They hit buzzers, face challengers, answer hundreds of questions and then hit the jackpot. They are the champions of game shows. From 12 midday shots To Everyone wants to take its place Passing by Questions for a champion and Slam, ten of the most emblematic faces of these shows clash this Saturday evening in The Champions Quiz on France 2.
For fifteen years now, there have been programs designed to bring out champions. In France, the first of its kind is launched by Nagui. The public finds, every noon, his protégé and becomes attached to him. “At the moment when Everyone wants to take its place is offered to France Télé, there is a revolution in storytelling, says Fiona Bélier, deputy general manager of La Fabrique des Formats, an organization which notably monitors program trends in the world. All the mechanics are built to keep the candidate as long as possible and, therefore, to make him a champion. “
Over time, other shows borrow these codes. What to create a competition between the chains, to attract more public every day and to create media characters. Obviously, it works.
Game champions or fictional characters?
When you have a great candidate on your set, you pamper him, pamper him and, above all, get to know him. Unveiling its story is giving viewers the opportunity to become attached to it. “We make a story much broader than just a champion in a game. It is clear that they can capitalize on this adventure, tell it, stage it and stage the candidate if he is. agreement ”, lists Fiona Aries.
Cyril Féraud, host and co-producer of Champions quiz, is passionate about the feuilleting side of champions. “When you’re a game viewer, you also like to see how the candidates will evolve week after week, will they take the pressure? Are they going to tire? We know after their strengths, their weaknesses so we tremble a little for them, ”he explains.
Day after day, show after show and victory after victory, the shows tell the story of a champion who must be beaten. What to find logics of narration that we know especially in fiction. “We are very close to the world of fiction and dramaturgy that can be set up,” argues the deputy general manager of La Fabrique des Formats. From there to compare Bruno of 12 noon shots to Roland Marci from More beautiful life, there is only one step.
Increase the prize pool and audience figures
Even if this does not participate in the tender and innocent side of the pretty story, we must admit that having a champion in its ranks is very beneficial for the channel which broadcasts the program. “At the level of audiences, it is felt: when a champion lasts a long time, viewers accompany him”, summarizes Cyril Féraud. Here again, thanks to the feuilleting nature of the mechanics, the audiences increase automatically.
“What’s great about champions is that they never leave anyone indifferent. Either we identify with them and we are a fan of them, or we have trouble with them but we still look to see when they will fall, ”summarizes the host.
Capitalizing on champions also gives channels the opportunity to surf on the image they convey. For example, it is not uncommon to see The 12 strokes of noon Available in a special program for the start of the school year or the end of year celebrations. On the public service, last June, Nagui already offered The Invincibles Club, a show in which four champions (including Marie-Christine, Paul and Sandrine that we will see on Saturday evening) faced celebrities. In a few weeks, these extraordinary candidates invite themselves into the daily life of the public and also obtain the status of star of the small screen.
Behind the champion, a sportsman’s soul
If we see more and more champions on television, it is not only because the channels and the public meet there. The main actors, too, take matters into their own hands in order to inscribe their name in history. “The champions have almost a training of high level athletes, is surprised Cyril Féraud. These people revise areas in which they are not good because they know that they are going to participate in games where they can be questioned about a lot of things. »Christophe, one of the emblematic participants in Questions for a champion, notably undertook the writing of notebooks of revisions in order to expand his knowledge in cinema of the 2000s or in recent music.
“Candidates tend to be more comfortable with television, they are better prepared so they too professionalize,” adds Fiona Bélier. These are things that we saw in reality TV, where we no longer came to candidates but to professionals who also become influencers. On the game, it’s the same. “Trained to participate, more and more candidates are coming with one goal in mind: to win and stay on the air as long as possible.
“They are not lambda candidates, they have deserved their place as champions and they are bluffing”, concludes Cyril Féraud who underlines the preparation as mental as physical of these personalities who sometimes link the recording of seven programs per day. A true rhythm of champion.