Matthew Raymond-Barker howls his way to win France's X Factor

Yes the winner of the France's version of the X Factor (and you have to pronounce that as "Ix Factor) is none other than a guy who was literally booted off the British version of the show without making it through to the live prime time snore-athons.

Matthew Raymond-Barker (screenshot M6 video)

Matthew Raymond-Barker outwarbled Marina D'Amico to become the country's latest super-talented "find" and in the process securing a record deal with Sony.

Oh what a night it was to be - a very long one.

Sandrine Corman was on hand to continue her sterling job of keeping the whole shebang flowing - just as she had done for the past three months.

The judges took their places with Olivier Schultheis (D'Amico's coach) and Canadian impressionist-singer Véronic DiCaire (for Raymond-Barker) keeping their fingers (and just about anything else) crossed for their protegés and it was time to let battle begin.

The show was to be - in the words of Christophe Willem, one of the judges and as a former talent show winner (Nouvelle Star) and ergo someone who should know, "A clash of the Titans".

Even the rather more surly Henry Padovani, a founder member of the Police (did you know that?) and the poor guy who had to pretend that he had actually enjoyed his role as coach of three groups that were never going to win, managed to drum up some enthusiasm for both D'Amico and Raymond-Barker admitting grumpily (and not with any real sincerity) that they, "deserved to be in the final."

Raymond-Barker's (doesn't that just trip off the tongue delightfully) parents had made the trip over from Britain. Poor things, they looked as though they didn't understand a word of what was being said throughout, which was probably the case.

D'Amico's parents too were in the audience - just as they had been all along to cheer their 17-year-old daughter along.

We learned that the 22-year-old Raymond-Barker had turned up at the auditions by - in his words - "pure chance" (yeah, yeah, we believe you), that D'Amico made endless (mindless) jokes and that the two of them couldn't wait to perform together for the first time in the competition.

The songs came and went: three from each of them including the one that would be the first single should they win the competition.

The judges gave their verdicts, which, let's face it, were never going to be along the lines of, "Well that was a load of old tripe. How the heck did we end up with these two in the final?"

Guests Bouncy - sorry Beyoncé - and Bruno Mars showed both Raymond-Barker and D'Amico how it really should be done.

But once again the presence of two international stars performing live didn't really do it in terms of ratings.

Only 2.3 million could be bothered to tune to X Factor while at the same time 8.2 million were glued to their boxes watching the US import "Dr House" over on TF1.

The finals songs sung, both competitors and their coaches joined Corman on stage as she gave a brief resumé of their capabilities (all that was needed really) and told everyone how close the competition had been with only 1,300 votes separating the two.

"The winner of X Factor 2011..." dramatic pause #1..."is"...dramatic pause #2..."MATTYOU RAYMOND-BARKEEEEEEEEER!"

Dicaire gave her "Mattyou" a huge hug. Schulties looked very purse-lipped about the result and D'Amico jutted out her substantial chin in brave defeat.

Raymond-Barker thanked everyone he could think of in French before uttering the inevitable "I don't believe it" in English and the rest of the "also-took-part" contestants rushed on stage to congratulate/comiserate a they saw fit.

Just time for the winner to prepare himself to murder Daniel Balavoine's 1982 hit "Vivre ou survivre" for one last time.

That's the song which will be released on Saturday as his first (and only?) single.

M6 has yet to decide whether it will continue the search for that someone with the X Factor next year or revert to Nouvelle Star (Pop Idol).

Here's a suggestion...how about "Neither of the above".

In the meantime, here's a chance for you to "enjoy" Matthew Raymond-Barker singing "Vivre ou survivre" with the original from Balavoine to serve as a comparison.

X Factor à la française "The musical event of the year" - apparently

Just when the French must have thought they were safe from television talent shows, up pops the latest offering - X Factor.

X Factor judges left to right Henry Padovani, Véronic DiCaire, Christophe Willem and Olivier Schultheis (screenshot from YouTube trailer)

On Tuesday the commercial broadcaster M6 will launch the revamped, prime-time search for France's next...er...Sébastien Agius.

Don't worry if you've never heard of him. The chances are, neither have a majority of the French.

Agius was the winner of the first French X Factor in 2009 broadcast on M6's sister channel W9 and although he has released both a single and an album since picking up the title, and played concerts, the 28-year-old has hardly set the French musical scene alight.

Whatever.

The Powers That Be at M6 have obviously decided there's life in the format and, after shelving Nouvelle Star (France's version of Pop Idol) last year at the end of its eighth season, are ready to (re)launch what they proudly and presumably without hyperbolic intent, announce on the show's website will be, "The musical event of the year".

The programme hits the screens on Tuesday evening with an "all-star" line-up of judges that includes - hold your breath - Henry Padovani.

He, M6 proudly informs us, was a "founding member of the British rock group 'The Police'" and is "one of the few French musicians to have had a successful career in Britain."

Apparently he's still "very close" to Sting et al, even though he left barely a year after the group was formed and before it hit the Big Time.

