The organization of Francouvertes, the competition for French-speaking musical talent which has revealed so many actors on our scene, including Lydia Képinski, Les Louanges, Mon Doux Saigneur, Philippe Brach and Les Soeurs Boulay, today unveils the list of the twenty-one participants of its 27e editing. Note on the calendar: the preliminary round of the competition will begin at the Lion d’or on March 13 and will lead to the grand finale on May 15 at Club Soda.
The poster for this 27e edition “is musically diverse – of course, we say that every year, but we have the impression that it is even more so this year”, summarizes Sylvie Courtemanche, general manager of Francouvertes, who does not however perceive a musical trend heavy through the proposals, if not in the “nested” character of several of them.
All the same, the spectator-jury will be served a little more rock than in previous editions, still a lot of electronic pop songs, and four rap proposals – including two women, two years after the breakthrough of Calamine, finalist of the 25e “pandemic” edition won by Étienne Coppée. If some competitors have already acquired a certain notoriety on the underground scene — we think of Velours Velours, Jeanne Laforest, the Innu multidisciplinary artist Katia Rock, the Nova Scotians Peanut Butter Sunday — the competition remains a great first chance for musicians at the start of a career.
Developed during the pandemic, live webcasting (on the Pointdevente.ca platform) of artists’ performances is once again offered. “Webcasting is a development tool for the organization, since we are almost always at full capacity [au Lion d’or], abounds Sylvie Courtemanche. Rather than looking for a bigger room, we rely on people who go online to watch the performances. Online broadcasting also allows the public outside Montreal to take part in the event and discover these young artists.
Les Francouvertes are also innovating with the series I love my exes, which features a former contestant each night; this year, the series will be all-female, with Thais opening the show on March 13. Lou-Adriane Cassidy, Kanen, Maude Audet, Ariane Roy and Mélanie Venditti are also among the guests to push the song at the opening of these evenings co-hosted by Mantisse (from the rap group LaF, winner of the Francouvertes in 2018) and Isabelle Ouimet (from Vulvets , competitors of the 2017 edition).
So here it is, this 2023 cohort: Bourbon, Reno McCarthy and Cure-Pipe will be on stage at the Lion d’Or on March 13, Rossomodo, Claudie Létourneau and Jeanne Laforest the next day. On March 20, it was the turn of Jeanne Côté, Renaud Gratton, Katia Rock, then, on the 21st, Héron, Marie Céleste and Velours Velours. The last three preliminary evenings — March 27, 28 and 29 — will pit gLohm, BRUE, Peanut Butter Sunday, Sloan Lucas, Sami, Menura, Emmanuelle Querry, De Flore (Franco-Ontarian project) and Parazar against each other.