” It is an honour for me. I am happy not to have disappointed the public, nor the jury…” Rayane has a modest triumph. Tuesday night, he won season 17 of France has an unbelievable talent on M6 with his piano interpretation of a score by Chopin. At 15, the teenager who lives in a home in Montreuil (Seine-Saint-Denis) won at the same time 100,000 euros, “a colossal sum”, he says, which will help him “make music at his majority. A true autodidact – he started playing in April 2021, mainly on free access pianos in Ile-de-France train stations – he recently joined the conservatory. This is only the beginning of a destiny that promises to be radiant for this “incredible talent”.
Hélène Ségara said that you put a lot of pressure on yourself before the final…
Yes. Before going on stage, when the show had already started, I received the support of several candidates and it overwhelmed me with emotion, I had never felt that. It destabilized me, I was stressed. It wasn’t easy because I had to be focused: when you play a piece, you have to think about the present but also anticipate to have an even more powerful and impressive sound.
After your visit, you admitted that you were not very happy with yourself…
I thought to myself that I could have done better. During my performance, it was my fingers that played on their own. I was in my bubble.
When, when the results were announced, it was just you and Duo Gemini vying for victory, what were you thinking?
In my head, I told myself that I would be happy regardless of my ranking. If I had finished second, it would still have meant that I had conquered the public, that I had received a lot of votes in my favour.
After the broadcast of your audition in October, have many things changed for you?
Yes, everything has changed. I was able to meet several people, including people known as Gims whom I accompanied on the piano at the Saint-Lazare station. There was also an effect on my popularity. When I play in a train station, people recognize me because they see my face, they see that I play classical. For me, all that was already a victory. The day after my audition was broadcast on M6, I received a piano [promis par Marianne James et Eric Antoine]. It was installed in an isolated room in the household where I live.
We discovered during the final that you had since been a student at the conservatory…
I had passed tests to integrate it before my passage in the emission. They said I had potential, so I’m taking piano lessons and music theory. Regarding my piano practice, I have five hours of lessons at the conservatory per week and, when I can, I stay there from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. to practice alone.
You wanted to say on Tuesday evening that it was important to work to make your dreams come true. Is that the message you wanted to convey?
I did not come on this show for the competition but to convey this message. I wanted to pass it on. I didn’t think I would win, so I said it right after I was on stage. There may be people like me, who will participate in France has an unbelievable talentwill make themselves known and will work…
Do you get a lot of messages from the public?
My accounts are private, I receive a lot of requests but I don’t want to be known and I wouldn’t have time to be on the networks between school, the conservatory, the piano… I have when even received a few private messages, it touches me because they are sincere. It gave me a lot of hope.
What can we wish you for 2023?
What do I really want? Become an academic student at the conservatory, a complete pianist.