During the Generation Y Quarterfinals, Damien Robitaille, Matt Lang, Jason Roy Léveillée and Annie Villeneuve performed on the Zénith stage on ICI Télé on Thursday to convince as many fans as possible and advance to the next round.
Damien Robitaille proposed a range of traditional music that failed to win over the studio audience. For his part, Matt Lang has proposed a reinterpretation of Celine Dion’s cult song, “Pour que tu m’aimes encore”. Since we rarely hear the country singer sing in French, his choice of title has already appealed to viewers. It only took additional pelvic movements for viewers to earn him the handsome 93 score. Jason Roy Léveillée tied the score thanks to a celebratory rendition of Ricky Martin’s song “Maria”… and some pelvic moves.
But it was Annie Villeneuve who stole the show when she gave a very expressive and inhabited interpretation of Stromae’s painful piece “L’enfer”.
“I sometimes had suicidal thoughts
And I’m not proud of it
Sometimes we think this is the only way to shut them up
These thoughts that make us live through hell
The singer, dressed in a gorgeous white suit, was surrounded by black-clad dancers who gradually covered her in soot by touching her body and face, and then carried her from one end of the stage to the other. The effect was frankly successful and viewers definitely felt the emotion the artist was trying to convey. Mental illness is an issue that affects all generations, so winning voters over was a brilliant strategy.
Thanks to the five extra points offered by the public, Annie Villeneuve finished her race with an impressive 101 points.
Annie Villeneuve’s manager filmed her TV, so you can rewatch the output below. “It can confuse you…” she says of the music chosen for her number. “And if that’s your case, scream it, sing it, talk about it, most importantly, don’t be alone with it.”
Annie Villeneuve will therefore face Éléonore Lagacé, who also put in an incredible performance last week, in the Zenith semifinals. The two women compete against two other people, one representative of the X and one of the Boomers. These will be selected over the next two weeks.