For the lyrics to this song, kindly see this post.
Now listen as I put in pointers on what effects and moves will appear during several points in the song. Imagine that there's a huge audience, and the stage is right in front. Behind it are LCD screens. The backing dancers are wearing the "normal" uniform from Le Carnet du Service National, while the lead singer wears the commander's uniform (see this post).
First nineteen seconds : Very dim blue lights. The stage is hardly illuminated. If it even is, then only the silhouettes of the performers should be visible to the audience.
0:19 : White lights slowly fade in, and the blue is still on. The main performers should be slightly illuminated.
0:29 : White lights should start flickering arbitrarily, causing a bit of suspense.
0:40 : Almost all lights come in full force except for the bright yellows. All the performers are visible. Performers should gather together in a line as they chant and raise their hands/fists into the air.
0:54 : Back to blue and white, but the blue and white lights stay on. Lead is clearly illuminated, but the backing dancers can be vaguely seen. They take their positions towards the back of the lead singer. Backing dancers perform a routine which involves a sequence like... step-step-step-twist-left-right-left-right-rinseandrepeat.
1:12 : Light is shed a little more on the backing dancers. Everyone raises hands in this sequence... Left side raises left hand, right side raises right hand, both sides raise remaining hands. Drop. Repeat.
1:31 : All lights slowly fade in (apart from the white and blue, of course). Everyone raises his hands to heaven.
1:35 : Chorus. All lights are on in full force. They can be alternated, if necessary. Scenes of Le Carnet start playing in the main LCD whilst the performers' faces and camera angles are projected in the two side LCDs. The sequence is like this : earlier, our hands were raised up to heaven ; now, at prie, the right hand is brought to the heart, and the fist is clenched. At Dieu, the left hand is brought to the heart, close to the right hand.
1:38 : Audace has three syllables in this song : au-da-ceuh. At -da, the right hand is extended to the front, and at -ceuh, the left hand is extended to the front. The hands must be apart, like taking someone in open arms. From Renforce onwards, the lead singer puts her hand to her heart and looks up into the sky. Backing dancers/vocalists switch lines : those in the front row go to the back, and those in the back go to the front. Their movement is akin to that of a diagonal ellipse...
1:44 : Repeat "Je te prie, Dieu, donne-moi d'l'au-da-ce".
1:48 : At "Car j'ai besoin de me lever et leur dire", all the backups take a slow walk to the front, and the lead takes a slow walk to the back until they are all gathered in one line.
1:54 : At je, the right hand is brought to the heart. At the word vais, the left is brought to the heart... At the word perdre, the backup dancers begin their sequence of step-step-step-twist-left-right-left-right, whilst the lead steps in front.
2:06 : Chants are sung again here. This time, even the lead joins in the dance sequence.
2:15 : Everyone takes a leap in the air. A similar scene from Le Carnet is played in the main LCD, and the backup dancers give a loud WHOOP ! Then, it's back to blue and white lights... the sombre atmosphere. Instead of the fast paced moves that the backups have done in the first verse, this time, the boys and girls walk towards each other and pass by each other. This is at Les jours commencent. And then, at the word lentement, the couples turn towards each other such that they face each other.
2:24 : At Je pars, the boys take the girls' hands, but only the hands. They move past each other, slowly, stately... and the blue lights follow them.
2:28 : At Ce qui est mon destin, the boys let go of the girls' hands, and the girls do a pirouette and stop. The interval between these two movements is moderately long.
2:33 : The other lights (except for the bright yellows) slowly fade in and out according to the time. At Ces yeux sont lourds, the girls move to one side and the boys to another, and at the end of this line, which is at 2:38, they move as though they are about to dress up their lines in a drill - the left knee is brought up to the thigh and then stamp (at the same time the right arm is lifted to the next person's shoulder, and the performers momentarily look right, and then front again), then the right knee, then several quick steps until the line is dressed. The lead is still doing her prayerful monologue in the front...
2:42 : At Et ces oreilles, the backing performers drop their hands and stand in ready position.
2:47 : At Mais ils s'ouvrent, the backing performers walk in a stately fashion to where the lead is, until they all form one line. Note that here, the word puissance has three syllables - puis-san-ceuh. At -san, the performers to the left raise their left hands, and at -ceuh, the performers to the right raise their right hands. And just before the chorus, they drop their hands.
2:56 : Same notes as for 1:35 to 1:54, except that towards the end of the chorus, the performers are expected to have their hands lifted throughout the time the lights fade. Yes, in this part, the lights fade ; only the blue lights and two white spotlights remain. The bleaker scenes of Le Carnet are played on the main screen. The backing performers can drop their hands by 3:35, where most lights would've faded out.
3:37 : The lead does a Romeo-style monologue (get what I mean ?). It's a really emotional moment here. We can even have her falling to her knees as she does this, and towards 4:00, we can have two people rushing to her to lift her up.
4:02 : The lighting is still dim. The more hopeful scenes of Le Carnet play on the main screen. Lead goes into prayerful standing position. Towards 4:17 the slightly brighter lights - the greens - fade in.
4:21 : Backing performers reprise their step-step-step-twist-left-right-left-right routine. The red lights start fading in. The scenes in Le Carnet become more and more hopeful.
4:39 : Lead singer joins in the backing performers' routine. All notes for the previous choruses apply. At prie, fireworks are set off from the front of the stage. All lights fade in and out arbitrarily without taking away the brightness of the stage. There should be a sort of ethereal light towards the front of the stage.
4:57 : Fireworks are set off from the front of the stage. The Bravo victory scenes are played on the main screen, thus they are scenes of joy. Confetti (the glittery type) falls on the stage from this point right up till 5:59. The backing performers give the melody this time whilst the lead goes front and messes with the vocals... in a good way, of course. The same routine is applied for this chorus. Except that the last two lines are combined : Je ne vais pas perdre surtout pas maintenant. At je, the right hand is brought to the heart, and at vais, the left. At perdre, the backing performers move behind by one line, and all of them perform the wave... at surtout pas maintenant.
5:25 : Last syllable of the chorus. Everyone joins in the step-step-step-twist-left-right-left-right routine and chants. In the middle of the chants, say around 5:40, the lead takes another performer in her right hand, and he takes another performer, and so on and so on until they form a chain. But the chain's movement is arbitrary : lead starts from the middle, she takes a performer in the right end, he takes a performer in the left, and the sequence carries on until all are connected.
5:59 : Falling resolution. Confetti stops. Lights fade out except for the blue ones. The main screen shows the very secret ending of Le Carnet, which somehow gives the audience a sort of hope. All hands are detached, and all performers are facing the front, heads down. At the end of the song, all lights and screens fade out.
So, what do you think ? If there's anything I missed, do tell me !
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