“Above all, stay well between yourselves!” : Stromae, Orelsan, Angèle… the cast of the Victoires de la Musique under fire from critics

With Stromae, Orelsan and Angèle at the top of the nominations, the Victoires de la musique, high mass of French-speaking song on Friday near Paris, are criticized for an air of “already seen” by favoring recognized artists rather than emerging talents. .

Admittedly, Stromae (four nominations) marked a discographic break of nine years after a burn-out from which he recovered. But the Belgian was the honorary president of the Victories last year and he already has five Victories. OrelSan, who signed a hat-trick last year (9 Victories in total), has three nominations, just like Angèle (3 Victories already).

“There is a taste of deja vu. We have witnessed a season of live resumption – after the health crisis – rich, intense, with a lot of new projects that we hardly find at Victoires”, comments for AFP Antoine Dabrowski, antenna director of Tsugi Radio, web radio of the eponymous magazine.

“Despite the attempts to change the Victories, there is criticism against them”, continues this official whose media publishes his own nominations for the Victories. “The Victories persist, no specific prizes: the categories electro, rock, rap, world music … have disappeared since 2019”, tackled on Twitter Emilie Mazoyer, host of the radio program “Décibels” on France Blue.

“Open”

“Above all, stay well between you and your little arrangements, we never needed you to exist, and to be the only French music that is exported”, pings Yuksek, an electro figure, on Twitter.

Only Jacques, representative of this current, is named in the revelations. While DJ Snake officiates at the Super Bowl in the United States this weekend and the Ed Banger label, which released Justice, celebrates its 20th anniversary.

Rap, apart from Bigflo & Oli and OrelSan, is also under-represented in the queen categories with regard to the bubbling French-speaking scene and its hegemony. Tiakola and Lujipeka are in the revelations and Ninho will receive a Male Artist Victory for the most streamed album. The 38th Victories – at the Seine Musicale, at the gates of Paris, broadcast Friday evening on the France 2 channel and radio France – have nevertheless made efforts and three women, out of five nominated, claim the title of best album.

“The first thing to work on is the college of voters. This year, we globally arrived at 50% of new voters and, instead of voting for an artist, we could give our top 3”, underlines for the AFP Stéphane Espinosa, president of the Victoires, has come to the end of this mandate of only two years. “It’s a long-term job. I leave the presidency to others, it’s up to them to continue to open up other avenues”, continues the leader.

Alternatives

The 800-voting college is dominated by music industry professionals. Only the Song of the Year category is open to public voting. This year, a vote of the young public was encouraged. Beyond the criticisms, two alternative ceremonies were organized. The Joséphine prize was awarded for the first time to November Ultra – named for the revelations of Victories – in 2022 during an evening-concert in public at Radio France. The jury included artists like Imany, Oxmo Puccino or L’Impératrice.

Les Flammes, musical prizes focused on rap and other affiliated currents, will hold their first edition on May 11 at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris. At the end of the day, 21 awards, i.e. double the Victories. The organizers are media specializing in “popular cultures”, such as YARD, Booska-P, without forgetting Smile, a consulting agency, and the support of Spotify. The “vast majority of the Flames” will be awarded “via an equal mix” of two panels of voters, professions related to the music industry and the general public, they promise. The nominated artists will be announced soon.