When Stromae turns the world upside down

The passage of singer Stromae on the television news of the French channel TF1 has the potential to “save lives”. A few people saw it as a misguided publicity stunt. But playing his song at prime time Hell, which deals head-on with his suicidal thoughts, the musician has created an important moment for suicide prevention.

Marissa Groguhe
Press

The interview and the song

The extract has been relayed everywhere since Sunday evening. The Belgian singer-songwriter Stromae, guest of TF1’s newscast at 8 p.m., concludes the interview by responding, in music, to journalist Anne-Claire Coudray. “In your songs, you also talk a lot about loneliness,” she says. Did the music help you free yourself from it? A silence, then Stromae begins to sing. He interprets his new title, Hell. “I sometimes had suicidal thoughts / And I am not very proud of it / We sometimes believe that this is the only way to silence them / These thoughts which make me live a hell”, he launches in the chorus.

The track takes no detour, the message is clear. The panoramic camera shot, the context, Stromae’s gaze into the lens, but above all the words he speaks… the moment (followed live by more than 7 million viewers, then seen 4.5 million times in the following day on TF1’s Twitter page) instantly became cult.

A positive moment for suicide prevention

“It was a nice gift,” said the D straight away.^r Christophe Debien, psychiatrist at Lille University Hospital and responsible for deploying 3114, the national suicide prevention number in France. This gift, it is for all the people who felt challenged by the words of Stromae.

When we reach him by phone, the D^r Debien confides that he and his team were “very, very moved” to see the passage of the Belgian artist on TF1’s newscast, because it is “rare to have a song that addresses so head-on a subject that is often lived as taboo ”. “I want to say thank you to him,” he adds. For having dared to talk about this at a very specific time, because the timing is very important. For daring to talk about his own moments [de souffrance] and for doing it as well. ”

The impact

“We have been very attentive to 3114 since the broadcast of [l’entrevue], says D^r Christophe Debien. The impact we all expect is an increase in the use of suicide prevention lines. ” Hell and this interpretation on the airwaves of TF1 “will do good and start a discussion”, says Arnaud Granata, president of the Infopresse Group.

Already, many sites have been talking about mental health since Sunday when they broach the news of this now viral extract, he notes. “Just that is a very positive aspect. It is very rare that we talk about these questions, even rarer in Europe where we are not as far as in North America. Ultimately, it’s going to be good that a personality so beloved by the general public can address this question so literally in a song. ”

Feedback and Marketing

On social networks, some are moved, shaken and speak of an extraordinary moment. French actor Omar Sy called him “powerful” by relaying it on his Twitter account. “As moving as it is dazzling, as sovereign as it is simple, incredible,” Carla Bruni tweeted. “I have never seen such a huge thing,” wrote singer Louane. Artists, politicians, journalists and other people all have their say, often showing their admiration.

Others are more critical, calling the news “promotional material”. The room Hell appeared the day after the TF1 interview. Although the bearer of a strong message, the moment orchestrated by Stromae on Sunday is also a huge publicity stunt (it is not the first time that he has created significant television moments to promote his music).

“In his marketing, he has a social message,” continues Mr. Granata. And despite what some may say, it’s important to talk about it, especially since we know that there is great mental health distress at the moment. ”

The journalistic question

In the French media, we relay the extract on all platforms. LCI speaks of a “stroke of genius”. The Parisian, of a “formidable return”. Corn Release publishes an article Monday in which he “wonders about the reasons which pushed the drafting of TF1 to cross this red line and to accept the diversion of its summary for the benefit of a marketing operation”. A ticket The Obs titled “Why the performance of Stromae on TF1 was frankly embarrassing” deals with the loss of “what remains of benchmarks between information and entertainment”.

“Would we have seen, in Quebec, a Céline Galipeau or a Pierre Bruneau staging this interview with a singer?” “Asks Arnaud Granata, noting however that TF1 is a private channel.

He himself poses a “more journalistic reserve” in the face of the process. “Some will ask themselves a question that is legitimate to ask. Especially in a context where there is nevertheless an increasingly blurring of the lines between what is advertising and what is journalistic, where people increasingly doubt the relationship between the media and certain “elites”. ”, As they may call them. There is a discussion to be had, but in my opinion, it will be reserved for a small part of the population, in the more journalistic circle. ”