| Samedi Soir on Chante | |
|---|---|
 Program logo | |
| Written by | Fabrice Clerté |
| Directed by | Pascal Duchêne |
| Presented by | Estelle Denis |
| Country of origin | France |
| Original language | French |
| No. of episodes | 4 |
| Production | |
| Production location | Saint-Denis |
| Cinematography | Jean-Philippe Bourdon |
| Camera setup | Multi-camera |
| Running time | 121-124 minutes |
| Production company | DMLSTV |
| Original release | |
| Network | TF1 |
| Release | January 19, 2013 (2013-01-19) – present |
Samedi Soir on Chante (literally Saturday Evening We Sing) is a French musical television and radio program hosted by Estelle Denis, directed by Pascal Duchêne and broadcast simultaneously on the television channel TF1 and the radio stations RFM (first episode) and RTL (second episode).
The concept of the pre-recorded program, written by Fabrice Clerté, sees a semi-regular troupe of sixteen relatively young yet more or less established singers such as Emmanuel Moire, Corneille and Tal performing over the course of two hours covers of songs written and/or sung by a major French star from an older generation in front of a live studio audience and occasionally accompanied by guest stars, thus potentially reintroducing them to a younger crowd.
Four episodes of the show have been produced and three broadcast so far, centered on Jean-Jacques Goldman, France Gall, the hits of 2013 and Edith Piaf respectively. The first episode was a ratings success for TF1, however the second faltered and lost half of its predecessor's viewers.
Nevertheless, the channel has expressed its faith in the concept with the rapid launch of a spin-off based on comedians, Samedi Soir on Rit (lit. Saturday Evening We Laugh), hosted by Nikos Aliagas and with a first episode shot on June 3, 2013, two days after the broadcast of Samedi Soir on Chante's second episode.
The Samedi Soir on Chante Troupe
Controversies
The program has been accused by some of being a thinly-veiled promotional machine aimed at selling recently released albums. Indeed, the first episode, centered on Jean-Jacques Goldman, aired two months after the release of the compilation cover album Génération Goldman and featured many of its singers, such as Amel Bent, Corneille, Emmanuel Moire, Florent Mothe, M. Pokora, Shy'm and Tal, but more importantly the second episode, centered on France Gall, was viewed by many as being nothing more than a giant commercial for Jenifer's France Gall cover album Ma Déclaration, which came out two days after the episode's airing.
In addition, some singers of Génération Goldman, such as Leslie and Marie-Mai were offended at not being invited to participate in the program with Leslie later accusing TF1 of playing favorites with her contemporaries.
As for the artists the show aims to pay homage to, France Gall was particularly angered, as she was with Jenifer's cover album, calling the program "cheap" in an interview with Le Parisien and regretting that she wasn't consulted or even invited to participate.
Episodes
| No. | Featured artist | Radio broadcast | Directed by | Written by | Filming date | Filming location | Original air date | Viewers | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Jean-Jacques Goldman" | RFM | Pascal Duchêne | Fabrice Clerté | December 17, 2012 (2012-12-17) | Studios de France – Bât 217, Saint-Denis | January 19, 2013 (2013-01-19) | 6,740,000 | 29,4% |
| 2 | "France Gall" | RTL | Pascal Duchêne | Fabrice Clerté | May 29, 2013 (2013-05-29) | Studios du Lendit, Saint-Denis | June 1, 2013 (2013-06-01) | 3,500,000 | 16,4% |
| 3 | "Hits of 2013" | TBA | Unknown | Unknown | December 8, 2013 (2013-12-08)-December 9, 2013 (2013-12-09) | Studios de France – Bât 217, Saint-Denis | January 3, 2014 (2014-01-03) | N/A | TBA |
| 4 | "Edith Piaf" | TBA | Pascal Duchêne | Fabrice Clerté | May 31, 2013 (2013-05-31) | Studios du Lendit, Saint-Denis | January 17, 2014 (2014-01-17) | N/A | TBA |
References
- "Samedi Soir On Rit Avec Muriel Robin" [Saturday Evening We Laugh With Muriel Robin]. Emissions-TV (in French).
- Gautier, Charles (April 22, 2013). "Nouvel album de Jenifer : elle fait fausse route en reprenant France Gall" [Jenifer's new album: she's on the wrong track covering France Gall]. Le Nouvel Observateur (in French).
- Boucher, Kevin (January 21, 2013). ""Samedi soir on chante Goldman" : Leslie et Marie-Mai vexées d'avoir été zappées par TF1" ["Saturday evening we sing Goldman": Leslie and Marie-Mai offended at being blown off by TF1]. PureMédias (in French).
- Goncalves, Julien (January 23, 2013). "Leslie revient sur son coup de gueule contre le prime spécial Goldman" [Leslie reflects on her rant against the Goldman prime time special]. PureMédias (in French).
- Goncalves, Julien; Hamard, Jonathan (June 11, 2013). "France Gall règle ses comptes : "Jenifer raconte des bobards !"" [France Gall settles a score: "Jenifer is telling lies!"]. PureMédias (in French).
- ^ "Emission de Variété" [Variety Show]. Emissions-TV (in French).
- ^ Girard-Kromas, Robin (January 20, 2013). "Avec Amel Bent et M. Pokora, Estelle Denis réussit ses débuts sur TF1" [With Amel Bent and M. Pokora, Estelle Denis's TF1 debut is a success]. Toute la Télé (in French).
- ^ "Samedi Soir On Chante France Gall" [Saturday Evening We Sing France Gall]. Emissions-TV (in French).
- ^ Roulet, Jérôme (June 2, 2013). "Samedi soir on chante France Gall et le public n'adhère pas" [Saturday eveving we sing France Gall and the audience doesn't stick]. Toute la Télé (in French).
- ^ ""Samedi soir on chante... les tubes de 2013" bientôt sur TF1 : les artistes reçus par Estelle Denis" ["Saturday Evening We Sing... the hits of 2013" soon on TF1: the artists invited by Estelle Denis]. Coulisses-TV (in French).
- ^ "Samedi Soir On Chante Piaf" [Saturday Evening We Sing Piaf]. Emissions-TV (in French).