Stronger Together, Tous Ensemble Explained

Country:Canada
Language:English
French
Runtime:90 minutes
Network:Syndication

Stronger Together, Tous Ensemble was a 90-minute Canadian benefit concert which aired on April 26, 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic and a week after the 2020 Nova Scotia attacks. The program drew an audience of over 11,500,000 viewers and listeners, and was simulcast by every major Canadian television broadcast company, including Bell Media (CTV), Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC Television), Rogers Media (Citytv), Corus Entertainment (Global), V, and numerous other television, radio, and Internet-based broadcast platforms. This made it both the largest multi-platform broadcast and highest viewed non-sporting broadcast in Canadian television history. Numerous singers, actors, athletes, charities, and those impacted by coronavirus were featured including remarks by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Over in donations during the event were raised for Food Banks Canada.

Production

Stronger Together, Tous Ensemble is primarily composed of homemade video from various celebrities' households, singing or giving words of encouragement. The program was created in collaboration to unite viewers during the COVID-19 pandemic and after the 2020 Nova Scotia attacks.

Broadcasters

The benefit concert aired on 120 different radio, television, and online platforms.[1]

On television, the concert was broadcast on English-language stations CTV, CBC Television, Citytv, and Global. It was also broadcast on French-language station V. The special was also simulcast on networks owned by Bell Media (CP24, CTV 2, MTV, Much, TSN, and Vrak), the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (Ici ARTV and Unis), Rogers Media (FX and Omni Television), Corus Entertainment (ABC Spark, National Geographic, SériesPlus, and Slice), Asian Television Network (ATN HD, ATN Bangla, ATN Cricket Plus, ATN Food Food, ATN Gujarati, ATN Jaya TV, ATN Life, ATN PM One, ATN Punjabi Plus, and CBN), Blue Ant Media (A.Side TV, BBC Earth, Cottage Life, HIFI, Love Nature, Makeful, and Smithsonian Channel), and Stingray Group (Stingray Hits! and Stingray Retro), as well as networks such as APTN, Family Channel, Hollywood Suite, NTV, OutTV, and Super Channel Fuse.

On radio, the concert was simulcast on CBC Music, CBC Radio One, EZ Rock, Sirius XM channel 169, and Virgin Radio, and select stations owned by Arctic Radio, Bell Media Radio, Blackburn Radio, First Peoples Radio, Harvard Broadcasting, Jim Pattison Group, Rawlco Communications, Stingray Radio, and Vista Radio.

The concert was also streamed on numerous websites, streaming services, and on-demand services, including CBC Gem, CBC Listen, Crave, Ici TOU.TV, Stingray Qello, Super Channel On Demand, and the websites and apps of the CBC, CTV, Citytv, Entertainment Tonight Canada, Global, Global News, and iHeartRadio Canada.

Featuring

Stronger Together, Tous Ensemble began with Sam Roberts cover of "We're All In This Together" with his family and subsequently featured numerous singers, actors, athletes, charities, victims of the COVID-19 pandemic, politicians, and Canadian personalities.[2] It concluded with a twenty-seven artist collaboration of "Lean on Me", and closing remarks by Justin Trudeau and Drake.[3]

Musical performances

ArtistSongLanguage
Sam Roberts"We're All in This Together"English
Michael Bublé"Gotta Be Patient"English
Spanish
Barenaked Ladies
Sofia Reyes
Bryan Adams"Shine a Light"English
Tom Cochrane"Life Is a Highway"
Sarah McLachlan"Blackbird" (The Beatles)
Voices Rock Medicine
(A choir consisting of Canadian women physicians)
"Rise Again" (The Rankin Family)
Shania Twain"Up!"
City and Colour"We Found Each Other in the Dark"
Charlotte Cardin"Faufile"French
Randy Bachman"Takin' Care of Business"English
William Prince"The Spark"
Jann Arden"Sleepless"
Alessia Cara"You've Got a Friend in Me" (Randy Newman)
Measha Brueggergosman"You'll Never Walk Alone" (Rodgers and Hammerstein)
David Foster and Katharine McPhee"St. Elmo's Fire"
Marie-Mai"Ton Histoire"French
Burton Cummings"Share the Land"English
Max Kerman and Nick Dika"Years in the Making"

