Leave the theme song here. They say that love is not difficult to find… when cameras are invited into the meadow. And the statistics of the heart prove it: 15 lasting couples were formed in nine seasons of Love is in the meadow and 27 babies were born thanks to all these farmers who dared to step out of their proverbial “comfort zone”.
Posted at 6:00 a.m.
Only last year, three strong couples have hatched before our eyes, including the darling candidates David and Alex, who got engaged before Christmas. Eve and Denis (alias M. Sporting metaphors) do not let go of a sole (boot), while Marc-Antoine, who had chosen Anne before she dumped him in the middle of the final supper, reconnected with Alexa a once the production of the Cupid reality show has been completed. They have been seeing each other since last spring.
Another impressive figure: Quebec has given birth to the largest family of all the international editions of Love is in the meadow, that is to say that of Jessyca and Jérôme, from the second edition, who have had six children since they met in 2012. A Groulx family in the making?
The 10e season of Love is in the meadow, which starts this Thursday at 8 p.m. on Noovo, still promises love at first sight between two mountain biking escapades against a backdrop of western music. Rumor has it that at least four couples have passed the holiday test.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY NOOVO
Marika is the only competing farmer of Love is in the meadow.
Among the five new faces of the popular show (average of 673,000 viewers), there is a woman, Marika, 26, from Sainte-Eulalie, as well as a gay farmer, Luka, 24, from Issoudun, who loves country dancing and building “sticky things”.
In addition Denis, 53, from Casselman, Ontario, Joé, 29, from Saint-Jean-de-Matha, as well as Marc-Antoine, 31, from Saint-Aimé.
The structure of reality TV has been compressed slightly to speed up the pace. Introductions and choice of partners for the first episode, speed dating in the second and moves to the farm in the third, things are going well. This is a welcome improvement, as Love is in the meadow often took a month to take off.
And because they are looking for lasting relationships, the competitors never hide their game. They almost all project themselves into the future with a large family, it is fascinating.
Their character traits are outlined just as quickly. Marika only talks about volleyball, sports and activities to do on the weekends. The big Joé, a romantic who measures 6’6 ”, often insists on his project for a self-sufficient farm. He is the most calm and introverted of the group.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY NOOVO
The candidate Joé is a tall 6’6 ”romantic.
Dad of three children, Denis has the profile of the good Jack, sneering, funny and smiling. Funny fact: he dated the aunt of the host Katherine Levac almost 30 years ago. Luka is a quickie, a perfectionist, with a tendency to stick when he’s not shoveling manure on Sunday mornings.
Former steel worker Marc-Antoine has a passion for motor vehicles – snowmobile, boat, motocross, name them, he’s tried them all. He even meets his suitors in the box of his truck.
Unlike last season, the candidates will not kiss each other only with the eyes, health rules allowing reconciliations at the time of recordings last summer. The final trip was filmed in the Playa del Carmen, Mexico area before the Omicron variant screwed up everything.
Back for a second lap, comedian Katherine Levac keeps his bond with farmers. She accompanies single people and broods them like a mother hen. This television format lends itself well to benevolent animation, devoid of sarcasm and self-mockery.
Return to culture (bis)
ARTV launches its new cultural magazine Friday at 8 p.m., which succeeds the Back to culture by Benoit McGinnis and Sophie Fouron. It is Culturama, piloted by the very sympathetic Chantal Lamarre, who promises to be more general public than her predecessor.
Concept? Each of the 10 episodes of Culturama focuses on a timeless theme: the bad guys, the sea, kitsch, the color blue, etc. In a hemicycle, which is inspired by the Cyclorama of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré, Chantal Lamarre and three collaborators will discuss works related to the main subject.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY RADIO-CANADA
Chantal Lamarre will host the new show Culturama.
For example, the episode on the villains looks back on the cult 1952 film Little Aurora, the martyred child, on the scary make-up of the group Kiss, on the effect of Grumpy, on the film Hot water, fret water, by André Forcier, as well as on the shocking performances of the Russian artist Pyotr Pavlensky. It’s eclectic, at the same time popular and sharp. All delivered in unpretentious discussions. It’s very well done. We do not feel nono because we do not know everything that is discussed in Culturama.
And since the ARTV magazine does not stick to the news of the week, you can watch it almost anytime without a problem. The collaborators of Culturama, which Chantal Lamarre calls her “elite chatterers”, come from different spheres: dance, literature, television, theater, cinema. You will see, among others, Rébecca Dasespe, Guillaume Corbeil, Fanny Britt, Elkahna Talbi, Émilie Bibeau, Mélanie Demers, Mathieu Quesnel, Laurent Paquin, Catherine Trudeau and Olivier Kemeid.
The merry-go-round offered by Culturama is entertaining, intelligent and not at all overwhelming.