Celine Dion caused a stir until the National Assembly by announcing Thursday to suffer from a rare autoimmune disease which prevents her from going back on stage for the moment. Thus, despite herself, the diva of Charlemagne has become political. More than a great international star, she has been elevated to the rank of icon, even figurehead of Quebec, as she is a source of pride among many of her compatriots. Sweet revenge for this popular singer long slammed by critics and mocked by some.
“It’s getting harder and harder to look at Celine with a little sideways glance saying it’s cheesy. Back when she was singing for the pope or doing ballads to break into the United States, it was easy to play that game. But that was before the notoriety it acquired and which makes Quebecers proud. Now, this condescension is perceived as suspicious in Quebec,” explains Pierre Barrette, professor at the School of Media at the University of Quebec in Montreal, whose research focuses, among other things, on the Quebec world of entertainment.
That it seems far, indeed, the time of the vitriolic sketches of RBO and Bleu Poudre on Celine Dion. Today, shame seems to have changed sides.
A few years ago, some could be embarrassed to admit publicly that they liked the interpreter of The Power of Love. In 2022, it is rather the singer’s detractors who are discreet, as if it were taboo not to adulate her.
Of course, speaking of Céline, we are not talking about Fitzgibbon’s faux pas. There is a public relations dimension to this. But it’s also a way for the Prime Minister to show himself with a more human face, because everyone loves Céline and everyone is touched by what’s happening to her.
“We can allow ourselves to be indifferent to Céline, to not like her music. But we can’t say that Céline is nothing. You have to live in another world to say that, ”adds Pierre Barrette, who however has no album by the singer at home. Even artists reputed to be rather “left field” today shout loud and clear their love for Céline. The Boulay Sisters have resumed For you to love me again ; Xavier Dolan makes it a point of honor to include it in each of the soundtracks of his films.
Ironically, in trendy Montreal circles, it is probably now better seen to like Celine Dion than Arcade Fire, once a favorite group of critics, now shunned since its singer, Win Butler, has been the target of allegations of sexual misconduct in the American press.
Political recovery
Still, some may have felt discomfort seeing the political class also react to the news on the state of health of Celine Dion. In an emotional video posted on social networks, the interpreter of my heart Will Go On had just announced that she suffered from Moersch-Woltman syndrome (also known as stiff-person syndrome), a rare neurological condition that is accompanied by muscle spasms and forced her to once again postpone her big back on stage.
In front of the parliamentary press, the representatives of the opposition parties wished in turn a speedy recovery to the diva. The Minister of Culture, Mathieu Lacombe, said he had a “pinch in the heart” watching the video published by the 54-year-old singer, where she appears extremely vulnerable.
Even Prime Minister François Legault put his mind to it during a press scrum. “We are so proud of her. We hope that she will be able to start her tour again as soon as possible, ”he dropped, specifying in the same breath that the hometown of the diva, Charlemagne, is in his constituency, L’Assomption. .
A few seconds earlier, the head of government had carefully avoided answering questions from the media about the revelations of the Montreal Journal about his economy minister, Pierre Fitzgibbon, who went on a hunting trip to a private island with wealthy businessmen benefiting from government subsidies.
“Of course, speaking of Céline, we are not talking about Fitzgibbon’s faux pas. There is a public relations dimension to this. But it’s also a way for the Prime Minister to show himself with a more human face, because everyone loves Céline and everyone is touched by what happens to her,” notes Mireille Lalancette, professor of social communication at the University of Quebec at Trois-Rivières.
It would not be the first time that politicians have been accused of taking over the misfortune of well-known and adored artists. It was reported that in 2009, French President Nicolas Sarkozy convened his executive to organize the state funeral of Johnny Hallyday, who had just been put in an induced coma in Los Angeles. When he learned this news, upon waking up, the rocker, who only died in 2017, would have been furious with Mr. Sarkozy, to whom he was nevertheless very close.
Media eclipse
The Johnny Hallyday phenomenon in France was perhaps the closest thing to what Celine Dion represents in Quebec. Érick Rémy, who has worked for a long time for the artistic press, is therefore not surprised by the strong emotion aroused by the most recent news concerning the diva.
“She is still a little girl of the people. She may be in Las Vegas, she is one of us, ”said the former radio host, who does not believe that the media have done too much.
The numbers speak for themselves. On Thursday, “stiff person syndrome” was the most frequent search on Google, by far, in Quebec.
In the morning, on the search engine, we were interested almost 8 times more in Céline Dion than in François Legault – and 50 times more in the diva than in Pierre Fitzgibbon, who is however also at the heart of the news . Quebec Finance Minister Eric Girard, who was preparing to present his economic update, does not even appear on the board.
With Florence Morin-Martel