Vocal‑coach style shift
On France’s The Voice, coach Lara Fabian has been stepping into improvised duets and using visible notebooks during blind auditions, a tactic that reportedly irritated fellow coach Amel Bent and sparked on‑screen friction. ( ) Contestant Vladimir, 38, performed 'Je suis malade' and credited Fabian with his career path before singing a duet with her on the show. ( )
Lara Fabian’s coaching on *The Voice* has shifted from quiet judging to visible intervention, with improvised duets and even a notebook now becoming part of her blind-audition playbook. (tf1info.fr) That style was on display again during the Saturday, April 11, 2026 blind auditions on TF1, when Vladimir, 38, performed Serge Lama’s “Je suis malade” at the piano. Amel Bent, Tayc and Florent Pagny turned first, and Lara Fabian waited until the end before turning too. (stars-actu.fr) Vladimir told the coaches he became a singer because of Fabian and learned French through her version of “Je suis malade.” TF1 and Charts in France both identified him as a Georgian refugee, and Charts in France said he is now based in Germany. (tf1info.fr) (chartsinfrance.net) After his audition, Fabian joined Vladimir for an on-set duet of the same song, extending a pattern that French entertainment coverage has framed as one of her signature moves this season. Ouest-France’s TV guide called it another example of Fabian “giving gifts” to contestants. (programmetv.ouest-france.fr) The friction around that approach has also become part of the show. Yahoo’s republication of a Puremédias report said Fabian’s late buzzer during Vladimir’s song drew protests from Tayc and Amel Bent, and La Dépêche reported another on-air clash around the same sequence. (fr.news.yahoo.com) (ladepeche.fr) The tension did not start on April 11. On April 4, *Télé-Loisirs* reported that Amel Bent cut off Fabian after another audition, prompting Fabian to complain on air, “On m’engueule tout le temps,” as the coaches argued over how she was reacting to performances. (programme-tv.net) Earlier in the season, Fabian had already pushed the format in smaller ways. *Télé-Loisirs* reported on February 28 that production granted her an unprecedented favor during the first blind-audition episode, and on March 7 the same outlet described Amel Bent joking that one of Fabian’s contestant gifts looked like “corruption.” (programme-tv.net 1) (programme-tv.net 2) The result is a season in which Fabian is acting less like a coach waiting for the pitch and more like a performer stepping into the scene before the choice is over. Vladimir still chose her team, giving the episode the ending Fabian appeared to want from the moment she heard the song that helped make her famous to him. (stars-actu.fr) (tf1info.fr)
