Johanne Blouin is a great performer who will soon be celebrating her 50 year career. After teaching singing and vocal harmony at the Cégep de Drummondville for 21 years, she decided to give up her position to devote herself to new musicax projects, among other things. We’ll know more soon…
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We imagine that the decision wasn’t necessarily easy, but Johanne Blouin is convinced that the time was right. “This is my last semester at CEGEP. I feel it’s time to leave my seat. The music department is restructured; You have a new vision. Not that I disagree with that, but I feel like the time has come for me to let the younger teachers go in that direction and move on. I only teach a day and a half a week, I have projects to do… I’m not going to sit at home and do nothing.
After accompanying so many young people who dream of this profession over so many years, she suspects that she must grieve a little. “It’s going to be special, but I have a lot of projects.”
HALF A CENTURY OF SONGS
Johanne Blouin began her career in clubs at the age of 17 singing the hits of the time before she became known to the general public in the 1980 Quebec version of Starmania. She replaced France Castel in the role of Stella Spotlight.
This year she celebrates half a century of career. “Producer Martin Leclerc has offered me a very original project that will be presented soon. We’re specifically talking about an album – although I never thought I’d do another – and a tour. It’s very special, I feel blessed to still be proposing at my age. I’m only 67 but I feel like there are people who want to work with me. It is fun.”
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BOOMERS
Johanne Blouin currently has the chance to take part in the Zénith show hosted by Véronique Cloutier, where she plays in the Boomers category. “I like it because it’s not a competition; it is above all a connecting program, where you have to have fun and not be afraid. You have to be relaxed, it’s entertainment for the people, but also for us.
For each of her performances, she has to look for songs that resemble her but can also convince other generations. “I’m doing what I do best, which is singing. But as I teach at CEGEP and work with young people, I know what they like today and therefore it’s easy for me to bring a modern twist that should appeal to their generation.
She also unanimously won the maximum score of the evening for her first appearance on the show.
GRANNY
The singer has also been a grandmother since her daughter Élizabeth Blouin-Brathwaite gave birth to little William, who is now two and a half years old. “The tradition goes on; Elizabeth takes good care of it on this side, she lets him listen to a lot of music and he cares a lot about it.
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However, Johanne Blouin is not a grandmother like the others. “My goal is to become his great friend. I’m not a gaga grandma who carries tons of photos of her grandson, that’s not my style. I didn’t feel old either when he was born. But I like talking to him. The older he gets, the more fun it is to communicate: we can talk to each other.”
Johanne Blouin is one of the guest singers on the show zenithThursdays at 8 p.m. on Radio Canada.