Tonight, Florent Pagny, Marc Lavoine, Amel Bent and Vianney will listen to a voice that we know well here in Agen: that of Stellia Koumba. And this voice, we believe it!
The big day has arrived for singer Stellia Koumba, who enters the arena of “The Voice” tonight (9:05 pm). A TF1 program that we no longer present as it is known, and an artist already famous in Agenais since she has been performing on the local scene for many years.
However, let us remind the more distracted that Stellia Koumba is 30 years old, that she arrived from Gabon in Agen during her childhood. Passionate about singing, she will be educated at the Ducos du Hauron college (where music is valued) then at the Palissy high school (internationally oriented establishment). Stellia Koumba will then do brilliant university studies in economics (she holds a master’s degree) but will decide to devote herself entirely to her musical career in 2013. Encouraged by Francis Cabrel, among others, she is experiencing a steady rise, and a crucial stage begins tonight. : “The Voice”!
How did you get to The Voice?
Stellia Koumba. “It is necessary to believe that the planets are well aligned this time! I felt it this year! The difficult period which we all live puts at evil the artists, but there I had decided to take the plunge. I admit that I was satisfied. until then to stay on the local scene, agenaise, lot-et-garonnaise and in the south-west. When I continued my studies, in Agen then in Bordeaux, I did not necessarily want to go further on the musical level. I was a little cautious… But I changed, and today I want to know a new stage. “
What is your state of mind in the face of such a challenge?
“Hyper enthusiastic! But I’ll tell you how it happened to me. I call in 2020 a singer friend who lives in Toulouse. I tell her that I want to try” The Voice “, but that it would be better to go. to two, to support each other. She had already applied, and was still in contact with the production. She passed on my contact details and the link of a video where I appear. I then received a call from the team production to participate in a selection, it was in August 2020. So I went to Paris in September, I presented three songs, and then I came back at least four more times, to sing in front of other audiences. A real obstacle course this preselection! “
And finally you were selected… What did you sing during these “qualifications”?
“Let’s say that I wanted to present myself from two angles. I am known on Agen to interpret texts of the French song, and to take again great voices. But I also wanted to present another facet, because I want to sing more simple . Softer. So I sang Punchy, in English, and more delicate in French. “
When did you find out that you were selected for the show?
“In October 2020. Since then, I have been inhabited by two feelings: excitement … and fear. I say to myself:” This is more of a joke, are you aware that you will now be overexposed? That your private life is going to take a hit? “I will be listened to, scrutinized, by millions of viewers, it can make you dizzy. In the South-West, it is between us [rires], but there on TF1 it opens on an incredible media exposure. “The Voice” is six million viewers, right? “
Blind selections are recorded in advance, but under live conditions. How did it go ?
“The health situation obviously has an impact on the show. There is usually a short report presenting the candidate in his personal environment, where I would have been filmed for example in Agen. But that was not possible. . So I sent some videos allowing to make a small subject about me. Another modification: the family will not be behind the scenes as it is tradition in “The Voice”, but present in video. “
We will have to wait for the broadcast this Saturday evening of the show, to know the song you have chosen, and the reaction of the jury. Can you remind us of the principle of this hearing?
“It is said to be” blind “because the four stars composing the jury, namely Vianney, Amel Bent, Marc Lavoine and Florent Pagny, are seated in armchairs and have their backs to the candidate. voice. If they are affected, they select the candidate who can himself decide who will be his coach for the rest of the show – if he has the choice. “
When you arrive on the set, what do you say to yourself?
“That I am going to be judged. By great artists, but also by millions of people. It has nothing to do with a concert, where the public is willing, where they have paid to see and listen to an artist that they generally do. already know. There, the deal is not the same. So I’m stressed, and I wonder what I’m doing here [rires]. And then I have the answer: I tell myself that I am here to share an emotion with as many people as possible. I am sometimes told, after concerts, that my voice feels good: so it’s worth it to confront me with all these people… “
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