The ongoing pandemic provided a rather unusual ADISQ Gala for 2020. Place des Arts, where the gala is usually held, was empty this year. Instead, the host, Louis-José Houde, moved from studio 42 to studio 43 of Radio-Canada to give out the 12 Félix awards on Nov. 1, 2020, in front of a distanced crowd comprised strictly of the finalists for those trophies. Les Cowboys Fringants continued as they did in the previous Premier Gala, and walked away with the Félix awards for both Song (for “L’Amérique pleure”) and Group of the Year, bringing their total 2020 tally to five, a number that hadn’t been reached since Jean Leloup did so in 2015.
Another SOCAN member, Louis-Jean Cormier, also won two trophies, the first for Adult Contemporary album of the year for Quand la nuit tombe, and the prestigious Author or Composer of the Year honour, which he shared with his collaborators Daniel Beaumont, Alan Côté, and David Goudreault. We spoke with him after the gala, during a break from work at his studio.
Among the other winners of the evening were Alexandra Stréliski, who won Female Artist of the Year, the first time an instrumental artist has won in this category. The Revelation of the Year went to Eli Rose, who stressed how important her participation in the 2016 edition of the Kenekt Québec song camp was, at a time where she was considering quitting music altogether. The indomitable Robert Charlebois won the Show of the Year Félix for Robert en CharleboisScope. Marc Dupré won Pop Album of the year for Rien ne se perd, the rap trophy went to KNLO for Sainte-Foy, and the folk one to Jean Leloup for L’étrange pays.
Finally, Émile Bilodeau won the Félix for Male Artist of the Year, while Élisapie won the second edition of the Native Artist of the year, after Florent Vollant who won the inaugural one last year.
The gala also offered memorable performances from SOCAN members 2Frères, Anachnid, Bleu Jeans Bleu, Eli Rose, Evelyne Brochu, Flore Laurentienne, Isabelle Boulay, KNLO, Les Cowboys Fringants, Louis-Jean Cormier, Marc Dupré, Marie-Pierre Arthur, Matt Holubowski, Naya Ali, and Pierre Lapointe.
For a complete list of the winners of all the ADISQ galas, click here.
After conquering a series of difficulties created by the current pandemic, the 2020 Grand Final of the Les Francouvertes competition finally took place at Montréal’s Lion d’Or, almost six months later than in previous years. The Québec City singer-songwriter Valence took top honours, and was presented with the $10,000 SiriusXM cash prize, and various and sundry other awards. Vincent Dufour’s retro-kitsch, often swinging, sound also won the band the SOCAN-sponsored $1,000 Paroles & Musique Award, which comes with a free songwriting residence at either the Paris, France, or Nashville SOCAN House.