It marked the first episode of blind auditions for the eleventh season of The Voice, broadcast on Saturday on TF1. Jean Palau, 38, a farmer on a farm in the high mountains near the Pyrénées-Orientales, had made the trip to fully reconnect with his passion for singing. Fifteen years ago, when he set up his farm with his husband, he had to leave aside the activity of singer in a variety orchestra that punctuated his weekends.
Saturday evening, the coaches did not return to his resumption of Rise Like A Phoenix by Conchita Wurst. Fortunately, he was drafted by Nolwenn Leroy, the “surprise coach” of this edition. He tells us more about this turnaround.
How did you end up in “The Voice”?
My nephew, who came to do a season on the farm this summer, heard me sing in the little studio I set up at home. He said to me: “Uncle, it’s not possible, you can’t no longer make music and not make a scene”. So he signed me up for a singing competition including Bruno Berberes [le directeur de casting de The Voice] was the godfather. He spotted me and offered to make the selections of The Voice. I went there but I didn’t think I could be suitable for such a show.
Why ?
Not immersed in the music world, I was afraid of not being up to the level of the talents usually chosen in The Voice. I had a lack of self-confidence.
And one day in December, you land on the set. What did you feel ?
I had a hard time believing it. The tray is as big as you can imagine in front of your TV. I savored every minute of the chance that presented itself to me. I had the hope that it would turn around and that it would put my foot in the stirrup to make music.
But alas, the coaches did not return. You had it very badly…
I took a blow to the head. At the time, I did not think of myself but of my nephew, my parents, my husband who were connected by video. I knew that when I left the set, I was going to have to join Nikos and the screen where my family would appear. The coaches told me that it was okay, that I was going to continue, but I told myself that, in real life, this is not what was going to happen: I will go back to the farm and I will resume the daily. At the time, it was a small American dream that was fading. The team was very benevolent, they even offered to see the show’s psychologist, but I didn’t feel the need. Even though I had a big blow at the time, I managed to come to my senses.
When did you learn you had a second chance?
A few days later. I had resumed my daily life and the production called my husband asking him to tell me about my draft by making a video. As on the farm we sometimes do lives with our phones for our social networks, I thought, when I saw him arrive, that he was doing one. There, he tells me that there was a fifth coach, Nolwenn Leroy, who had picked me up. I felt like I was entering an incredible emotional elevator. I knew my husband was not joking as it would have been a joke in very bad taste and he was very aware that it would have affected me. I was taken by a crazy joy, by the excitement and by the anguish to tell me that I had to relaunch myself in the adventure.
We will therefore meet you at the “battles”. How did you approach this step?
I said to myself that what I hadn’t managed to find on the first pass, that is to say legitimacy towards the four other coaches, I had to go get it in this battle, while proving to Nolwenn that she had been right to trust me. It put me in a fighting spirit, towards myself.