Star Academy is a French reality television show produced by the Dutch company Endemol. It consists of a contest of young singers. It spawned an equally successful show in Quebec called Star Académie. It was broadcast on TF1 (2001-2008) and NRJ12 (2012). At the end of each season, selected contestants would go on tour around France, Morocco, Switzerland, Belgium, Tunisia, and other French-speaking countries.
The contestants stayed in the Dammarie-lès-Lys castle: The Vives-Eaux castle.
The reality show was hosted by Nikos Aliagas and featured guest stars such as Madonna, Britney Spears, Beyoncé, Rihanna, Katy Perry, Jonas Brothers, Miley Cyrus, Mariah Carey, Céline Dion, The Corrs, Texas, Simple Plan, Moby, Tina Arena, Nelly Furtado, Tokio Hotel, Anastacia, Alicia Keys, Craig David, 50 Cent, will.i.am, Destiny's Child, James Blunt, Diddy, Sting, David Guetta, Lenny Kravitz, Janet Jackson, Liza Minnelli, Phil Collins, Laura Pausini, Kylie Minogue, Dannii Minogue, Tina Turner, Andrea Bocelli, Charles Aznavour, Hélène Ségara, Peter Kingsbery, Lara Fabian, Shania Twain, Avril Lavigne, Alizée, Johnny Hallyday, Paul Anka, Lionel Richie, Alanis Morissette, Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, Elton John, Bee Gees, and Ricky Martin.
France (French: [fʁɑ̃s]), officially the French Republic (French: République française [ʁepyblik fʁɑ̃sɛz]), is a sovereign state comprising territory in western Europe and several overseas regions and territories. The European part of France, called metropolitan France, extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean. France spans 643,801 square kilometres (248,573 sq mi) and has a total population of 66.6 million. It is a unitary semi-presidential republic with the capital in Paris, the country's largest city and main cultural and commercial centre. The Constitution of France establishes the state as secular and democratic, with its sovereignty derived from the people.
During the Iron Age, what is now Metropolitan France was inhabited by the Gauls, a Celtic people. The Gauls were conquered in 51 BC by the Roman Empire, which held Gaul until 486. The Gallo-Romans faced raids and migration from the Germanic Franks, who dominated the region for hundreds of years, eventually creating the medieval Kingdom of France. France emerged as a major European power in the Late Middle Ages, with its victory in the Hundred Years' War (1337 to 1453) strengthening French state-building and paving the way for a future centralized absolute monarchy. During the Renaissance, France experienced a vast cultural development and established the beginning of a global colonial empire. The 16th century was dominated by religious civil wars between Catholics and Protestants (Huguenots).
France Ô (pronounced: [fʁɑ̃s o]) is a French public television network featuring programming from the French overseas departments and collectivities in Metropolitan France. It is part of the France Télévisions group. Its overseas counterpart is Outre-Mer 1ère.
It is available through cable, satellite, ADSL and the new digital terrestrial television system.
Formerly known as RFO Sat, the channel was originally broadcasting 9 hours per day only. It was re-branded France Ô in 2004 in order to better show it was part of the France Télévisions group. The "O" stands for Outre-mer (overseas), and the accent shows that the channel was opened to all accents and dialects of the world, but also ensures that the name of the channel is not read as France 0 ("France zéro").
The channel became available in overseas territories in November 2010, replacing the RFO-operated Tempo.
French wine is produced all throughout France, in quantities between 50 and 60 million hectolitres per year, or 7–8 billion bottles. France is one of the largest wine producers in the world. French wine traces its history to the 6th century BC, with many of France's regions dating their wine-making history to Roman times. The wines produced range from expensive high-end wines sold internationally to more modest wines usually only seen within France as the Margnat wines were during the post war period.
Two concepts central to higher end French wines are the notion of "terroir", which links the style of the wines to the specific locations where the grapes are grown and the wine is made, and the Appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC) system. Appellation rules closely define which grape varieties and winemaking practices are approved for classification in each of France's several hundred geographically defined appellations, which can cover entire regions, individual villages or even specific vineyards.