It makes you laugh, it shocks, it surprises. France has an unbelievable talent, a program broadcast every Tuesday on M6 excels in the art of dividing its viewers. Latest example: a performance in which a 40-year-old Australian gynecologist plays the flute with her vagina.
The sequence, broadcast at the end of the show on Tuesday, November 8, divided internet users. Some deeming it too trashy for a family show, others having fun with this unusual and surprising moment on French television.
On the production side, we assume this choice to disseminate art in all its diversity. Déborah Huet, program director at Fremantle, the company that produces the show, confides exclusively in 20 minutes.
“The identity of the show”
The “Got talent” franchise, which has seen the emergence of variations such as Britain’s got talent United Kingdom, Australia’s got talent in Australia or France has an unbelievable talent in France has existed since 2006 and there are countless adaptations. It even entered the Guinness Book of Records in 2014 as the most suitable format in the world. “The format has always been open to all forms of art,” assures Déborah Huet. It’s really part of the identity of the show. »
Car acrobatics, street shows, circus, burlesque, dancing, singing… All types of art have already been represented in the program and the French version is no exception to the rule. “And then from time to time, we also have performers who are a little more ‘olé olé'”, she laughs.
She remembers in particular the passage of Brent Ray Fraser in 2015. This painter used his penis as a brush. “Despite everything, it’s still very, very rare. “Regarding Beatrice McQueef, she says that the production had been in contact with her since 2019 but that her coming to the show had been compromised by the Covid-19 pandemic.
A strict framework
To respond to criticism of the broadcast of the flute sequence in a format that she considers to be resolutely family-friendly, Déborah Huet recalls that the production took all precautions. “We work with a team of psychologists to know the gauge that we put when we select the numbers,” she recalls.
“Here, we were very careful to get the public out, Karine warned that the number was intended for an informed public, we added the sticker “not recommended for children under 10″… And then we watered down the editing as much as possible to keep the humorous and quirky side above all! »
She also explains that she knowingly chose to broadcast this moment during the fourth episode of the season because the first fell on the eve of a public holiday and the following two during school holidays. “As a producer, we take every precaution… It’s the same thing for slightly trashy fakir performances. »
” Itching powder “
If Beatrice McQueef’s performance divides Internet users, Déborah Huet believes that it is above all because France has incredible talent has fulfilled its role as a showcase for art in the broad sense. “Art, like it or not, it’s subjective,” she recalls. Any performance triggers emotions, that’s normal. »
However, she recognizes that this type of performance is “a little more itchy” than a choreography or an aerial hoop number.