Véronique Cloutier will be surrounded by Normand Brathwaite, Félix-Antoine Tremblay, Claudia Bouvette and Élyse Marquis this winter in ZenithICI Télé’s new musical competition.
Updated yesterday at 12:23 p.m.
These four artists will act as captains. The news was revealed Monday morning during a virtual press briefing organized by Radio-Canada.
Described as “a blockbuster variety show”, Zenith will air in January. Each week, four professional singers from four different generations will compete in front of 100 members of the public, who will judge their performances. These spectators will also be divided by generations in the audience, which will look like an arena. We will find the Z (born since 1994) on one side, the Y (1981-1993) on the other, the X (1968-1980) and finally, the boomers (before 1968).
The captains will guide these groups made up of 25 gentlemen and ladies Everybody. They will be their spokespersons. Claudia Bouvette will be assigned to Z, Félix-Antoine Tremblay to Y, Élyse Marquis to X and Normand Brathwaite to boomers. After each performance, they will take their pulse, give their feedback and share their notes in relation to the song choice, the musical arrangements, the concept of the number, etc. These elements will have to be well thought out by the guest artist, because the objective is to excite all age groups and to obtain the best result.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY ICI TÉLÉ
Above: Élyse Marquis and Félix-Antoine Tremblay. Bottom: Claudia Bouvette and Normand Brathwaite.
“We wanted captains who know how to express themselves well and quickly, explained Véronique Cloutier in Zoom. We wanted people who know the music, who know the varieties. »
The host, who claims to be “crazy” by the adventure, did not lack superlatives to qualify her captains. With a career spanning five decades, Normand Brathwaite “resonates” with every generation, she explained. With experience in musical theater (Tomorrow morning, Montreal is waiting for me) as well as live varieties (Fury), Élyse Marquis is “capable of identifying a good number and expressing an opinion with delicacy, but accuracy”. A fan of music who likes to “push the note” from time to time, Félix-Antoine Tremblay, whom Véronique Cloutier rubs shoulders with Fantastic at Rouge FM, has “a lot of repartee”, and Claudia Bouvette, as a singer-songwriter, knows how to “identify what works and what works less well”. She is also “straight and fair”, as she demonstrated earlier this year at Big Brother Celebrities on Novo.
“ Zenith, it is not a war between the generations. On the contrary, it’s a way to sing together, to have fun, ”said Claudia Bouvette, who promises to impress with her looks. His colleagues witnessed it last week during a photo shoot to promote the show. According to Véronique Cloutier, the 27-year-old singer arrived with “a hairy bra”.
A voucher timing »
Original concept by Daniel Vigneault and Dominic Anctil, Zenith distinguished itself at MIPCOM in Cannes at the beginning of the month. In the largest international market for television content in the world, the Quebec format would have aroused a lot of interest from foreign buyers even before it went on the air.
“After the pandemic, it’s a good timing to come up with a show where you sing, which feels good, said Dominic Anctil, content producer and director of development at KOTV. It’s a new show, it’s a risk, but the two mechanics we did are eloquent. »
Véronique Cloutier has indeed emerged galvanized from the tests that the team has carried out so far. A proper pilot will be shot in December. “It’s a big, big project,” reiterated the host.
The process of selecting audience members who will become the show’s judges is currently in full swing. Véronique Cloutier would like to find the same 100 people throughout the season, which will include 13 meetings, broadcast live on Thursdays at 8 p.m. It is certainly a big contract to respect, but the facilitator is hopeful of achieving her goal and enlisting the desired number of candidates.
“We can adjust,” she said. I don’t want anyone to stop submitting their application because they’re going on a trip during spring break. »