No. When he was offered to host Big Brother Celebrity, Marie-Mai refused. “My first reaction was to have a judgment. “Oh ! it will be like Loft Story ? Me, I don’t want business trash.” »
But the production, Entourage Television, assured her that it wouldn’t be about flirting in the spa. Rather “surpassing oneself, strategy, competition”. Okay, in this case.
Car Big Brother, that’s big. The Dutch franchise, launched in 1999, has seen versions in more than 80 countries, with 470 seasons and some 30,000 episodes.
The concept is in the title: people are being observed everywhere, all the time. In the Quebec version, the first, fifteen candidates from the public sphere will find themselves confined in a manor of L’Île-Bizard. They will be filmed 24 hours a day, seven days a week, everywhere, all the time.
They will have to create alliances, participate in games. Each week, one of them will be eliminated. Not by the public. By his comrades. And unlike Occupation double and to his waltz of elders, no other human being will enter the adventure (to use a term popular with reality TV fans).
“It’s a bottomless bank of entertainment! »Remarks Marie-Mai.
Without a background of slippage, too? In the United States, the franchise has sadly been riddled with racist, anti-Semitic, homophobic and misogynistic remarks. The 2013 season, the fifteenth, was marked by Aaryn the Texan participant, follower of degrading comments. Last year, the 21e season has seen candidate Jack Matthews come down to the same level. Did Marie-Mai prepare for this eventuality, to have to manage this kind of situation?
“One of my strengths in life is still having enough repartee. Maybe before, it would have stressed me a bit, but I’m less and less afraid of getting wet. If I hear something that doesn’t make sense, I won’t be afraid to approach it. I think I will be a good moderator. “
A good confidante too? Because it will be the only contact these people have with the outside world. “It’s really not a role I take lightly. I want to help them. I want to give them confidence. “
Trust. In Big Brother, the latter crumbles over alliances that are broken, shenanigans that are brewing. “Several personalities told us: ‘Me, I am transparent! Me, I am honest! Me, I want to play fair! ” I still feel a lot of good intentions. “But we know what is paved with, good intentions …” For having made a show In reality, this character that we try to keep as long as possible, he takes the edge after a week. “
Another music
Since his sparkling participation in Star Academy at the age of 18, Marie-Mai went through a series of experiments. She was a coach in the first season of The voice, then during two seasons of The junior voice, then again on the English-speaking side with The Launch, CTV.
” What I find cool with Big Brotheris that it is different. Because there I did it, the show where I talk about music and the stage. I know I’m good at it. I wanted a challenge. I like to get out of my comfort zone. “
It is in the comfort of her home that she invited viewers last fall, to Canal Vie. In a more intimate setting. Not necessarily cozy, however. Because At Marie-Mai followed the renovations of her house, of course, but above all her way of living her relationship, in two separate homes, her partner at home, her on her side. She says at the time she needed time, needed space. But that she certainly had “no need to make a show to show off its renovations ”. “On the other hand, I wanted to share my couple’s journey to, perhaps, inspire people to come out of this mold which says that a family is a house, two cars and the little white fence. “
That’s what she loves about reality TV, by the way. “Show different frameworks and ways of thinking. Whether the conversations are spicy or uncomfortable, I find there is always something to learn. “
Signature from here
It is also the learning that Jean-Philippe Dion will put forward in this “mastodon” of the small screen that is Star Academy. The executive producer, who shares the task with Benoît Clermont, would even be tempted, he said, to remove the word “Star” before “Academy”. And, rather than talking about reality TV, of which he admits “not really being a fan”, talking about an observation documentary. “Previously, people could go on the Web and access what the cameras transmitted at any time, 24 hours a day in the Academy, explains the one who did his classes on the show, in particular as assistant director of the daily . It doesn’t exist anymore. Once the shooting is finished, there is no more recording. Candidates can sleep easy. “
Still, some moments of intimacy will be shown. Think morning breakfast, for example. “This is what we call in the jargon ‘slices of life’. It allows the viewer to see that, even if these young people find themselves on the weekends on a huge stage with high-level stars, they still eat three meals a day and they brush their teeth like everyone else. “
The series that shone from 2003 to 2012, under the leadership of Julie Snyder’s Productions J, is reborn under that of Breaking productions at TVA, after the negotiations that we know.
The return of the franchise, the rights to which are held by Endemol Shine (like those of Big Brother, moreover), would it be a sign of nostalgia? ” Star Academy is part of our DNA, believes Jean-Philippe Dion. It’s a foreign format that has been adapted so well that it looks like Quebeckers. This is what allowed us to convince Xavier Dolan to participate as a teacher. Xavier accepts because it’s a show he watched when he was young and which brings back fond memories. He wanted to experience this trip, him too. “
And what trip. “We must not forget that these young artists have to put on a two and a quarter hour variety show every week. It’s completely crazy what we ask them. They must be good, efficient, persevering, hardworking. All words are possible. “
Marie-Mai knows it: “It is the signature of Star Academy, that’s where I’m from! I have the greatest respect for this show. AT Big Brother, there is a level of difficulty and pressure that is very different from when you want to be an artist and your challenge is to sing on Sundays. “
Indeed, at Big Brother, it is not necessary to sing, but to make sing. Because the candidates fight among themselves to get the title of PM – for boss of the house, and not prime minister – which gives the right to a suite with private bathroom, among other privileges.
But is it really a privilege to participate in such an enterprise? Isn’t it rather an incredible risk for its image? (Thought for Charles ofOccupation double.) “I wondered if I would have agreed to do a show like that, concedes Marie-Mai. Hey there, that’s a lot of issues! For those who have children, who have families, this is a big decision. “
Illustration of what it can mean to be cut off from the outside as well: in March, the candidates of Big Brother Canada season 8 finally learned that the entire planet was plunged into a pandemic. But not before having wondered for a long time why the hell they didn’t hear the audience’s reactions during the traditional live of the weekend. “Maybe the house has become soundproof?” One of them suggested. No, replied another. “I think we are miniature dolls. That we live in a setting. “
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