Over 2000 candidates from all over France tried out to be one of the 32 kids aged 8-12 to compete in the French TV children’s singing contest broadcast on Direct 8 called L’Ècole des Stars.  This year, the winner was 9-year-old Léo from la Loire.

He performed the songs ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’ and ‘Le Manège’.  Then, he went on to sing ‘Mon ami la rose’ and ‘Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps’ in the semi-finals.  He won the final with the songs ‘Le temps qui court’ and ‘Heart of Glass’.

The first season of this reality TV series was offered to the French public in 2008 and it included 50 aspiring child singers aged 7 to 14.  A two-person jury goes about choosing which kids stay in the competition as the season unfolds.  Each episode features a popular artist who sings a duo with the kids and helps choose which go on to the next round.

Listen to the pre-performance interview.  The kid is really cute and it’s good listening practice for beginning French learners.  The jury’s comments are also really good listening practice, especially for more advanced French learners.