Prelude to Sunday’s grand gala on ICI Télé, the First ADISQ gala broadcast by Télé-Québec crowned Hubert Lenoir on Wednesday evening, and distributed meritorious Félix to Bon Enfant, Laura Niquay, Jean-Michel Blais, Jay Scøtt and Naya Ali, during a tightly-knit ceremony, stuffed with excellent performances, a show hosted by Pierre Lapointe and Claudine Prévost that should disprove predictions about the sustainability of televised galas.
The Scrapbook PICTURA DE IPSE: Direct Music first earned Lenoir the Félix for Album of the Year – Alternative, a particularly distinguished category in which Les Louanges competed (for Crash), Lysander (Without forgetting), My Sweet Tapper (middle age) and Little Belliveau (A man and his piano), singular, inspired and high-calibre albums. Lenoir also topped Les Louanges, Lisa LeBlanc, Bon Enfant, Lou-Adriane Cassidy and Les 2 Frères in the Album of the Year – Critics’ Choice category.
For each award, he took care to invite his team of collaborators – and his accomplice Noémie D. Leclerc carrying a pocket of white hockey used to carry around his Félix! From the same album, the song October, a duet with the French musician Bonnie Banane, enabled him to win the prize for International Collaboration of the Year. In addition to these three prizes, there is the one won at the Industry Gala presented earlier in the day for Arrangements of the Year, a prize he shares with Félix Petit, Gabriel Desjardins, Marius Larue and Julyan. Lenoir is still in the running for three more awards to be presented at the televised gala this Sunday.
Deserving Lenoir inevitably left his colleagues in the shadows, starting with Vincent Robert (Les Louanges), who emerged empty-handed from this First Gala after launching the exceptional Crash which will have earned him at least two Félix at the Gala de l’industrie: Sound recording and mixing of the year (awarded to Jean-Bruno Picand and Nicolas Roberge) and Album cover of the year. The fight will be hot for his last hope of a Félix on Sunday, in the prestigious category of Author or composer of the year, a category in which he will face Lou-Adriane Cassidy, Lisa Leblanc (who won the Félix for pop album of the year for chic disco), Salomé Leclerc and Hubert Lenoir, again.
Then there were those first victories, some coming after a long journey. First Félix for Souldia, after twenty years of career? Well deserved, in the category of the Album of the year – rap, for Discus of arttenth career album – the musician also gave an impressive performance during the evening, accompanied by cellist Julia MacLaine.
The joy of a Jay Scøtt reaping his first career trophy (Album of the year – folk), the recognition of the battlers of rows of Quebec rock from Bon Enfant (Album of the year – rock for the superb Diorama), the surprise in the eyes of rapper Naya Ali going up on stage to seek her Félix for Album of the Year – English-speaking for the powerful Godspeed: Elevatedthe dignity of a Laura Niquay promising that she would still be there singing at 96 (Félix Album of the year – aboriginal languages), these are the kind of moments that alone justify the survival of televised galas.
Gala having taken place with admirable precision, polite animation by Lapointe and Prévost, pretty stagings and musical encounters, but without unforeseen events or remarkable speeches, except for the word of Djely Tapa, singer with Malian roots who came to pick up her Félix for Album of the Year – World Music (we’ll have to think about a better name for this prize) with his colleagues from the Afrikana Soul Sister trio: “I dedicate this prize to the 80% of immigrants who work, and to the 15% looking for a job,” she said to applause from the audience. “Quebec is us too!” »
Le Vent du Nord celebrated its 20th anniversary on the podium, winning the Félix for Album of the Year – traditional for 20 spring ; Jean-Michel Blais grabbed his first career Félix to Aubades, Album of the Year – Instrumental Music. In the jazz department, Carl Mayotte was rewarded for StopoverThe day after with the country album (The party is caught), Angèle Dubeau (Classical), Millimetrik (Electronic), TEKE: TEKE (Other languages), Patrice Michaud (Adult contemporary) and the Cowboys Fringants (Reinterpretation). And speaking of reinterpretations, Damien Robitaille — the human jukebox! — won the Artist of the Year award with the most exposure on the web; he thanked the Internet, its inventor “Mr. Net”, as well as his dog Suki.
Disappointments? Of course, as in any good gala. Above all, let’s underline an incongruity: the Direction and scenography of the year category (presented at the Gala de l’industrie) opposed four directors of musical shows to a comedian… who won it.
Thus, we preferred the apple to the four oranges. It serves neither the humor nor the music. If we stubbornly insist on rewarding comedians during an evening showcasing music, on the pretext that their producers are also members of ADISQ, that is, in part, the mission of a Association of record and entertainment producers in Quebec. So why not create two distinct categories, one for comedians (who already have their own platform, the Les Olivier gala), the other for musicians, when the time comes to reward the work of directors?