In 1981, when Vanessa was eight years old, she appeared as a contestant on the European television program L'Ecole des Fans (The School of Fans). A sort of cult TV hit, the show featured very young children doing what were often very bad renditions of well-known songs. She brought mom, dad, and uncle Didier, who had used his connection (he knew the piano player) to get his niece on the show. She sang a song from Emilie Jolie, a famous French musical by Philippe Chatel, who was that night's guest. The song was "Chanson d'Emilie et du Grand Oiseau" ("Emilie and the Big Bird's Song") and is originally a duo. Vanessa sang both parts in a pretty little voice. It was definitely a preview of her talent. The cutest moment? She messed up at a word at one point, and gave a nervous grin to her parents! Some years later, Vanessa returned to the School of Fans to help other children sing. The kids performed adorable but atrocious covers of her songs, and proved that Vanessa would be the only one to come out of that show a superstar. Thank you to VanessaParadis.info, for this description.