It’s an unforeseen event that’s very common on television: a guest who has to attend a show that pulls out more or less at the last moment, forcing the production to “turn around 10 cents” to fill time , and so on nothing appears in the final result.
All we see is fire in the ether, but En direct de l’univers troops often have to deal with such last-minute envelopes. And especially in the last two years, when a certain virus called COVID-19 often appears and often forces people to revise their plans without notice!
This was particularly the case on Saturday, when a guest – whose identity we must withhold – who was supposed to sing in honor of the day’s star, Michel Fugain, canceled his visit permanently due to loss of voice. .
The Showbizz.net team present on set witnessed the small tour de force that France Beaudoin and her band undertook to fill the hole left by this incalculable absence. In a dress rehearsal, between 3:30 and 5:00 p.m., tables from Saturday’s session were reworked with the help of artists already present in the studio. And the revised segments fit together harmoniously. Very clever who, during the presentation of the full show both on location and on screen, could have seen a personality fail with just a few hours notice.
Éliane Lévesque, assistant to the production manager of En direct de l’univers, told us that such setbacks never happen the same way. At 3 p.m. on Saturday, the team learned that a player would be missing. Then a solution had to be found quickly, as the last dress rehearsal (the Live from the Universe rehearsals are spread over two days, Friday and Saturday) usually begins on Saturday afternoon at 3:45 p.m. . Normally at this point all content is decided, brought in and musicians, singers and surprise guests string the numbers together one last time to make sure everything is in order, flowing and the ‘timings’ are on point. the live broadcast at 7 p.m
But according to Éliane Lévesque, En direct de l’univers’ small army of brave soldiers never lacks funds to save the furniture. In 14 years, France and her accomplices have seen more!
“We always have options, Plan B. We are not closed. Someone else can come and sing the song. We have people who can do everything, versatile artists, so there is never a problem. Today was a little easier; We took a different song tonight, a song from our guest’s repertoire, and we used it with someone who was already on the show. There are guests who sometimes come back in several blocks, but if they only sing one song, it’s easy to bring them back,” summarized Éliane Lévesque.
The famous questionnaire – almost 200 questions! – to which the artists who celebrated before D-Day react is also a valuable help in the event of a breakdown.
“It means we can go into a lot of corners and play, which allows us to turn around. There are only legal questions [musicaux, NDLR] respect. And of course the artists need to know the song and don’t need three days to learn it! (laughs)”
A nice present
Sometimes the unexpected can also turn out to be positive. On Saturday morning, En direct de l’univers crew learned that an “extension” of the show with a live performance by Michel Fugain of around 20 minutes was added to TV time on social networks.
The music director Jean-Benoît Lasanté, previously informed of this beautiful gift, had taken care of stewing on Friday night the arrangements of “Attention, ladies and gentlemen” and other pieces that Monsieur Fugain had generously offered to viewers, on short note .
Michel Fugain, unfamiliar with the concept of Direct from the Universe, was particularly emotional at the end of Saturday’s edition dedicated to him. See his reaction here.