"1789 : Les Amants de la Bastille" a revolutionary love story set to music

I'm not a great fan of musicals at the best of times, and even less so of French ones.

But occasionally I allow myself to be dragged along to one.

"You'll enjoy it, you'll see," friends who had seen the production of "1789 : Les Amants de la Bastille" during its first run in Paris, assured me.

"There's some great music, fine voices and the set is sumptuous. Plus you'll brush up your knowledge of French history," they insisted.

"Besides, you shouldn't be so snooty about these sort of things."

Moi? Snooty (and pretentious)? I hardly think so.

After all, I was the person who had recently seen the French version of "Mamma Mia"... and liked it.

Plus in recent years I've enjoyed the "Sound of Music", "West Side Story" and "Carousel" at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris.

All right, already so they were all transfers of original productions from Broadway or the West End.

And they weren't exactly in the mould of that 1998 gem "Notre Dame de Paris" described by The Independent when it opened in London as "a load of old bells" and which must surely have set the trend for the glut of French musicals that were to follow over the next decade or so.

Anyway, 1789-bound I was, even if somewhat sceptical.

Having heard some of the sound track on the radio and knowing that Louis Delort, a finalist in the first season of The Voice, had been cast in one of the lead roles, I didn't hold out much faith in my friends' first two assertions.

Louis Delort and Camille Lou (screenshot from "Tomber dans ses yeux " official video, 1789 Les Amants de la Bastille)

As for helping me make sense of a period in French history. I had my doubts.

On that count at least, I wasn't disappointed.

It was a French Disneyfying of events made palatable for everyone and accompanied by some frenzied dancing and uptempo but nonetheless uninspiring songs.

The run-up to the French revolution serves as a backdrop to a love story (what else?).

Robespierre, Danton, Marie Antoinette Louis XVI et al are all present and correct as are two fictional characters from both sides of the divide: Ronan Mazurier (Delort) for the "revolting peasants" and Olympe du Puget (Camille Lou) an under-governess at the royal court.

Delort is good, as is Lou. And... oh and look, there's another TV talent show contestant in the form of Sébastien Agius (Robespierre) who apparently won the inaugural season of the French X Factor in 2009.

They and the others belt out the tunes, helped by microphones cranked up to the max to overcome the pre-recorded intrumentals.

The music is...well, it seems as though Dove Attilla and Albert Cohen (the duo responsible for bringing us "Les 10 Commandements", "Le Roi Soleil" and most recently "Mozart l’opéra rock") have cobbled together the tracks that didn't quite make it into "Mozart".

Still, the audience seemed enthralled. Well at least those who weren't "watching" the whole thing through their smart 'phones while filming.

"Please don't use flash photography," the announcer had requested before the performance began.

"It's dangerous for the performers (huh?) and besides the stage lighting is sufficiently bright," he added, thereby making a nonsense of the sign at the entry to the venue which said "no cameras allowed".

Curtain up. Flash, flash, flash went the smartphones in a pattern which was to repeat itself every time there was a scene change.

Every song was roundly applauded. Children and adults alike texted furiously as they scoffed their popcorn and guzzled their soft drinks and I sighed, looking at my watch and wondering whether I could leave before the end.

It was...well a real treat for those who enjoy their French (musical) history served up Camembert-style.

Me? I think I'm musical-ed-out for the moment.

But if you're really keen to see what has, after all, been a huge success in France, "Les Amants" continues its nationwide tour with stopovers in Montpellier, Nice and Marseille before returning to Paris in November.

And then at the beginning of 2014 it'll be on the road again.

X Factor à la française "The musical event of the year" - apparently

Just when the French must have thought they were safe from television talent shows, up pops the latest offering - X Factor.

X Factor judges left to right Henry Padovani, Véronic DiCaire, Christophe Willem and Olivier Schultheis (screenshot from YouTube trailer)

On Tuesday the commercial broadcaster M6 will launch the revamped, prime-time search for France's next...er...Sébastien Agius.

Don't worry if you've never heard of him. The chances are, neither have a majority of the French.

Agius was the winner of the first French X Factor in 2009 broadcast on M6's sister channel W9 and although he has released both a single and an album since picking up the title, and played concerts, the 28-year-old has hardly set the French musical scene alight.

Whatever.

The Powers That Be at M6 have obviously decided there's life in the format and, after shelving Nouvelle Star (France's version of Pop Idol) last year at the end of its eighth season, are ready to (re)launch what they proudly and presumably without hyperbolic intent, announce on the show's website will be, "The musical event of the year".

The programme hits the screens on Tuesday evening with an "all-star" line-up of judges that includes - hold your breath - Henry Padovani.

He, M6 proudly informs us, was a "founding member of the British rock group 'The Police'" and is "one of the few French musicians to have had a successful career in Britain."

Apparently he's still "very close" to Sting et al, even though he left barely a year after the group was formed and before it hit the Big Time.

Rest assured though, he has apparently had plenty of success since and brings "with his 360 degrees experience from the world of music as a musician and manager, vision and wisdom to the X Factor candidates."

Ah. There's nothing like laying it on thick.

Joining Padovani is another "heavyweight" from the (French) music scene, Christophe Willem.

Now his is a name with which many French should be familiar and he's very much on tried and tested territory.

The 27-year-old will doubtless be able to give invaluable inside as he's been there, done that and bought the tee-shirt so-to-speak after winning Nouvelle Star back in 2006.

A couple of best-selling albums, several singles, concerts tours and regular television appearances under his belt, Willem says of X Factor that it's a "competition that can clearly change someone's life. I know: I lived it myself."

There's no messing with the musical pedigree of the show's third judge Olivier Schultheis.

He's a musician, lyricist, composer and conductor, son of singer-songwriter Jean and a former student at the prestigious Conservatoire national supérieur de musique et de danse de Paris.

Schultheis apparently has "perfect pitch" and has worked with a host of French stars as well as helping launch the careers of several - including Willem.

Completing the line-up of judges, and presumably proving that France's X Factor knows no international boundaries, is Canadian singer and impersonator Véronic Dicaire.

It's not a bad move on the part of the talented 34-year-old who is already a star within the French-speaking community in Canada and fairly blew audiences away in Paris early last year during an extended run at the capital's Théâtre de la Gaîté and returned to play extra dates in November.

Dicaire has a European tour scheduled from this month taking in cities in France, Switzerland and Belgium and an appearance on national telly will surely only boost her appeal to a wider audience.

"By nature sincere and energetic, Dicaire will bring the jury freshness and authenticity," according to M6.

That and, "Anglo-Saxon artistic standards," apparently - whatever that entails.

The whole shebang, including all the stages that have been completed to "discover" the 12 finalists, will begin airing Tuesday March 15 on M6 at 8.45pm local time.

Can you wait?