Eve Côté, Alex Lévesque, Pierre-Luc Pomerleau and Suzie Bouchard are the comedians who received the most nominations for the 25 nominationse Les Olivier Gala. An anniversary edition where the usual big guns are rather rare.
On the same day that the Oscars announced their nominations with much fanfare, the Les Olivier Gala decided to do the same via press release on Tuesday afternoon. And when we look through the list of nominations, we quickly notice that only a few comedians stand out.
Certainly, Eve Côté and Pierre-Luc Pomerleau were recognized with their respective shows in the top four categories (Comedy Show of the Year, Writer of the Year, Director and Visual Designer), but were excluded from the coveted Olivier of the Year category.
MARIO BEAUREGARD/AGENCE QMI
“It’s fun to be considered by your peers,” Pierre-Luc Pomerleau told the Journal. It's not that I was always in the shadows, but I never felt like I was the star of the month. I probably never will. But now it gives the impression that you’re more like part of the gang.”
These are the first “significant” Olivier nominations for Pomerleau in his career. It had previously been named after a radio capsule. And in 2015, he was a finalist in the Revelation of the Year category. He then met Mariana Mazza, Fabien Cloutier, Virginie Fortin and Katherine Levac. The latter won.
Among the artists with the most nominations, alongside Eve Côté, who has five, is a certain Alex Lévesque. The aspiring comedian is very popular on the Internet, especially with his project Dessine bandé, and is also quoted five times (capsule or web sketch, text of the year: TV or web series, text of the year: capsule or web sketch).
Alex Levesque. Photo courtesy of Studio Café Noir
“Of course it’s a surprise. I didn't expect it [recevoir autant de nominations]said Alex Lévesque to the Journal. This is the first time I have been nominated for an Olivier Award. It runs fine! […] There's still a cachet about it, even if it's a bit superficial. It’s fun to see the industry validate your work a little bit.”
Suzie Bouchard, a comedian very popular for her lyrics, also stands out with four nominations (Discovery of the Year, Text of the Year: TV or Web Series, Capsule or Radio Sketch). As the discovery of the year, Suzie meets Mégan Brouillard, Mona de Grenoble, Michelle Desrochers and Tommy Néron. These four other finalists only have one Olivier nomination this year. This is one of two categories this year where women are in the majority.
Olivier of the year
Another curiosity: the popular “Olivier of the Year” category includes Mathieu Dufour, Christine Morency, Pierre-Yves Roy-Desmarais, Arnaud Soly and Mike Ward. While the comedians mentioned there are usually found throughout the nominations, Dufour, Soly and Ward are only mentioned once this year. Morency and PYRD have another small nomination.
After difficult years with the pandemic, the Olivier organization decided to bring back the best-selling shows category. Sam Breton, Lise Dion, Fabien Cloutier, Christine Morency and Dominic Paquet are finalists.
While last year's Les Olivier Gala was criticized by several critics for not making room for comedians from the oldest generations, we wonder what this 25th edition, co-hosted by Cathy Gauthier and Eve Côté, will be like. Today's nominations may not draw crowds.
The 25the The Les Olivier gala will take place on March 24th on ICI Télé.
The most important dates
Comedy show of the year
CÔTÉ EVE, Eve Côté
CHILD OF THE CENTURY, Philippe-Audrey Larrue-St-Jacques
YELLOW, Daniel Grenier
LIVE, Simon Gouache
POLYGLOTT MOCKING, Pierre-Luc Pomerleau
Writer of the Year/Comedy Show
EVE CÔTÉ, DANIS DUROCHER, JEAN-CHRISTIAN THIBODEAU, JEAN-MICHEL CÔTÉ
(Côté Eve by Eve Côté)
SIMON GOUACHE, PASCAL MAILLOUX, MARIE-CHRISTINE LACHANCE
(LIVE from Simon Gouache)
PHILIPPE-AUDREY LARRUE-ST-JACQUES
(Child of the Century by Philippe-Audrey Larrue-St-Jacques)
GUY NANTEL
(If I understood correctly, you say… by Guy Nantel)
PIERRE-LUC POMERLEAU, FRANÇOIS DE GRANDPRÉ, STÉPHANE GOUIN
(Multilingual Mockingbird by Pierre-Luc Pomerleau)
director
ADIB ALKHALIDEY, Child of the Century by Philippe-Audrey Larrue-St-Jacques
DANIEL GRENIER, yellow by Daniel Grenier
GUILLAUME LAMBERT, The Involution by Maude Landry
JOËL LEGENDRE, Côté Eve by Eve Côté
PIERRE-LUC POMERLEAU, Polyglot Mockingbird by Pierre-Luc Pomerleau
Visual designer
MARC ANDRE ALIE
Polyglot Mockingbird by Pierre-Luc Pomerleau
DANIEL GRENIER
Yellow from Daniel Grenier
ROBIN KITTEL-OUIMET
A boy like no other by Jean-Sébastien Girard
JULIE LAFORTUNE, CHARLES MORIN
Côté Eve by Eve Côté
GUY VINCENT, JULIEN LEFEBVRE, STUDIO LA FOUGUE
The comic nature of Réal Béland and Didier Lucien
Comedy show/bestseller
AU PIC PIS À PELLE, Sam Breton
CHU GONE THERE, Lise Dion
Delicate, Fabien Cloutier
THANK YOU, Christine Morency
LET GO OF ME, Dominic Paquet
Discovery of the year
Suzie Bouchard
Megan Brouillard
Mona from Grenoble
Michelle Desrochers
Tommy Nero
Olivier of the year
Matthew Dufour
Christine Morency
Pierre Yves Roy Desmarais
Arnaud Soly
Mike Ward