Erick Baert and the Chœurs du Sud on tour in 19 towns and villages on the Côte d'Azur

FM Published on 02/07/2025 at 2:00 p.m., updated on 02/07/2025 at 2:00 p.m.

Erick Baert returns to the tour with a brand new show. **Photo by Valérie Le Parc**

He is giving the premiere of his new show on the Ça, c'est le Sud tour, orchestrated by the South Region and the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regional Tourism Committee.

Singer, impersonator, and comedian Erick Baert is the headliner for this 2025 edition. A lover of the Var region, he has decided to offer a preview of his upcoming show to the region's public.

"The audience here gave me so much, at a time when I was thinking of stopping, that I wanted to offer them this exclusive," smiles the artist, before presenting everything that awaits us during the 31 dates that make up the tour stopping in the different departments of the Region. And the first of which is in the Var, this Wednesday, in Sanary-sur-Mer.

What changes in this new show compared to the previous one?

I toured for three years with the previous one, we did nearly 700 dates. For this new show, we premiered in Marseille two days ago. We've already changed some things, but it will change with each date anyway. There are new voices, in this concert/comedy concept where we laugh and sing.

Who are the new voices?

There are a lot of them! (laughs) For this show, we have 115. We have Nirvana, Coldplay, but also Pink Floyd, David Hallyday, Jean-Jacques Goldman, Slimane and Julien Doré, in a completely atypical universe... There will also be surprises that I obviously can't reveal to you here! All these voices are audience choices.

How do you work with these new voices?

It's listening, through videos and TV shows. I don't take the albums, because everything is reworked in the studio, it's too smooth. I like the live atmosphere, I want people to rediscover that. I also soak up the gestures. It's important that people say to themselves: "This is the artist I see."

Are there certain artists that you find difficult to get to grips with?

Logically, in this show, there's Freddie Mercury. I've removed him for now, we'll see as the tour progresses if I feel capable of doing it. I have it, but I know I'm still missing a little something. He's one of the most difficult. He's a lyricist, and I'm not at all. I'm not a singer, I have my technique. The singing teachers who come to see me say: "Don't take lessons, you have your technique." Whatever happens, I don't want to disappoint people. I still have to work on the transitions and how to bring them in.

You previously said that the show would change every night. How?

I get the audience to sing along with me for part of the show. And that makes a difference. It's the audience who decides.

First meeting: this Wednesday at 9 p.m., in Sanary, Esplanade des Festivités. Free.

Last year, the Chœurs du Sud accompanied singer Joyce Jonathan throughout the Ça, c'est le Sud tour. This summer, they will perform alone in front of the audience, with their own show, just before Erick Baert's performance.

"Last year, we accompanied the artist in a different format. This one is a completely different format," explains Frank Castellano, founder and conductor of the Choir.

95 choristers every evening

Every evening, 95 choristers will take to the stage to bring the region to life. All come from the immense pool of members of the Chœurs du Sud, which has 3,000 members in the region alone (7,500 nationally).

For these 31 summer performances, the conductor has drawn from the band's usual repertoire to offer pieces that will speak to everyone.

"We're going to cover classics that people know, but also help them (re)discover certain songs with different arrangements," promises Frank Castellano.

Choices he makes while listening, according to inspiration: "It's about feeling. We really move from one universe to another, from Vivaldi to Calogero, via Pink Floyd."

In total, more than forty minutes of performance each evening, with musicians also on stage. A great show in store, as the choirmaster assures us: "Even though they are amateurs, the choristers all give their all. They are people who come to have fun, set themselves a challenge, and rise to it brilliantly."

This tour will also serve as a taster for the Chœurs du Sud who, from the start of the school year, will be back on the road with no fewer than nine Zéniths on the program, before the big event at the Vélodrome stadium next May, around Corsu Mezu Mezu.