For 15 days and with each broadcast of The Voice 2021, a new controversy has erupted. Back to the last two, against a background of anti-abortion or homophobic discourse.
The Voice is one of the musical shows that we find and enjoy year after year. Coaches make it possible to represent the musical tastes of a good part of the French people in their plurality, just like the performances of the candidates. Some are more noticed than others, but not always for good reasons. Back on two consecutive controversies of the 2021 season.
Act 1: a problematic slam about abortion
Saturday February 13, 2021, in the middle of the other performances, a candidate proposes a slam. Risk taking for the tele-hook, not used to this type of music, with the bonus of a composition of the candidate on a sensitive theme. Indeed, young Tarik chose to talk about abortion. Bingo: Vianney is moved to tears. But if other artists, like Anne Sylvestre in "No you don't have a name" brilliantly evoked abortion in song, for some of the audience, Tarik's performance flopped.
Indeed, the young man uses in his song a whole rhetoric used by those opposed to the Voluntary Pregnancy Interruption. The mother character speaks to her child by calling him "my son" and by imagining all the things that they could have done together, she defines herself as her mom … It therefore seems important to remember one fact: if "no woman happily resorts to abortion", as Simone Weil said, in most cases, women take responsibility for terminating their pregnancy, a decision that has been carefully considered. In France, the procedure requires two different medical consultations. In addition, a study conducted in the United States and published in January 2020 concluded that most women did not regret their decision.
If this slam does not blame women head-on, one might wonder whether an artist wants to talk at all costs about an operation that he will never have to go through, as a cis man. What need to emphasize, in a popular program moreover, on the guilt related to the exercise by women of their freedom to dispose of their bodies? No wonder the song has since been rerun with enthusiasm by an anti-abortion association.
Act 2: The Vivi's social suicide
Saturday February 20, new blind auditions. Among the performances, that of Vincent dit The Vivi, who interprets a text by singer Orelsan on the production's proposal. The public is on fire, just like the conquered coaches who all turn around. But again, it blocks for part of the public. Logical: already at the time of its release, in 2021, the text had been controversial and deemed homophobic by many homosexual people. The rapper retorted that this song speaks "of someone who is badly in his skin, and who returns the hatred he has against everyone else." This is also the position of Vianney, coach chosen by the candidate, after the new scandal that this performance sparked.
However, if the song does hit everyone, pushing down a social minority will always have a much more serious impact than making fun of people who are less / not discriminated against, and will only fuel already very violent discrimination. . Not to mention that Internet users were quick to come out of tweets written by Vincent when he was 17 years old: racist and homophobic messages. If The Vivi has since apologized, the production preferred to dismiss it on Monday, February 22.
This is not the first time that a candidate has been questioned for his digital traces: in 2018, Mennel left the adventure following a controversy over unearthed tweets. It was out of the question for netizens that The Vivi would be treated any differently.
Act 3: a show that brings people together?
After two acts rich in twists and turns, we are now waiting for the sequel: what does the tele-hook have in store? Will the musical competition lose its status as a Sunday night family entertainment to become a fountain of controversy? So far, she has revealed talented artists: Kendji Girac, Louane, Amir, Camille Lellouche or the Fréro Delavaga … This season, The Voice has also allowed artists far from the mainstream to enter the light, like Papa Drag and its pumps, which seduced the jury. Or the young Lara, who delivered a very nice tribute to her city of Beirut, partially destroyed in August 2020 by a chemical explosion.
Soon 10 years that the show also accumulates beautiful audiences, and brings together a good part of France. She should not turn her back on the one who has long been silenced (women, racialized people, LGBTQI + …) and who, thanks to social networks, now has the power to express herself.