Lean on Me

Near the end of the broadcast, twenty-seven artists collaborated on a bilingual rendition of "Lean on Me" as a tribute to Bill Withers following his death a month earlier. The rendition is a product of an initiative by Tyler Shaw and Fefe Dobson called ArtistsCAN,[4] and was released separately to raise funds for the Canadian Red Cross.[5]

Other appearances

PersonOccupation
Rick MercerComedian
Hayley WickenheiserRetired hockey player, five-time Olympian
Lilly SinghComedian
Eugene Levy
Dan Levy
Catherine O'Hara
Annie Murphy
Cast of Schitt's Creek
Actors
Russell PetersComedian
Jason PriestleyActor, film director
Serge IbakaBasketball player, member of the Toronto Raptors
Celine DionSinger
Kiefer SutherlandActor
Eric McCormackActor
Perry BellegardeNational Chief of the Assembly of First Nations
Anne MurraySinger
Ryan ReynoldsActor
Penny OleksiakOlympic swimmer
Tessa VirtueRetired Ice dancer and three-time Olympian
Bianca AndreescuTennis player
Chris HadfieldAstronaut
Hamza HaqActor
Will Arnett and Amy PoehlerActors
Mike MyersActor
Julie PayetteGovernor General of Canada, Former astronaut
Geddy LeeSinger, member of Rush
Christine SinclairSoccer player
Pascal SiakamBasketball player, member of the Toronto Raptors
Connor McDavidHockey player, member of the Edmonton Oilers
The Atherton Family (Cirque du Soleil)
David SuzukiEnvironmentalist
Margaret AtwoodAuthor
Robbie RobertsonMusician, member of The Band
Rick HansenParalympian
George P. Allen
Margaret Rivers
Jemima Westcott
Burdett Sisler
Centenarians
Howie MandelComedian
Justin Bieber
Hailey Baldwin
Singer
Model
Buffy Sainte-MarieSinger
Abdulwahab JalabSyrian entrepreneur, Food delivery volunteer
Andre de GrasseSprinter
Georges St-PierreRetired mixed martial artist
Morgan RiellyHockey player, member of the Toronto Maple Leafs
Scott McGillivrayHost of Income Property
Drew Scott and Linda PhanCo-host of the Property Brothers
Bubbles and Ricky (Trailer Park Boys)Fictional characters
Justin TrudeauPrime Minister of Canada
DrakeRapper

Impacts

Stronger Together, Tous Ensemble drew in over 11,500,000 viewers and raised over for Food Banks Canada.[6] The program became the most watched non-sporting event in Canadian television history.[7]

The special won the Canadian Screen Award for Best Entertainment News Program or Series at the 9th Canadian Screen Awards in 2021.[8]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: STRONGER TOGETHER, TOUS ENSEMBLE Extends to 90 Minutes as New Broadcasters Join the Largest Single-Show Broadcast Event in Canadian History . CBC . April 27, 2020 . April 21, 2020.
  2. Web site: Scott . Katie . 'Stronger Together, Tous Ensemble': Justin Bieber, Ryan Reynolds, Mike Myers, others added to roster . Global News . April 27, 2020 . en . April 23, 2020.
  3. Web site: Samhan . Jamie . Drake Closes Out 'Stronger Together, Tous Ensemble' With Important Message . https://web.archive.org/web/20200502071725/https://etcanada.com/news/633304/drake-closes-out-stronger-together-tous-ensemble-with-important-message/ . dead . May 2, 2020 . ET Canada . April 27, 2020 . April 26, 2020.
  4. Web site: Wallis . Adam . Canadian artists come together in 'Lean on Me' cover for coronavirus relief . Global News . April 27, 2020 . en . April 27, 2020.
  5. Web site: Rossignol . Derrick . Justin Bieber And Other Canadian Stars Cover Bill Withers For Charity . UPROXX . April 27, 2020 . April 27, 2020.
  6. Web site: STRONGER TOGETHER, TOUS ENSEMBLE Raises Over $6 Million So Far for Food Banks Canada as Historic Broadcast Reaches 11.5 Million Canadians . Bell Media . April 27, 2020 . April 27, 2020.
  7. Debra Yeo, "‘Stronger Together’ COVID-19 special becomes most watched non-sports broadcast ever in Canada". Toronto Star, April 27, 2020.
  8. Rachel West, "‘Canada’s Drag Race’, ‘Property Brothers’, Jann Arden Among Canadian Screen Awards Lifestyle And Reality Winners". ET Canada, May 17, 2021.