the number of votes. So I did not experience this sentence as a personal attack. It was better, to stay strong. I tried to quickly turn the page. Marianne James was talking more about the elimination of Simongad. Dove Attia came to see me backstage. He told me not to worry, that people would interpret this as an attack on me, that the public would support me and that I would go far. I finished fifth. This little TV moment was beneficial to me.
Without telling us the outcome of your hearing, can you tell us if Amel Bent, who participated in the same season of “Nouvelle Star” as you, recognized you?
I thought she would ask herself the question, that my head would tell her something and that she would ask me if we had already seen each other. It was not the case. I ended up telling him that we had met in the past. Nineteen years have passed, I can understand.
What is your short-term news?
I continue to perform with Un Jour Parfait, which we put on in 2019 because my voice lent itself to Calogero’s range… We were starting to have several dates, to build our audience and then the Covid arrived. We had a hard time leaving but the concerts are starting to pick up again and that’s a pleasure.