At the age of 72, the moderator knows only too well: In the world of media, you don’t always choose your exit. So he gives himself a dignified start and hangs up his skates as his weekly get-together reaches the peak of his popularity.
“I have the chance to make this decision,” he analyzes with the calm tone that we know from him.
On Sunday, Michel Désautels will take his place at the Désautels table, as he has done every week since 2013. Before kicking off the show’s catchy theme song, he’ll deliver his final mood card; a three-minute section in which he allows himself to address a more personal question, with no music and no preparation, or almost.
It adds color to the show. And I think people got used to my color over time, says the veteran animator. Otherwise, the audience has no choice but to tolerate it because the section in question precedes the menu at Désautels on Sunday, he adds humorously.
Michel Désautels when he joined Radio-Canada in 1972.
Photo: Radio Canada / Robert C. Ragsdale
Michel Désautels knows how to play the tightrope walker. Throughout his career he has built a reputation as a rigorous and credible journalist with an excellent command of the French language.
But the host rarely turns down a joke or a well-placed quip. The news is already difficult enough, he believes. If you always approach things with a funeral tone, it quickly becomes unbearable.
Michel Désautels also knows how to juggle. In the same program, he combines sharp discussions on major societal issues affecting Canada as well as other countries around the world. And despite the size of the task, the moderator stubbornly refuses to prepare the questions for his interviews, preferring instead to let the discussions run free.
“Preparation is very important. You have to have read it, assimilated and understood it and know where the journey is going. But for the rest, we have to leave complete room for improvisation. »
— A quote from Michel Désautels
Leave room for improvisation, yes, but also for curiosity. Throughout his career, Michel Désautels has touched on almost every subject, from the public affairs show Le Point to his daily radio show Montréal-Express to hosting various versions of La Course Destination Monde.
With Désautels on Sunday, the host has therefore turned his latest locomotive into an off-road vehicle. I’m actually interested in everything, he says, adding: I’m very suspicious of people who have unique interests.
Michel Désautels chats with Senegalese activist Cheikh Fall at a café in Dakar in 2018.
Photo: Babacar Mbaye/RTS Dakar
radio in the blood
For as long as he can remember, Michel Désautels always dreamed of doing radio.
When the public discovered him on television in the 1960s as a child actor in the novels Rue de l’Anse, The First Legion or The Jobidon Investigation, the young man was already used to running around with a portable mini-transistor radio all day hear.
It was ultimately a meeting with Pierre Pascau, then star presenter at CKAC channel, that expressed his desire to make information his job.
Thanks to the efforts of a teacher at his secondary school, the young Michel Désautels takes part in a student group with the Star of Waves. After the exercise, he remembers that Pierre Pascau took him aside to encourage him to pursue a career in journalism.
“I was 13 or 14 years old and that gave me a boost,” he says. Each year I barely made it to school because I was distracted by too many other things like home videos, home theater, and the school newspaper […], I said to myself, if I ever fail, I’ll always have the radio. And finally, that’s exactly what happened. Or almost. Michel Désautels never finished his studies.
The last column of Michel Désautels at Tout un matin
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The last column of Michel Désautels at Tout un matin. 12-minute audio content, ICI Premiere broadcast. listen to audio.
Duration 12 minutes12:02
When asked about his love of the French language, one of his trademarks – he received the Raymond Charette Prize in 2004 for his contribution to the spread of good French – the deep-voiced presenter plunges into his memories.
“One of my mother’s dreams was that her children should speak better than her. It was present all the time. It was something that was very close to her heart. And so she corrected us. »
— A quote from Michel Désautels
It seems as if Michel Désautels, when he was the size of three apples, tried to return the favor to a lady on a tram ride. We don’t say tram [tra-moué]Madam, but trami [tra-moi]he had replied awkwardly to the unfortunate woman who was trying to strike up a conversation with him.
Apparently I have no recollection of it, but my mother told me about it, and he told it with amusement to the point of adversity.
