Who says Gémeaux selection says controversy, it’s a television classic.
First hot topic on the podium? The abolition of so-called “gendered” categories at the next ceremony, which Radio-Canada will relay on Sunday, September 17 at 8 p.m. No more female or male acting awards, place for unisex or mixed awards.
PHOTO CHARLES WILLIAM PELLETIER, THE PRESS
Nicolas Ouellet and Pierre-Yves Lord are the hosts of the Gémeaux awards gala, broadcast on Sunday, September 17.
This unilateral decision by the Academy to activate the “genderless” mode is not going well in the industry. According to my information, influential producers and broadcasters are campaigning behind the scenes for a return to the traditional formula (I am one!), that of the Emmys in the United States, which no one had complained about.
The director general who implemented this contested reform, Mara Gourd-Mercado, also left the Academy in the spring for a position at the Copenhagen documentary film festival.
Second catchy thing: the most named series of 2023 is the daily Indefensible with 14 citations, double its rival STATwhich is however better written and better played, I think.
On paper, Indefensible de TVA collects more selections than The night Laurier Gaudreault woke up by Xavier Dolan (12 selections), the most flamboyant series-event of the year and the most expensive in the history of the small screen in Quebec. There is something wrong here.
Another squeaky fact? The breakawaythe TVA soap opera that I followed with love and hate for seven years, got ten selections, tied with Before the crash And Megantictwo TV series of frankly superior quality, no one will dispute that.
The abundance of manufactured emissions in 2022-2023 relegates far in the classification of the beefy series like Disobey: Chantale Daigle’s choice (5 selections), Pet (6 selections) and larry (6 selections). High Demolition of Plus Series, The emperor from Noovo and FragmentsSerge Boucher’s latest offering to Radio-Canada, only got shots. For you Flora, Portrait-robot 2, Bombs, Turn: double fault, Classified Secret, Reasonable doubt And Paradise Motel also went under the radar.
I would point out here that major producers like Guillaume Lespérance (A Média) and Fabienne Larouche (Aetios) have considerably reduced their registrations in anticipation of the 38e Gemini Day, which obviously influences the final winners.
For example, With beating heart by Danielle Trottier was not submitted for the prize for best soap opera, where the fight will be between 5e Rank, Alerts, Hotel (which has been disconnected), The breakaway And The perfect moments.
My vote would go to 5e Rank, which the Academy has long snubbed. We agree that the caliber is not super high and Alerts will undoubtedly triumph.
For Best Comedy, Discussions with my parents, Happiness And Without an appointment were not offered to the jury either. Guys, eye of the storm, About Anthony, seem to go And Completely high school therefore form the leading quintet. Leo was excluded from this honor roll. I am hesitating between Guys And eye of the stormNevertheless seem to gomore original and fresh, will seduce the Academy, I think.
In reality TV, The Chiefs ! was ousted in favor of Big Brother Celebrities, Heads of wood, Double occupancy: Martinique, The devil’s lot: the conquest of the sea And Love is in the meadow. My little finger tells me that The devil’s lot could stand out.
Before the crash, Pet, High demolition, Megantic And The night Laurier Gaudreault woke up are vying for the prestigious award for Best Drama Series. I liked all five a lot, but I predict victory for Xavier Dolan.
The majority of selections fromIndefensible comes from its actors. In a lead role in a daily series, Suzanne Clément, alias DD Emmanuelle St-Cyr in STAT, will face alone the four lawyers from Lapointe, Macdonald and Desjardins, played by Sébastien Delorme, Anne-Élisabeth Bossé, Michel Laperrière and Nour Belkhiria. Prediction: Suzanne Clément, because she bursts the screen.
The fusion of the sexes in the categories of interpretation makes it almost impossible to play predictions.
In drama, who will win between Évelyne Brochu (Pet), Éléonore Loiselle (Disobey), Antoine Pilon (Disobey), Patrick Hivon (Laurier Gaudreault), Julie Le Breton (Laurier Gaudreault), Catherine Paquin-Béchard (Megantic), Eric Robidoux (Megantic) and Eric Bruneau (Turn: double fault)? No idea. And how is it that Lévi Doré from Pet was not noticed?
And where are the excellent actors ofBefore the crash, eh ? Only the young Ireland Côté, aka the lit teenager Florence, was hailed in a supporting role, but nothing for Karine Vanasse, Éric Bruneau, Mani Soleymanlou, Benoit Drouin-Germain, Marie-France Marcotte or Émile Proulx-Cloutier.
As for soap operas, three actors fromHotel (Nathalie Coupal, Emmanuel Schwartz and Marie-Evelyne Lessard) will rub shoulders with two actors from perfect moments (Catherine Trudeau and Jean-François Pronovost), as well as Maude Guérin (5e Rank), Sophie Prégent (Alerts) and Jean-Francois Nadeau (The breakaway).
It’s such an eclectic choice that I can’t make up my mind. The name of last year’s winner, Guy Jodoin (Alerts), does not appear anywhere.
In comedy, the final list includes Claude Legault (About Anthony), Emmanuelle Lussier-Martinez (Counter offer), Fabien Cloutier (Leo), Yanic Truesdale (Guys), Christine Beaulieu (eye of the storm), Catherine-Anne Toupin (Me neither !) as well as Joakim Robillard and Catherine St-Laurent of seem to go.
No member of the Academy, which organizes the Gemini gala, demanded this neutral turn, I remind you. The decision was made by the Academy for the sake of inclusion, yes, but above all to reduce the number of categories, which has exploded over the years.
To quote an English expression, if the Gemini Gala wasn’t broken, then why did you try to fix it? It’s not too late to return to the good old classic recipe that was unlikely to attack gender parity, in the end.