How to avoid creation of a float page with figure*

Question

I want to prevent a figure* going to next page, and be displayed atop the section. Below you find the code, and I also provide an overleaf view-only link.

This past question is also related, but using \twocolumn[{% as suggested breaks usage later on (it forces a page break, so you need to go back to figure* a-posteriori).

I have also tried to fiddle with \FloatBarrier to no avail.

Any suggestions? Much appreciated.

\documentclass[10pt,twocolumn,letterpaper]{article}
\usepackage[review]{cvpr}      % To produce the REVIEW version
\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
\usepackage{graphicx}
\usepackage{lipsum}
\newcommand{\loremshort}[1]{{\lipsum[1][0-#1]}}
% FROM: https://aty.sdsu.edu/bibliog/latex/floats.html
% OUTCOME: does not work...
% \input{attempt1.tex}
\def\cvprPaperID{***} % * Enter the CVPR Paper ID here
\def\confName{CVPR}
\def\confYear{2023}
\begin{document}
\clearpage
\begin{figure}[tb!]
\begin{center}
\includegraphics[width=.49\linewidth]{example-image-golden}
\hfill
\includegraphics[width=.49\linewidth]{example-image-golden}
\caption{Why does this figure not want to stay on page 1?}
\end{center}
\end{figure}
\section{Section}
\loremshort{10}
\end{document}

Yet, the output I get is the following:

And this is even if I add attempt1.tex, according to the tricks discussed here:

% Alter some LaTeX defaults for better treatment of figures:
% See p.105 of "TeX Unbound" for suggested values.
% See pp. 199-200 of Lamport's "LaTeX" book for details.
%   General parameters, for ALL pages:
\renewcommand{\topfraction}{0.9}    % max fraction of floats at top
\renewcommand{\bottomfraction}{0.8} % max fraction of floats at bottom
%   Parameters for TEXT pages (not float pages):
\setcounter{topnumber}{2}
\setcounter{bottomnumber}{2}
\setcounter{totalnumber}{4}     % 2 may work better
\setcounter{dbltopnumber}{2}    % for 2-column pages
\renewcommand{\dbltopfraction}{0.9} % fit big float above 2-col. text
\renewcommand{\textfraction}{0.07}  % allow minimal text w. figs
%   Parameters for FLOAT pages (not text pages):
\renewcommand{\floatpagefraction}{0.7}  % require fuller float pages
% N.B.: floatpagefraction MUST be less than topfraction !!
\renewcommand{\dblfloatpagefraction}{0.7}   % require fuller float pages

Trick from David

The twocolumn trick is not quite satisfying:

\documentclass[10pt,twocolumn,letterpaper]{article}
\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
\usepackage{graphicx}
\usepackage{caption}
\usepackage{lipsum}
\newcommand{\loremshort}[1]{{\lipsum[1][0-#1]}}
\usepackage{blindtext}
\newcommand{\lorem}[1]{{\blindtext[#1]}}
\begin{document}
\section{Introduction}
\lorem{2}
\twocolumn[{
% \begin{figure}[H]
\begin{center}
\includegraphics[width=.49\linewidth]{example-image-golden}
\hfill
\includegraphics[width=.49\linewidth]{example-image-golden}
\captionof{figure}{Why does this figure not want to stay on page 1?}
\end{center}
% \end{figure}
}]
\section{Method}
\loremshort{10}
\end{document}

Because it generates a hard page break whenever it's used (similar to clearpage).

Answer 1

Two-column floats come, at the earliest, on the next page, as there is no next page here the float can not be positioned at all until it is flushed out by the implicit \clearpage at \end{document}. \clearpage necessarily treats all floats as allowed on float pages as it has to ensure they are all output.

\documentclass[10pt,twocolumn,letterpaper]{article}
%\usepackage[review]{cvpr}      % To produce the REVIEW version
\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
\usepackage{graphicx}
\usepackage{capt-of}
\usepackage{lipsum}
\newcommand{\loremshort}[1]{{\lipsum[1][0-#1]}}
% FROM: https://aty.sdsu.edu/bibliog/latex/floats.html
% OUTCOME: does not work...
% \input{attempt1.tex}
\def\cvprPaperID{***} % * Enter the CVPR Paper ID here
\def\confName{CVPR}
\def\confYear{2023}
\begin{document}
\twocolumn[{
\begin{center}
\includegraphics[width=.49\linewidth]{example-image-golden}
\hfill
\includegraphics[width=.49\linewidth]{example-image-golden}
\captionof{figure}{Why does this figure not want to stay on page 1?}
\end{center}
}]
\section{Section}
\loremshort{10}
\end{document}