Focusing on what unites us rather than what divides us is the bet France Beaudoin and the team have made.Live from New Year’s Day to welcome the new year. An avenue that could help us, too, face darker times.
Published yesterday at 7:30 p.m.
I am one of 2,253,000 people who watched Live from New Year’s Day on ICI Télé. With my glass of champagne in one hand and my box of tissues in the other, I said goodbye to 2024 with the show put together by France Beaudoin and her fantastic team.
I don’t know how it’s possible, but they’ve outdone themselves again.
For 90 minutes, they offered viewers a veritable tsunami of emotions, without any downtime.
We had the impression that the entire roster of the Union of Artists had been invited to smash 2024 on this festive set.
Beyond the performances, the choice of songs, the nods to current events and the surprise guests (who can boast of having a centenarian – Janette Bertrand! – to do a grand countdown?), what What struck me the most was the extent to which the show was a superb plea for living together.
At a time when the planet is shaken by never-ending conflicts, where ideological positions are very strong – not to say polarized –, many of us are hoping and looking for ways to get through.
Whether in the (excellent) end-of-year showInfoman or at the opening of the Golden Globes gala on Sunday evening, we highlighted the extent to which we live in troubled times. Justin Trudeau also referred to it during his press briefing announcing his resignation on Monday.
With the imminent arrival of Donald Trump at the White House, as well as the possible election of Pierre Poilievre in Ottawa, the coming years risk being marked more by untimely declarations and clashes than by the search for grounds for understanding and consensus.
In this gloomy and anxiety-provoking climate, Live from New Year’s Day focused on diversity, difference and dialogue.
A nod to Forrest Gump to highlight different children, guests from all generations as a snub to ageism, a salute to the great success that was the Paris Olympic Games and my favorite, a painting bringing together fathers and sons to sing The little king by Jean-Pierre Ferland. There shouldn’t have been many dry eyes in Quebec living rooms when Patrice Michaud sang “Hey, gumdrop!” Would you have become a man? …”, this great success of Ferland, which disappeared last April. An eloquent response to retrograde masculinist discourse, and proof that masculinity can also rhyme with sensitivity.
Casually, the show imagined by France Beaudoin and her team was full of these important positions. They focused on what unites us, regardless of our ideological positions, our beliefs or our age.
Family, friendship, love, the right to achieve oneself despite obstacles… Sit two or more humans around a table, they will be able to agree on at least one of these themes.
At the end of these 90 exciting minutes which passed at lightning speed, the host wished everyone “joy”, adding “we are going to win the world once grinch at the same time…”
France Beaudoin’s words echoed several wishes read on social networks during the holidays. People who wished each other joy, open-mindedness, kindness. In English, there is an expression that says “killing them with kindness”… This is undoubtedly a good attitude to adopt if we want to preserve our morale in these times.
As for joy, it is a powerful tool that is good to practice on a daily basis.
I’m not talking about a corny joy that’s bathed in rainbows and unicorns. I am talking about a joy that is reflected, chosen and assumed. A form of resistance to cynicism and despair.
This is the grace that we all wish for each other at the start of the year.
What do you think? Participate in the dialogue
