We have sensitive skin in Quebec. Flammable people because they are unsure of themselves. The day we learn to better handle irony and detachment in the face of stings and omissions from elsewhere, the collective spirit will gain in confidence. I know, the weight of colonization weighs heavily on our shoulders. It engenders, as it were, the parochialism, sometimes beneficial, sometimes cumbersome. Still, under the real or presumed offense, excessive reactions drag here and there embarrassing pans. Each nation believes itself to be the center of the world. But there is a way to keep a light foot in the storm. It avoids breaking the margoulette too much. In New York, the scribes of RollingStone certainly smiled to see Quebec picketers take their editorial choices so seriously. These malcontents demonstrated in front of the besieged premises against the absence of Celine Dion on their list of the 200 greatest popular singers. A thrill of bruised national pride, scorned admiration and love. There was all that in the concert of protests under the balcony.
Nevertheless. It was undoubtedly a nice leg up for the music critics of the place. To be considered as the oracle of Delphi caught in the act of wandering, a real velvet! The American magazine, which tears like all its similar, did not hope for more crisp publicity. Did he deserve so much? So don’t believe that the team of RollingStone will go and change the names engraved on his list by one iota, after dissonant pressure. If several performers forgotten or dubbed by them raise eyebrows here or elsewhere, so much the worse and so much the better! they think in petto. The French Françoise Hardy, with her thin voice, finds herself among the elected officials. She laughs about it. Madonna is not there, nor Nat King Cole…
The lists, prize lists, prizes, from the most obscure to the most prestigious, are established or awarded according to subjective criteria, the fruit of meetings, the spirit of the times and concessions. Such is life on the planet of the arts and letters, where arbitrariness has the force of law. We might as well be a good player, whether or not the capricious wheel of fortune designates the icons dear to our hearts. But go and ramble over there in song, behind all those signs. And Julie Snyder, who captured the event for her show, when others, a stone’s throw away, demonstrated to demand accountability for the January 6 insurrection, on this anniversary of the Capitol assault. . Oupelaye!
Believing Celine Dion untouchable because of international megasuccess also seems questionable, because no one is. Charlemagne’s diva has an exceptional voice, but lacks in my opinion – apparently shared by the referees of RollingStone — of what the Americans call the “ drunk », the trunk, the magnetic resonance that reaches you to the depths. Beyond the personal tastes of each and the sad health setbacks of the singer, appearing or not on this list will not make her less popular with her admirers. We are so often in disagreement with the choices of each other in artistic matters, it makes you philosophical. A few weeks ago, a pool review of the best feature films compiled by Sight and Soundmagazine of the British Film Institute, crowned Jeanne Dielman, by Franco-Belgian filmmaker Chantal Akerman. A magnificent intimate film, but which in my eyes cannot dethrone at the top Citizen Kaneby Orson Welles, or Vertigo, by Alfred Hitchcock. Still, a first woman parades at the top of the list, a symbolic effect not to be overlooked either. Growl whoever will in the name of his preferences trampled on, but let’s not make a drama out of it. The game is so random. I would not see our media troops picketing in front of the Palais des Festivals in Cannes after the absence of the favorites on the list, even if, sometimes, it boos behind the scenes. We keep a little embarrassment… It would make passers-by laugh too much.
Take the Golden Globes. With their foreign press jury in Hollywood deemed non-inclusive, corrupt and all you want, these laurels of cinema and TV series had, under the scent of scandal, lost their platform on the small screen in 2022. Tuesday evening, deep turn. They were found on NBC worthy of a diversity award as minorities held the upper hand there. But, corrupt or not, the judging panel awarded top honors to my favorite riders: The Banshees of Inisherinby Martin McDonagh, and The Fabelmans, by Steven Spielberg. Suddenly, I was even tempted to rehabilitate these Golden Globes in concert by pushing a “Hooray! ” in the living room. See how biased we are in these matters. But be careful, be careful! If they were to go astray next year or slip on a new banana peel… No one can be trusted. Neither to the good nor to the bad subjects in the milieu. Just breathe through your nose…