Sofia Essaïdi is a French-Moroccan singer and actress. She was born in Casablanca, to a Moroccan father, Lhabib Essaïdi, and a French mother, Martine Adeline Gardelle.

Star Academy is a French reality television. It was produced by the Dutch company Endemol. It consists of a contest of young singers. It spawned an equally successful show in Canada called Star Académie. It was broadcast on TF1 and NRJ 12 (2012-2013). At the end of each season, selected contestants would go on tour around France : Morocco, Switzerland, Belgium, Tunisia, and other French-speaking countries.