What do Hubert Lenoir, Kim Kardashian, Elizabeth II and Pope Francis have in common? They’ve all walked a red carpet before. Reserved for guests of honour, this ceremonial and appearance carpet is a must for decorating galas and major ceremonies. But where does this tradition come from? Why are we still rolling out the red carpet? First text in a series of four.
Symbols of prestige and recognition, the red carpets are coveted as much as feared by artists, who very often find themselves there as if on a tightrope balancing between promotion, glamour, celebration… and discomfort.
“I have more stress coming to a red carpet than doing a show in front of 50,000 people”, confided the rapper FouKi, at the beginning of November, a few minutes before attending the 44e Gala de l’ADISQ, one of the biggest red carpet events in Quebec. “It’s a little awkward. »
Rolling out the red carpet for distinguished guests at major cultural and political events is a deeply rooted tradition in Western societies. On November 6, singers and musicians had to walk on a hundred meters of vermilion fabric to enter Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier. Separated by grids, demanded on one side by fans and their appetite for selfies, snapped up on the other by a hundred journalists, bloggers and youtubers with microphones and cameras in hand, the artists were at the center of all the flashes . A brief moment of glory, which seemed like an eternity to some.
With their smiles, their good humor and their confident gait, the majority of the stars arrested admitted to feeling a mixture of “stress” and “unease” at participating in this famous pre-gala ritual, which often steals the show.
“Me, I make music, I prefer to be in people’s ears than in their eyes,” replied Étienne Coppée. The winner of the Francouvertes 2021 lived his first red carpet. ” [On] warned me that it’s a big charade. It doesn’t make sense, it’s not real life”, underlines the young artist, who had only one desire: to find his childhood reflex and hide under a table. “I think it serves to remind people that there are famous people who are more successful than them. I’m not more special than you though, I’m just dressed smart, that’s the only thing that’s changing right now. »
More accustomed to crossing this guard of honor, the Acadian singer Lisa LeBlanc preferred to laugh at the situation. “It’s always weird, but luckily it passes very quickly. […] And I have a cape today, so it’s going well,” she joked, referring to her outfit that made her feel like a superhero.
“Who are you carrying? »
In addition to managing their image, artists often face all kinds of questions from media representatives.
“Is your life still shit today?” This is probably the question that pisses me off the most! launches Lisa LeBlanc, whose song Today, my life is shit was a great success ten years ago.
Corneille can no longer bear being asked to describe his album in one sentence. “Stop with this question, you never know what to say. »
Host Isabelle Racicot, who has long covered red carpets for the show Flash, at TQS, before starting to animate them lately on ICI Télé, recognizes it: the questions have long been “tasteless” and boiled down to asking the artist who signed his outfit. “You have so little time to go deep and you want to talk at the same time. You want to keep it a little “hop life!”, too”, she explains, specifying that today she is much more in search of “relevant content” and less “frivolous”.
But with the increase in the number of youtubers and bloggers covering red carpets, certain questions continue to irritate artists. Alicia Moffet, for example, has had to get used to being asked if she will have more children, a question she finds “too personal.”
The singer nevertheless claims to “love” walking the red carpets. “I love pampering myself beforehand, having my makeup done, my hair done. We dress up, it’s a beautiful evening, it’s positive. »
For the interpreter of All cries the SOS. Marie-Denise Pelletier is also a great opportunity to meet the public and get together with artists.
High visibility
Despite the stress and discomfort it can cause, the red carpet gives a visibility on which no one can spit, admit the artists interviewed, even the most refractory to the exercise. “It’s important, even if it’s not my favorite activity, recognizes FouKi. It’s time to see what has been done in the community during the year, to talk about our projects. »
I have more stress coming to a red carpet than doing a show in front of 50,000 people.
“The red carpet allows us for 24 to 48 hours, even a week, to be everywhere, everywhere, everywhere,” adds artist Pierre Lapointe. If there was no red carpet, we would be in a few newspapers covering the Gala and nothing more. There, we will be on I don’t know how many blogs. So, yes, we talk a lot about your clothes, but each time, we also talk about music, it helps to make the artists shine. »
The red carpet also allows artists who will not have the chance to go on stage to be crowned during the Gala to still speak. A golden opportunity, especially for emerging artists who wish to make themselves known, underlines Isabelle Racicot, who hosted the pre-gala on ICI Télé. “How do they feel performing in front of people in the industry? What are the dreams they want to achieve in the next year? There is so much to discover about them,” she says.
“It is sure that there is a voyeur side, adds the facilitator. You want to see the stars arrive, how they are dressed, how they present themselves. The image is important, we are not going to hide it. »
With Catherine Lalonde