Mireille Blouin has been interested in variety shows since the beginning of her career, which gave her an excellent knowledge of our cultural environment. Fury, The gods of dance And Open the quotes appear in his resume. The little temptation gave him the opportunity to nurture his interest in people. In recent years she has monitored the content of It's just television. Thanks to Once, she's really in full swing. Every week a personality has the privilege of being interviewed by four mysterious guests who show us them in a new light. Warm and often surprising encounters that show us the true nature of people.
Janette Bertrand and Ricardo in the Show For Once. “Photo provided by Télé-Québec”
Once had great success at Télé-Québec. How do you explain it?
I've noticed that sometimes a super simple question leads to a gem. Both the respondents and the interviewers are really generous. Typically on a talk show, you do a pre-interview to prepare your host. Even though he asks the questions, he usually knows the answers. In our case it is different. It's a reverse talk show, without a host, with curious people who want to ask questions based on the interest they have in the interviewee. If you have stars in your eyes when you meet someone, you want to open up. When a friend asks you how you are, all you can do is be honest.
How are the 4 interviewers selected?
We book the guest first. We conduct a short preliminary interview to find out who he admires, what his interests are and what people are around him. For our part, we try to find out who is a fan of the guest and which friend could surprise him. I didn't know Eric Bruneau and Hubert Proulx were such friends. They were even roommates. Sometimes we follow a mentoring approach. We ask ourselves who we would like to listen to our guest conversations with. This will give us goosebumps. We hope to ignite the spark between guests.
How is it possible to keep everything secret when the time comes to shoot?
The board is well made. The interviewers arrive first. We walk them through the set so they can see where they will be doing their interview. Then they move into the basement. When the guest arrives, we start recording and don't stop. We prepare every show in the utmost secrecy. Even the agents don't know anything. Guests must agree to the handover. So far we have had 22 guests and 110 interviewers and the surprise has always remained. Even parking is not in the same place to avoid the guest recognizing a car. Some experience it as a surprise party, others as a blind date. Even the public knows nothing. Everyone wants the experience 100%.
How do you prepare all these wonderful people?
You will receive a file about the guest. They are free to use it or prepare it differently. They generally want to know what we don't know. When booking, we make sure to have interviewers from different backgrounds so that the perspectives are different from the start. It happens that the 4th person also adjusts to what they heard before. Interviews are an art. I take my hat off to everyone who comes forward. They are without a network. It's interesting to see the interviewee stressed about not being in control and stressed about being a good guest. He wants to reassure the people he is talking to. Interviewers want to do well. Some wonder whether the guest recognizes them. This was the case with Mylène Paquette with Pierre-Yves Lord. Pierre Bruneau, who interviewed the greatest politicians, never asked Marjo a question. The same applies to Anne-Marie Dussault, who felt a certain burden at the idea of interviewing Jean-François Breau. Guy Cormier spoke to Louis Morisette, Richard Séguin to Louis-José Houde.
What makes it so that at the end one show You say to yourself: mission accomplished?
When sparks fly on set. If a question was asked at the right time, a question of the heart. When the guests who meet at eye level are genuine. Hélène Bourgeois-Leclerc said it was like unzipping all the way to the floor and feeling like you wanted to say everything. Guy Jodoin cried a lot. He, who knows everyone thanks to Sucré Salé and the fraudster, stood by Dr. Stanley Vollant and it was a magical moment. With every show we challenge ourselves to surprise, to touch, to make people happy and to be proud.
► OnceSaturday 8 p.m. on Télé-Québec