On September 3, 2004, young Grégory Lemarchal entered the mythical Star Academy castle. Over the weeks of competition, the singer with the voice of an angel has won the hearts of viewers. The following December 22, he won hands down against Lucie, the fourth season of the musical show. A memorable evening for the presenter Nikos Aliagas who confided in the preface to the book Under your gaze, written by his mother Laurence Lemarchal.

“We are on December 22, 2004 on the set of the Star Academy final and, after three hours of intense show, I am about to open the famous envelope which contains the name of the winner of the season”, he said. he writes and continues: “I don’t want to know the result before opening the envelope but, deep inside me, I know that that evening Grégory has already won everything”. The young artist, who, for sixteen weeks, sang in duets with great artists such as Patrick Bruel, Michel Sardou or even Patricia Kaas, finally “freed himself from his chains and his procession of unjust trials” by learning his victory.

Through his gaze, Nikos Aliagas saw “an artist touched by the great vertigo of the limelight, the gaze of a man who just wants to take his life in hand (…) like revenge on the life that didn’t give him any gifts”. After his victory, Grégory Lemarchal once again met with success thanks to his cult songs Je deviens moi, Écris l’histoire and I’m alive. Unfortunately, this “fucking illness that is not seen but does not go away” caught up with him in 2007. The young 23-year-old singer died on April 30, 2007 as a result of cystic fibrosis.

His parents, Laurence and Pierre, created the Grégory Lemarchal association to raise money to improve the living conditions of patients in hospitals. They are for Nikos Aliagas “a model of courage and integrity (…) Their mourning, they transform it into words and actions every day”. Since the disappearance of Grégory Lemarchal, the host of TF1 has become a sponsor of the association alongside Mickaël Landreau and Patrick Fiori.