Packed up, this rich and eventful round of the semi-finals of the 28e Francouvertes. After three evenings of high-calibre performances, the juries – pros and fans – have decided: good first at the end of the preliminary round, Soleil Launière retains her place and will go to the final on May 13, at Club Soda. The glam rock cowboy Loïc Lafrance will follow her, as will the rapper Senseï H, who particularly stood out during these semi-finals, which were much more captivating than the end of the season for the Montreal Canadiens.
The surprise of this round: Senseï H, arriving in the semi-finals through the back door (in 9e and last position), propelling himself to the big night at Club Soda with a performance as strong as it is clever.
Because after presenting herself with an orchestra during the preliminaries, she returned to the stage of the Lion d’Or simply accompanied by Verona, who composed the music for her second album Too much luck, published in spring 2022. Audacity paid off: the repertoire was essentially the same, but the way of presenting it more clearly allowed the rapper to shine on stage, alongside the double bassist, who triggered the pre-recorded rhythmic tracks. Raw rap, without artifice, the text and prosody being the proof of everything.
Loïc Lafrance was as dynamic and spectacular as in the preliminary round, his great candor on stage even amplifying his dilapidated rock songs which debunk identity clichés. He too jumped, jumping from the 3e position at the end of the preliminary round at 2e . Enough to breathe down the neck of Innu singer-songwriter Soleil Launière? Her performance, last Monday evening, was just as magnetic and significant as the previous one, the professionalism of the proposal being at a level rarely seen in a competition intended for the next generation – let’s say that she will arrive at Club Soda with confidence.
Thresher problem
Is there a drummer in the room? Or even a drummer, to replace the one who had to be absent from the semi-finals due to health problems? The unfortunate withdrawal of a musician embarrassed the three orchestras in which she kept time, two of them on the Tuesday evening bill. Luckily, Le Belladone had a replacement available that evening. He took over without anything showing: as during the preliminaries, Gabrielle Audet (known as Belladonna) exorcised her ghosts by singing and screaming her art pop songs, temporarily seizing the third step of the podium.
Nectar Palace was less fortunate: in disaster, Shaun Pouliot and his accompanists improvised a solution based on pre-recorded rhythmic sequences, giving the performance a more electro-new wave dimension. The chorus of his first song was summed up by this phrase: “I’m stressed”. We took his word for it — under the circumstances, the trio did well.
The next day, it was La Monarque who had to compose without her drummer, the same one who had withdrawn, and to whom we obviously wish a speedy recovery. She also did well, her musical, electronic and dancing proposal flirting with the sound of raves of yesteryear, did not suffer from the absence, even though she seemed to whip this devil of a singer.
Before unveiling the long-awaited prize list at the end of Wednesday evening, the Francouvertes organization distributed a first round of prizes awarded by its numerous sponsors, a balm to the hearts of the artists whose journey ended in the semi-finals. This is the case of the power rock trio with activism soaked in humor Princesses, who even presented a new composition during their singing tour last Tuesday; they won one of the two Andréanne-Sasseville scholarships, awarded by SiriusXM, with Soleil Launière accepting the other.
The endearing Patrick Bourdon, who injects his own poetry into country music, was warmly applauded at the end of his lively performance on Wednesday; he landed a creative residency at Pointe Sec in Mont-Louis. Heard last Monday evening, singer-songwriter Karolan Boily will participate in the Artefact Festival in Vaudreuil-Dorion, while Le Belladone will be at the French-speaking Coup de coeur next November, and this summer at the La Noce festival in Saguenay.
The Francouvertes will move to Club Soda on May 13 for its final match.