Shall we begin with Part Un of Cinq(!!) of
@Filippa 's revenge?
I guess you know what that means!
A French man bites the dust!
#54
David Charvet - Should I Leave
Picked By: Berserkboi
Credentials: #3 France (20 Weeks On The Chart), 500,000 Units SOLD, Certified PLATINUM by InfoDisc, #6 Belgium
Average Score: 6.570
Highest Score: 10
@berserkboi
Lowest Score: 3
@Epic Chocolat
I am inclined to call it a success that David Charvet avoids last place here considering that’s where he ended up when I sent him to
PJOPS many moons ago! I call that round The Betrayal of
@Sprockrooster and
@londonrain, and the rise of Queen Filippa (fun fact, Filippa’s entry from that round is here too!!) Interestingly enough looking at the Highest and Lowest scores - Mr. Charvet had a way of really dividing the “French” voters!
Maybe Epic Chocolat got oversaturated with the song in France whereas in Mauritius since it barely got much Radio Play, I was always at the edge of my seat watching TV, hoping they’d play it in between programs when one finished earlier than anticipated! For some reason Should I Leave was used for that a lot, despite the Music Video not being available on YouTube for very long when it gets uploaded. The current upload dates back to June 2020, and I think that’s the longest an upload of the Music Video has lasted from memory.
One of the reasons I included Should I Leave (other than giving this beautiful song some PopJustice) was that it reflected the Actor turn Singer trope that has been so commonplace since the 80s. We mostly stan the ladies here with this but David Charvet gives us an unusual spin on it - navigating two successful US Shows (Baywatch & Melrose Place) while making his stamp on music in French(!!) of all things!
Pre-Social Media, I remember my friends and I were shocked to find out that he could not only speak French, and sing in the language - but that he was actually French himself! - A twist I tell you! Taking full advantage of the potential for crossover success, Universal Music Group offered Charvet a 5-Album contract right off the bat, and he moved back to France in the late 90s to focus on his music career, leaving a pretty lucrative Acting career in America behind.
I suppose if your passion lies in Music, that’s the right thing to do - though sadly the anticipated success was not maintained. Beyond Should I Leave being the bonafide hit it was - the only other Top 10 hit he would score was Leap Of Faith 5 years later. It looks like Universal gave David the time to release a second album he was happy with but without the exposure of being in a high rating TV Show and the prolonged release - the sophomore slug definitely hit, with the Leap Of Faith album not even cracking the Top 20 in France.
The lesson to learn here - if you are an actor/singer, make sure your face is on TV while you release music, or if you put acting behind you - be like Kylie and saturate the market with heaps of music in the early years of your music career! We’ll always have Should I Leave though! Many of you were ambivalent towards the song but that beautiful melody on the guitar with the soft strings in the verses sound so beautiful to me! That outro is also one of the most glorious put to Singer/Actor careers I will say!
What did the PopJustice crew think of this one?
@jtm (5.1) spills all the Tea! - Oh my god his eyebrows. And the way this screams actor with popstar ambitions. The song is not up to much. The production is great, especially in the final chorus, but the chorus itself is very bland. I didn‘t know this song, but I do now remember coming across Charvet once with his later flop single Leap of Faith at which point he somehow channelled bargain bin Enrique.
@saviodxl (6.1) only marginally inflates his score with what is on offer here - Handsome guy with acoustic guitar is predictable and dull today and was predictable and dull back then. Kudos for the verses in french and chorus in english tho.
@WowWowWowWow (7) brings real life into it to show how ahead of his time Mr. Charvet really was! - But you did leave, David. You left your beautiful wife Brooke Burke this year. What the hell? And why do you look like a 90s Sebastian Stan? And why is that somehow my aesthetic??
@Filippa (7) is giving me Teenage Girl Of The 90s Realness (it’s true - this is pretty much me and many songs I almost picked! Dddd) - Sometimes a good chorus and a handsome guy are enough.
@daninternational (3.5) demands more French which I am totally on board with (though Devrais-je m’en aller doesn’t sound so lyrically pleasing) - Why is the title in English, but lyrics are French? The chorus is definitely the weakest part :(
@Eric (8) is on to David’s schemes! Ddddd - Very glad the Spotify version was geoblocked - he's gorgeous!
@DominoDancing (6.5) came into this, and I’d imagine Roch Voisine since they got the same score a little too late to have eye candy inflate his score - Eh, generic male model look of the 90s paired with an equally generic MOR ballad.
@berserkboi (10), i.e ME! Should Be Happy This Was Unlocked! - A stunner of a song, let’s hope it does not end up in last place again!
@MilesAngel (5) channels their teenage self and I am all for it - David himself gets a point. But this is just an average boyband song. The best part is the last minute.
@Sprockrooster (7.5) relates back the ways in which Mr Charvet changed many an Adolescent Gay Man’s journey, which I totally relate to also - with fun puns! - David Charvet has the honour to be the second artist I bought a single from (after The Cardigans' LoveFool). That one was Leap of Faith. There is quite the gap in years between those two, but let me say I was tempted to get the online content from mister Charvet for fans only when they put the CD single in the computer (CD singles were not really my thing to buy). Little closeted me needed this in his life. Leap of Faith this is not sadly - aside from that amazing outro, so I wish I could have supported him harder, like he supported me hard in the past.
Mr. Pretty In Action!
Here is a song I have wanted to send to Retro for a loooong time, but never took the plunge after David scored last place!
