The sun is shining on Cannes. And fans flock to hotels and the Palais des Festivals, hoping to catch a glimpse of their favorite stars. Inside, rehearsals for the NRJ Music Awards, which will be broadcast this Friday evening on TF1 and NRJ, are in full swing. This Wednesday, several artists worked on their appearance on stage. And for some put in a box like Gims and his hundred extras. Or Santa who, for “Start me again”, has planned a spectacular staging, forcing her to record the start of her interpretation this Wednesday. And for good reason: the 33-year-old artist will in fact abseil down the facade before addressing a troop of gladiators!
“It’s the return to exceptional performances after a somewhat complicated 2023 edition, between wars and the terrorist threat,” says Jacques Grimal, the evening’s coordinator. There, we have things that are a little out of the ordinary, whether Santa and Gims but also Louane with a remarkable staging for “The Rain” or Indochine. »
These 26th NRJ Music Awards are also marked by the return of internationals. “We favored Europeans or those on tour on the continent,” we say on the production side. Benson Boone, Damiano David, Sevdaliza and Teddy Swims are announced… thirty minutes late for rehearsals this Thursday. But the “Lose Control” singer is not the only one. “We had to deal with plane problems,” admits the boss of the ceremony, who saw his schedule delayed by 1h30 on Wednesday. And expected the same for this second day.
In addition to delays linked to transport, uncertainty also reigned over the participation of Slimane, the target of a complaint for sexual harassment that we revealed on Tuesday. Although he confirmed his presence, the interpreter of “My love” was absent. Its rehearsal scheduled shortly before 5 p.m. was even postponed. Finally, the stress subsided when the artist indicated that he was there, a few minutes later, and would finally perform on stage. “There have been discussions since your article,” the coordinator confirmed before his arrival. We believe that the presumption of innocence is very important and we are not investigating judges. So for us, nothing has changed. »
On the other hand, two artists will be there… without being there. Announced for “exceptional performances”, Billie Eilish and Linkin Park did not set foot in Cannes. “They shot a sequence during live performances just for us,” explains Jacques Grimal. For example, Billie is on tour in the United States and cannot be there. So should we deprive ourselves of her presence or rather work with her to have a presence in the show this year, and why not bring her in later? »
