Season 1

Duo Académie is a French-language Canadian music talent show for aspiring singers aged 17 or older, all of which are required to perform cover songs in duets. The inaugural season, known as Duo Académie 2003, premiered in October and had 10 duos.

Format
Twenty aspiring singers - ten males and ten females - are sent to an abandoned apartment near Montreal. Each duo consists of one male and one female. Love relationships are strictly prohibited, even during the performances. Duos are not allowed to hold hands or attempt to kiss, but high-fives and casual hugs are permitted. Most of the songs covered are in French, but there's also hits in English and other languages such as German, Italian, or Spanish. There is no live band or orchestra, so each duo performs to prerecorded instrumentation.

Contestants
(Ages stated are at time of contest)

Episode 1 (October 20, 2003)
Each duo performed a cover song of their choice.

Episode 2 (October 27, 2003)
Each duo performed a disco classic.

Episode 3 (November 3, 2003)
Each duo performed a song from certain movies that showed up before the first half of 2003. This was arguably the most controversial episode due to one of the judges wearing a "sleazy" dress made from newspaper headlines that were published in the late 1990's.

Episode 4 (November 10, 2003)
Each duo performed a hit song that was released before the first half of 2003 by a legendary Canadian recording artist.

Episode 5 (November 17, 2003)
Each duo performed a hit song that topped multiple charts worldwide.

Episode 6 (November 24, 2003)
Each duo performed the French versions of songs from a classic Disney film.

Episode 7 (December 1, 2003)
Each duo performed an 80's classic.

Episode 8: Semi-final (December 8, 2003)
The three remaining duos performed songs from well-known Broadway musicals.

Episode 9: Finale (December 15, 2003)
The two remaining duos first performed hits songs that were never sung in previous weeks before singing the covers they performed in the first episode. The winner was decided entirely by telephone and SMS voting.

Christmas concert (December 25, 2003)
On Christmas Day 2003, Canal de triomphe aired a Christmas special for which all 10 duos from the inaugural season performed songs that were never sung in previous episodes. The show was prerecorded on December 21 in order to let everyone travel back home in time for Christmas.