Every Saturday night, France Beaudoin invites us to a big party. On the occasion of the turn of the year and the 11e Once she and her team prepared a mega party for us with kidnapped guests whose names are carefully kept secret.
Photo courtesy of Josée Beaudoin
Josée Beaudoin (right) with Raphaëlle Leblanc Palmieri.
In the front row, Josée Beaudoin, co-producer of the event’s content (with Raphaëlle Leblanc Palmieri), pulls the strings to create a unifying event. Starting out as a copywriter and screenwriter for special events, Josée made the jump to television at her sister’s request. As much as they complement each other, they are driven by the same humility, the same generosity, the same desire to please and to work in community so that all can shine.
live from the universe is a reference in varieties. How do you manage to renew yourself over the years?
We are all driven by a strong concept that surpasses us. We’re blown away by the song and honestly, we don’t need to renew. Just read what the personalities share when they receive the questionnaire. We simply enter their world. Nothing is forced. We are the vehicle of what they have shared.
How long does it take you to create content for a show?
It varies a lot. We receive 25 guests in one season. A dozen of them will receive their questionnaire in April. We conduct a blitz of pre-interviews in May-June. We always try to have at least one or two of their favorites available. It’s quite an enigma. There’s always sorrow to do, creative compulsions. International singers must be booked in advance. Sometimes songs overlap from one guest to another, but if it matters, why deprive yourself? We say jokingly: It’s about merit! There’s always another way of presenting it, whether it’s in its entirety or in a medley, whether it’s linked to a wedding, to a friendship. It also changes depending on the person interpreting it. We always do an update because a musical universe is evolving. Even with a week in advance! We also hold holes to react to the times. Stéphane Fallu is a good example. We put his universe together in three and a half weeks. So we’re always working on three or four shows at the same time, on different levels.
How do you manage to keep the names of the guests secret during the New Year’s special?
These are people who all had their normal universe, so we know them, we start with a base and sometimes they get fake pre-talk under false pretenses. Our goal is to make it fun to get in the mood for the date. We know there will be chemistry between everyone and they will get the party started. The content of this show still comes from the guests. It starts with a spark or an event that moved them. A person’s story often becomes universal.
There is a nice mix of genres. And the show brings together generations. What do you attribute that to?
It depends on the age of our guests which varies. A song often evokes a memory shared by parents, grandparents and children. It seems like viewers of the show are open to discovery because it’s happening through the eyes of a guest they love. It’s like a recommendation from a friend. Christine Morency got us as much into opera as she did into Creole singing, Lise Dion introduced us to Dave Fenley, we could see that Isabelle Boulay loves Dee Snider (Twisted Sister) and Diane Juster volunteered for her amazing boyfriend Dominique Michael to sing. We often wonder what we are going through!
They have kept the lighthouse during the pandemic despite last minute changes and current events. When we are live, how is it possible to adapt?
We are a well-established team. The pandemic has allowed us to open up to other ways of doing things. When an artist cannot move or a place is important to the guest, one can go there, as in the case of the theater’s balcony, where Sandrine Bisson secretly returned to see Marina Orsini in Grease. As a content producer, I share the task with Raphaëlle [Leblanc Palmieri]Marie Claude Levesque [en saison régulière] and France [Beaudoin]. It multiplies the fun and divides the pressure. The whole team from all departments is working very hard and staying alert. There is no hierarchy. It’s really a gang trip.
- New Year liveDecember 31 at 7:00 p.m. on ICI Télé (repeat on January 1 at 6:30 p.m.).