At the end of April, things get agitated in front of the musical Seine of Boulogne-Billancourt. Cars, technicians but also animals are heard when we arrive at the filming location of Game of Talents. No doubt, we are in the right place. Before being able to access the room, you must pass under a pretty white tent for a nasopharyngeal sample. In the midst of an epidemic, Fremantle managed to bring in artists from all over the world and it is the great pride of the production company.
For this, the performers had to comply with quarantine when arriving from Canada, the United States, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands or even Russia. After a rehearsal session the day before, they will be able to step onto the stage of this new show presented by Jarry.
One mission: to bring the whole family together
The principle ? Artists present themselves in front of two teams of three personalities. Their mission is to assign the right talent to the right person. Who is an extreme balancing act? Which one is a rat trainer? Who has the head of a sword swallower? A total of ten issues are presented to the public during the evening.
In order to get the right answer, celebrities use magnetos offered before each performance. Jarry stages himself there in all postures, whether he is in the middle of a yoga session or in front of a psychic, in order to reveal clues. Positive point, unlike Mask Singer where they can be pulled by the hair, those of Game of Talents are more accessible. Since the program aims to bring the whole family together, some will recognize lyrics from a song by Wejdene while others will instead turn to clues related to Sylvester Stallone’s films.
“It’s an intergenerational show and it’s exactly my audience,” Jarry told 20 minutes. I try to do shows from 7 to 97 years old and I want to do shows that bring together 7 to 97 year olds. According to him, it is not a question of a format “which compartmentalizes” but which is addressed to everyone. “It’s not vulgar, it’s not offensive. It’s funny, it’s feel-good, it’s spectacular but also poetic. “
“WTF and funny” talents
If he agreed to participate in this show, it is because Jarry liked the range of talents that parade on the stage. “There are really artistic talents with poetry, astonishment, fear sometimes but also WTF and funny talents”, he rejoices. On this point, if we had to make the comparison with another program, Game of Talents would look more like Amazing talentthat to Largest cabaret in the world because of certain services where the comic aspect takes precedence over the artistic. Several acts are indeed spectacular, others invite less to travel. But shhh, to keep the surprise, we can not reveal everything to you.
The host says he has fully invested in this program, especially via the magnetos indices. To do this, we had to work twice as hard and shoot about twenty sequences (for the two recorded numbers) in three days. Two authors wrote the sketches before entrusting them to Jarry who appropriated them. “It was important to embody them because it was also my way of personalizing the format and highlighting the actor that I am,” he says. A role that distinguishes him from the presenter of the original Spanish version.
“I was really able to do what I wanted to do”
Thanks to Game of Talents, Jarry once again takes the lead on TF1. This summer, the comedian hosted two new issues of Good singers and we will find him in the coming months as an investigator in the third season of Mask Singer. “I was not at all anxious by the presentation of the concept, I had as much fun as the guests”, assures the one that the public could discover almost ten years ago on France Televisions.
Despite these years of experience, “in terms of presentation, for the first time, I was really able to do what I wanted to do on TV,” he adds. The host has notably written his texts himself upstream in order to detach himself as much as possible from his teleprompter. “I learned the show as I learn my shows and I have fun through it,” comments Jarry.
” Good singers, it’s a little straighter, I’m a little more framed, a little more directed. I would like to get away from it all even more. I think that TV tries to respect lots of codes and not to shock anyone while I think it could be a little more transgressive, ”concludes the face of TF1. All that remains is to convince the channel to give him (even more) free time for his future projects.