Manuelle "Emma" Daumas is a young French songwriter and performer, particul… Read Full Bio ↴Manuelle "Emma" Daumas is a young French songwriter and performer, particularly well known for her participation in Star Academy. Daumas grew up in a family of music lovers and the passion for music led her to write several songs by the age of 12: her parents then allowed her to record her first song Stupid boy. After the piano, she took lessons in guitar, and enrolled at the academy of Villeuneuve-lès-Avignon at the age of 15. She frequently entered contests, in particular Mon Dieu of Édith Piaf: she came in 8th in the Laudun song contest playing one of her own compositions, Dis-moi pourquoi ("Tell me why"), before 700 people.

From this point on, her potential not only as a singer but as a songwriter started to become noticed. At this time, she began to enter the scene by taking part at the galas of Pascal Fallais, her professor at the time, with songs like I'm sorry or Vivre from the musical Notre-Dame de Paris. Three years later, she eventually took first place at the song contest at Laudun.

In 2000, her perseverance paid off and she was able to take part in Graines de stars, the live show by Laurent Boyer: she fulfilled her dream of 12 years. Her performance of Barbra Streisand's "Memory" allowed her to take 4th place. Some started to believe in her; among them was François-Georges, who will later become her manager. However, she waited to complete her literary Baccalauréat so she could be finished with her studies and devote herself to her vocation. Thus Emma continued her vocal training in 2001 and 2002 by taking singing lessons from vocal coach Maguy Vilette, and took guitar courses again for two months, because the musical style of pop rock attracted her. She learned more about the music scene by opening for acts such as Carlos, Éric Colado (comic of southern France), the groups Gold and Émile et Image, Noëlle Perna (a comedian from Nice), at the casino of Juan-les-Pins, but especially Michael Jones with the cabaret Le Rouge-Gorge at Avignon in November 2001, while doing odd jobs to make money. The publicity from the casting for Star Academy 2 will mark the end of a year of rich experiences.
[edit] Star Academy

In August 2002, she endeared herself with the public, but not in sufficient measure to defeat the eventual winner Nolwenn Leroy. Nevertheless, she reached the semi-final in the contest, and had the opportunity to sing duets with Serge Lama, Patrick Bruel, Youssou N'Dour and Ray Charles.
[edit] Other causes

Since 2002, Daumas has actively embraced causes in favour of underprivileged or sick children when she became a sponsor of UNICEF. She contributed the song L'or de nos vies for the Fight Aids Monaco charity (against HIV-AIDS)

A Ma Place
Emma Daumas Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Mille excuses, j'ai dû perdre un peu le fil
J'ai dû sauter quelques lignes
J'ai du mal à suivre l'histoire
Tu dis qu'il faut le mériter pour survivre
Je suis pas de celles qui s'enivrent
De ton tableau un peu noir

Et quoi que tu dises

Quoi que tu penses
Et quoi que tu fasses
Je suis à ma place
Je suis à ma place
J'y laisserai ma trace
Meme si ca te dépasse

Faudrait-il exister à ton image ?
Toi qui dénonce et enrage

Devant ton écran le soir
Tu pourrais etre un peu original
Ton discours te va si mal
Noyé dans ta quete de gloire

Je suis à ma place
Je suis à ma place
J'y laisserai ma trace
Meme si ca te dépasse

Je suis à ma place
J'y laisserai ma trace
Meme si ca te dépasse

Mille excuses, tu dois perdre un peu le fil

Je n'ai pas sauté tant de lignes
Ce n'est pas la fin de l'histoire

Overall Meaning

In Emma Daumas’s song “A Ma Place”, the singer addresses someone who is very critical and who thinks they have the right to judge others. At the beginning of the song, Emma admits that she may have lost track of the conversation, but it’s only because this person has a tendency to exaggerate or create an overly negative picture of things. She doesn’t subscribe to the idea that life is a constant struggle, and she doesn’t think that just surviving is enough - she wants to thrive. Emma asserts that, no matter what this person says or thinks, she is confident in her own place in life.

Later in the song, Emma calls out this person's hypocrisy. She notes that they criticize everyone else for being unoriginal or uninspired, but they themselves are just following the crowd - or worse, pretending to be something they’re not. Emma argues that it’s more important to stay true to oneself than to try to fit into someone else’s mold, and that it’s possible to make a mark on the world without compromising who you are. She repeats the chorus twice, emphasizing that she knows where she stands and that she will leave her own “trace” in the world.

Overall, “A Ma Place” is a song about being confident in one’s own identity and resisting pressure to conform to someone else's idea of success or identity. Emma asserts that each person has a unique path to follow, and that trying to force others into a certain mold only dampens their potential.

Line by Line Meaning

Mille excuses, j'ai dû perdre un peu le fil
I apologize, I may have lost track of things

J'ai dû sauter quelques lignes
I may have skipped some parts

J'ai du mal à suivre l'histoire
I am having trouble following the story

Tu dis qu'il faut le mériter pour survivre
You say that you have to earn survival

Je suis pas de celles qui s'enivrent
I am not one of those who get intoxicated

De ton tableau un peu noir
From your slightly dark painting

Et quoi que tu dises
And no matter what you say

Quoi que tu penses
No matter what you think

Et quoi que tu fasses
And no matter what you do

Je suis à ma place
I am in my place

J'y laisserai ma trace
I will leave my mark there