Rest assured though, he has apparently had plenty of success since and brings "with his 360 degrees experience from the world of music as a musician and manager, vision and wisdom to the X Factor candidates."

Ah. There's nothing like laying it on thick.

Joining Padovani is another "heavyweight" from the (French) music scene, Christophe Willem.

Now his is a name with which many French should be familiar and he's very much on tried and tested territory.

The 27-year-old will doubtless be able to give invaluable inside as he's been there, done that and bought the tee-shirt so-to-speak after winning Nouvelle Star back in 2006.

A couple of best-selling albums, several singles, concerts tours and regular television appearances under his belt, Willem says of X Factor that it's a "competition that can clearly change someone's life. I know: I lived it myself."

There's no messing with the musical pedigree of the show's third judge Olivier Schultheis.

He's a musician, lyricist, composer and conductor, son of singer-songwriter Jean and a former student at the prestigious Conservatoire national supérieur de musique et de danse de Paris.

Schultheis apparently has "perfect pitch" and has worked with a host of French stars as well as helping launch the careers of several - including Willem.

Completing the line-up of judges, and presumably proving that France's X Factor knows no international boundaries, is Canadian singer and impersonator Véronic Dicaire.

It's not a bad move on the part of the talented 34-year-old who is already a star within the French-speaking community in Canada and fairly blew audiences away in Paris early last year during an extended run at the capital's Théâtre de la Gaîté and returned to play extra dates in November.

Dicaire has a European tour scheduled from this month taking in cities in France, Switzerland and Belgium and an appearance on national telly will surely only boost her appeal to a wider audience.

"By nature sincere and energetic, Dicaire will bring the jury freshness and authenticity," according to M6.

That and, "Anglo-Saxon artistic standards," apparently - whatever that entails.

The whole shebang, including all the stages that have been completed to "discover" the 12 finalists, will begin airing Tuesday March 15 on M6 at 8.45pm local time.

Can you wait?

Véronic DiCaire triumphs in Paris

There aren't that many impressionists (of the sort that impersonate famous people rather than the painters, writers and composers) around in France who are household names.

And those that are, tend to be men. Indeed it wasn't until a couple of years ago that the general public would probably have been hard pushed to name even one woman.

That all changed when Liane Foly revealed that she was not only a consummate singer but also an excellent impersonator of prominent figures - French and international - both male and female.

Now Foly has competition, and it comes in the shape of Véronic DiCaire, who has just finished an extended run at the Théâtre de la Gaîté playing to packed houses and entertaining audiences with her own stunning array of voices.

Veronic Dicaire (imitatrice de génie) a Paris
par Tadoussac

DiCaire is already a star within the French-speaking community back in her native Canada used to playing at much larger venues.

But her run at the 400-seater Théâtre de la Gaîté fairly blew audiences away and has assured her a return to the French capital in the autumn.



Although DiCaire, just like Foly, has a big singing voice in her own right, she prefers to use it in her show to bring together a group of figures without the political and current affairs bite that is perhaps more of a French tradition where parody takes precedence.

Sure DiCaire picks up on the mannerisms of the women she's impersonating, but the real triumph lies in the spot-on vocal performances which are sometimes hard to distinguish from the original.

That's especially true when she takes on fellow Canadians such as Lynda Lemay, Isabelle Boulay and of course Céline Dion as well as French singers such as Vanessa Paradis, Mireille Mathieu and Edith Piaf or Belgians Maurane, Axelle Red and Lara Fabian.

But don't believe that her range is limited to French-speaking singers if you will.

Madonna, Britney Spears, Rihanna, Amy Winehouse, Christina Aguilera and Lady Gaga were also up there on stage in Paris, courtesy of DiCaire. And even Susan Boyle put in an appearance.

In 90 minutes DiCaire illustrated to the audience how "easy it is to take on someone else's voice" with the helpful explanation of the journey of the "hot potato" from the head of Vanessa Paradis to the mouth of Amy Winehouse and finally hitting the feet as she strutted around the stage Tina Turner style.

But it was probably as Dion that DiCaire really triumphed, a woman for whom she has on occasions been the opening act and whose husband, René Angélil, has even acted as her producer. So the 33-year-old has probably had plenty of time to perfect her impersonation.

In Paris DiCaire took the audience on a trip through Dion's career (and hairstyles) so far, from her first appearance on French television back in the 1980s to a rendition of "All by myself" in which she ducked out at the last moment when she was supposed to hit that high note, just to prolong the wait as she relaunched herself back into the song and out-Diva-ed Dion of course.

And if all that were not enough, she followed it up with a duet featuring two women with completely different voices. Dion's powerful but slightly nasal tones were joined by the much rounder and fuller and deeper ones of Maurane in a performance of Jacques Brel's "Quand on n’a que l’amour" which inevitably had the whole audience on its feet in appreciation at the end.



DiCaire - and her many voices - will now take a well-earned break before taking to the stage again in Canada in May.

But she'll be back in Paris in early November when she'll be performing at the 1,000-seater La Cigale for seven nights.