Michel Désautels during coverage of the federal elections of January 18, 1980.
Photo: Radio Canada / Guy Dubois
The beginnings of Michel Désautels
Michel Désautels got his first microphone at Radio-Canada in Toronto in his early twenties, in the early 1970s, after a brief stint in Timmins, Northern Ontario.
After a few years he left the Queen City to become a pilot of special radio programs that were broadcast across the country until the 1980s. An exciting time learning his skills and deepening his interest in news and live broadcasting.
The presenter also returns to television a number of times. In the early 1980s, the aspiring journalist joined the public affairs show Le Point, with Gil Courtemanche, Daniel Pinard and Jean-François Lépine as the team’s children.
Then, in the late 1980s, he took over the helm of “La Course Destination Monde” for three seasons, a Radio Canada show that launched the careers of several young film talents, including Denis Villeneuve.
“There were already some of the qualities that we find in his cinema that were obvious,” recalls Michel Désautels, referring to the Quebec director. It was clumsy, a little messy, naive, but at the same time he had great sensitivity, a sense of images and an already very obvious cinematic culture.
At the same time, Michel Désautels showed his frosty side with the talk show Studio libre, a late-night show recorded on the same day, in which music, variety and serious subjects went hand in hand. The host says he’s had ups and downs at the helm of the show.
He says he notably brought together Pierre Huet (Croc Magazine, Beau Dommage) and Clémence DesRochers for a special program honoring French illustrator Claire Bretécher (Agrippine). But at check-in he encountered a difficult guest of honour.
They had organized a party for her and for some reason Madame Bretécher had been unbearable. She refused to answer questions and looked like someone who had been told her goldfish was dead. […] It was a disaster.
Michel Désautels learned a valuable lesson from this: never dedicate an hour of television to a single person without having a plan B. Shortly thereafter he hired a bagpipe player with whom he recorded an endless stretch of music.
“We recorded the idea that if a guest ever made us sweat, we’d thank them and then play the bagpipe recording for 15 minutes. »
— A quote from Michel Désautels
Fortunately – or unfortunately? –, the presenter never had to bring the musical performance on the air.
Jean Paul Riopelle and Michel Désautels are interviewed on the grounds of the Manoir MacPherson-Le Moine on the Île-aux-Grues in 1996.
Photo: Jerome Labrecque
From the microphone to the pen
Despite his television expeditions, Michel Désautels has always remained loyal to radio, which he considers the most direct broadcaster of all. He has fond memories of his years at the mic of daily shows like Montréal-Express (1980s) and Désautels (2000s).
It was great because that’s what creates the bond with the audience and the bond of trust. These are layers of mille-feuilles that emerge every day. Our words, our interviews are disappearing. But there is still something left. A little feeling and at best a little self-confidence.
This is what he remembers from the messages he received after announcing his resignation: the impression of having become in some way a point of reference in the daily lives of his listeners and listeners. The people were very nice. “If I had all the qualities they attribute to me, that would be something,” he said, bursting out in laughter.
If Michel Désautels hangs up his microphone today, it’s better to get back to the pen. The presenter has published three books, including the novel ‘Smiley’, which was inspired by a trip to Atlanta for the 1996 Olympics and earned him the 1998 Robert Cliche Prize.
I have no retirement plans other than this one. In recent years I have always had the good excuse of not having the time. Because writing takes time. You have to get to work if you want to publish something. And I really want to do it.
After journalism, Michel Désautels would like to devote himself to writing again.
Photo: Radio-Canada / Etienne Côté-Paluck
The final broadcast of Désautels Sunday will be publicly broadcast Sunday from 10am to 12pm on Maison Radio-Canada. Musical performances and some surprises are planned for the occasion.
In August, Janic Tremblay, who has been the Sunday reporter for Désautels for several years, takes over from Michel Désautels. He will be in charge of a new magazine that will also feature international news.