"I know that you are in the middle of a concert, I will rob you of two minutes to pass three messages…". Small surprise this Saturday evening, for the viewers of TMC, as for the spectators on the Champs de Mars. Emmanuel Macron, the President of the Republic, made an appearance, via a video, during the Global Citizen live concert, a global event organized in about fifteen cities around the world and broadcast on the channel from 9 p.m. His message: commitments from France to give 120 million doses of vaccines to the country which is lacking, or double what was planned, to redirect 20% of the money it receives from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) towards the African continent and to provide "up to 333 million euros" aid for education in Africa.
The president, if he was not the only politician to intervene during the evening, had obviously chosen his place and time well.
Twenty thousand people gathered around the Eiffel Tower to applaud international artists!
It was the spectacle offered by the capital.
And as the producer Pascal Nègre rejoiced, invited on the TMC set alongside Christophe Beaugrand to comment on the show, it was "a pleasure to see concerts with the public and American stars".
Protect the planet, eradicate the food crisis, promote equity ...
Actor Hugh Jackman, via a video, kicked off the evening, recalling the challenges and objectives of the Global Citizen charity: Ending Covid-19, eradicating the food crisis, ensuring school recovery for everyone,
protect the planet and promote equity.
And invite to an individual and collective awareness.
A sort of Live Aid, 36 years later the initiative of Bob Geldof, and even more ambitious.
On the stage, overlooked by a huge red ring with the Eiffel Tower in the background, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, the Indian actress, and Denis Brogniart, the presenter of "Koh-Lanta" were responsible for ensuring the launches and to light the fire.
In front of them, a very young audience who had won their place by carrying out actions to promote the message of the NGO.
A very heterogeneous spectacle
To start the show, a pop icon.
Despite health problems, Sir Elton John had insisted on being there, rewarding the crowd with a few hits but also a duet with Charlie Puth, song from his next album.
A lovely moment of live, just like that of Angélique Kidjo, queen of the world, making the crowd dance, helped by the trumpet of Ibrahim Maalouf or the graceful cover of Lennon's "Imagine" by the soprano Fatma Saïd or the madness of the "Black eyed Peas".
Only the show had a daring bet: to mix genres, places, alternating speeches by politicians, like Anne Hidalgo, an intervention by Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle, with videos from abroad, like that of the kings of K -pop BTS and comments on stage… Even concerned by the cause, or rather the causes, it was sometimes not always easy to navigate and be totally in the mood for this great concert that took place. extended into the night.