"The Artist" on France 2: too many candidates and too few emotions

Who graps all, looses. How long it was! Nagui returned the air at midnight and three minutes! And took it at 8:43 p.m. If you arrived at 9:05 p.m. - as the TV news reported - you missed the first twenty minutes. To get a head start on the juggernaut The Voice All Stars, big favorite of this first duel, Nagui managed to shorten the newspaper by 20 hours. He appeared on a large set in red and black, set between The Voice and Taratata, on the beating of a heart. "That of the artists and a little mine, I confess to you," he said. It is a first in the history of television to organize a springboard with only authors, composers and performers. "

Last appearance of the evening: @fils__cara convinces the public and the jury with his cover of The Weeknd!

#TheArtist https://t.co/VocKFoH2mE pic.twitter.com/oC1pfDH5Er

- France 2 (@ France2tv) September 11, 2021

“The Artist” starts off with a bang.

A glance at the musicians, who accompany the artists live from a pit ... A quick presentation of the jury, Elodie Mermoz, programmer of festivals and concert halls, and Emmanuel Virot, programmer of musical programs for TV, joined by Clara Luciani, the program's godmother ... In ten minutes, the 22 competitors follow one another on stage, singing a few seconds of their creation.

Nagui presents them with a qualifier, "Cynthia, engaged", "Evil eye, federator", "Passionate like Coline Capel".

It goes so fast that we don't have time to remember their name, their song, or their face.

Boredom sets in, we worry ...

Music professionals know several of them, like François-Henri, who is about to release his first album, Gabriel Joseph, seen at the Rencontres d'Astaffort by Francis Cabrel, Bandit Bandit, a rock duo who has a record and a tour under the elbow, Dièse, which is written Di # se, already noticed at the Francofolies of La Rochelle, the duo Mauvais Œil, which made the first parts of Clara Luciani. The latter does not hide that she is friends with them and shared with the singer the microphone in the group La Femme. Nagui recognizes that "some artists already have career paths, records, tours, but none has released an album in a major record company".

Difficult for “The Artist” to stand out in terms of form. Portrait of the artists, interpretation of a cover, vote of the jury and the public live (and free, like the Nagui hammer) - result immediately falls - the mechanics can hardly avoid this sequence. If the jury and the public vote in favor, the candidate is selected. If one of them isn't excited, they have to come back later with a personal song. Again, it's very fast. About seven minutes per artist. It is not a telecrochet, it is a speed dating. And the jury and the public are so benevolent that “everything goes smoothly”. Coline Capel modernizes "Another world" of Téléphone but sings out of tune, Valentin sings just Balavoine but brings him nothing. Like Alphée and his folk cover of Niagara, without much flavor. Yet all remain.

Anissa Altmayer, her cello and "these little things" #TheArtist https://t.co/VocKFoH2mE pic.twitter.com/gapoEnk5yO

- France 2 (@ France2tv) September 11, 2021

Boredom sets in, we worry… Fortunately, the level is progressing.

Petite Gueule shakes up by marrying Reggiani's "You have to live" and the rap of Dr. Dre, Mauvais Œil orientalizes "Eve Lève Toi", Nikola pleasantly surprises with her Brélienne cover of Maé, Rouquine charms with her "melancholy soaring" cover of " I will go where you will go ”by Céline Dion, the duo“ De grands enfants ”refreshes us at the very end of the program and achieves the highest score with 83% of viewers… The jury also finds its marks and becomes more critical.

Three artists will pay the price: Elisa Erka, de Montreuil, Felixita, the rock group Bandit Bandit ...

“It will be much more tense next week, promises Nagui. The mechanics will be more severe. We will say from the start how many can stay, ”Nagui announces. At 11:35 p.m., there is still the promotional song by Clara Luciani and three candidates. "Breathe again" she asks us in the chorus. We catch our breath but are there still viewers to discover François-Henri, worthy heir to Michel Berger, and the “solar grunge” of Fils Cara, young prodigy from Saint-Etienne? Nagui apologizes before handing over to “We're live”: “I promise Laurent Ruquier and Léa Salamé that the next one will be shorter. "