• The third night of the blind auditions of The Voice is broadcast this Saturday, March 11 at 21:10 on TF1.
  • Among the talents in the running, Charles, who had participated in season 2 of Nouvelle Star in 2004.
  • Charles will be accompanied by his girlfriend on stage. She will translate the song into sign language because their son, Lucien, 6, has an orphan disease that caused him to be deaf. The couple wants to use their time on the show to talk about their fight and their association La petite bulle de Lulu.

If you followed the second season of Nouvelle Star, in 2004, Charles is not completely unknown to you. The singer, who had participated in the M6 telecrochet, tries his luck this year at The Voice. His passage on the set of TF1, this Saturday evening, promises to be rich in emotions. The thirty-year-old will be accompanied by his partner, Eliane, who will translate the lyrics of the song he has chosen to perform, Fais-moi une place by Julien Clerc, into sign language. He explains why...

How did you end up at the blind auditions for "The Voice"?

I was solicited via my tribute band [tribute group] in Calogero, Un jour Parfait. Bruno Berberes [the casting director], whom I have known since my time at Nouvelle Star, offered me to come on the show. I hesitated. Then, I quickly thought about our family situation, our sick child, our association and I thought that going 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 mom and dad. He was growing well, he quickly got on his feet. At 3 years old, he counted up to ten in English and also knew the colors in this language. But, at that same age, we noticed that he brought his eyes closer to 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 were diagnosed: our son has Brown-Vialetto-Van Lear syndrome (BVVL). It is an orphan disease - there are a hundred patients in the world - that affects the nerves. It involves rapid degeneration, my son has trouble moving, his optic nerves are atrophied... Around the age of 4, he became deaf. It was an ordeal 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 goal 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 publicize our association, La petite bulle de Lulu and to call for donations. It is directly linked to the Cure RTD Foundation which, in the United States and Canada, conducts research on the disease. My participation in The Voice allows me to talk about this disease in prime time, to raise awareness. Maybe people will recognize themselves through our history. The second, as an artist and singer, is that it can be a spotlight, a beautiful springboard. Everything was fine and suddenly everything fell apart. Our association

On stage you were accompanied by your girlfriend...

Yes, she translates the song into sign language. We wanted Lucien, when he grew up, to understand the text when he saw his mother sign.

In 2004, you were a candidate of "Nouvelle Star", what memories do you keep?

At Nouvelle Star, I celebrated my 17th birthday - I'm almost 36. Nineteen years later, I keep a somewhat blurred, vague memory. It was a wonderful adventure, I was lucky to be in the right place at the right time. In the casting, I was unanimous on SOS d'un Terrien en détresse, 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 singing... There was a nice atmosphere with everyone.

During a bonus, you were the last candidate qualified by the public while Simongad was eliminated. Marianne James then had this phrase that has become cult: "You have in your ears!" How did you experience it?

I very quickly put things into perspective. The order in which the host, Benjamin Castaldi, announced the rescued candidates was not related to the number of votes. So I didn't experience this sentence as a personal attack. It was better, to stay strong. I tried to quickly turn the page. Marianne James was talking about the elimination of Simongad. Dove Attia had come 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 revealing the outcome of your audition, 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 ever seen each other. That was not the case. I ended up telling him that we had been around each other in the past. Nineteen years have passed, I can understand.

What is your news in the short term?

I continue to perform with Un Jour Parfait, which we staged in 2019 because my voice lent itself to the tessitura of Calogero... We were starting to have several dates, to build our audience and then Covid came. We had a hard time leaving but the concerts are starting to restart and it's a pleasure.


  • Entertainment
  • Television
  • The Voice
  • New star
  • Valenciennes
  • Lille
  • Hauts-de-France
  • Deafened