Gino Chouinard took the reins of Salut Bonjour on Monday, August 20, 2007. Once the theme song was finished, the host launched the show at 5:30 a.m. sharp by declaring: “This is a bit of a special morning for me… » Seventeen years later, his colleagues at the time saluted his authenticity, his discipline and, above all, his great generosity, a few days before he left the air.
This archive extract of a few minutes, which shows the arrival at the microphone of a young Gino Chouinard, newly in his forties, can be found on YouTube. Surrounded by Marie-Claude Savard on sports and Ève-Marie Lortie on general news, the “newcomer” began the season by navigating between lightness and seriousness, as required for this type of service show. One second he was describing his summer spent water skiing in Lac-Mégantic; the next, he introduced the announcement of the murder of a teenage girl.
“Gino never borrowed a character,” continues the next host of the show. This is advice that Guy Mongrain already gave me. Because a character is too heavy to carry at arm’s length, live, for an entire show. It might crack. »
Gino Chouinard took the helm of Salut Bonjour after piloting its weekend edition for four years. He succeeded Matthias Rioux and Anne Poliquin (1988-1989), Claude Saucier (1989-1991), Guy Mongrain (1991-2004) and Benoît Gagnon (2004-2007).
Vice-president of TVA programs from 2006 to 2013, France Lauzière says she evaluated the candidacy of a handful of candidates before opting for Gino Chouinard. A handful, because “only a small number of personalities could fulfill this type of mandate”, which is accompanied by a very atypical schedule, she emphasizes.
Several factors contributed to the recruitment of Gino Chouinard: his qualities as a communicator, his flawless judgment, his rigor at work, his sense of respect, etc. However, one particular characteristic seems to have sealed its fate.
“Beside him, the employees beamed. The guests too. Everyone was confident. It’s something we could see,” adds the woman who now assumes the role of strategic advisor at Productions Déferlantes (Star Académie, Chanteurs maskés), after having been president of the TVA Group and head of content at Quebecor Content.
Ève-Marie Lortie, who saw her hosts as “dance partners,” has happy memories of Gino Chouinard’s first weeks at Salut Bonjour. “With Guy [Mongrain], I danced a waltz. It was elegant. It was prudent. With Benoit Gagnon, it was swinging! It was extraordinarily fast. It was punchy. »
“When Gino arrived, I had to adjust to the pace he set. His style was different. He was known for the giggles he generated at Hi Hello Weekend. On the air, things were falling apart. He had an imperfect side that was always attractive. He brought madness to the studio. It was great. »
Although he had proven himself in Quebec, at the wheel of Salut bonjour weekend, the game was not won in advance for Gino Chouinard in Montreal. The challenge was great, underlines Marie-Claude Savard.
At that time, Salut Bonjour attracted a large audience (market shares of around 50%) and served as a driving force for the entire TVA daytime schedule.
“We worked hard,” says Marie-Claude Savard. Gino had just adopted, Ève-Marie had a young child, I had sick parents… We made a lot of sacrifices. It was serious. We organized our entire personal life around the show. »
“We can say that we formed strong bonds, but the reason why we are still close to each other is because we experienced great moments together,” she continues.
Replacing Annick Dumontet, who was on maternity leave at the time, Julie Houle presented the weather forecast on the August 20, 2007 show, when Gino Chouinard was first introduced as Salut Bonjour. “It was remarkable to have someone so solid, funny and unifying,” she emphasizes.
When viewers ask him what Gino Chouinard is like “in real life”, the former weather presenter of Salut Bonjour and Salut Bonjour weekend always answers the same thing: exactly what he gives off on screen.
According to statistics provided by TVA, during his 21 seasons at Salut Bonjour and Salut Bonjour weekend, Gino Chouinard piloted 3,800 shows, conducted 15,000 interviews and spent 14,135 hours live. His arrival this week was initially accompanied by a three-year agreement, an agreement that TVA then renewed for another three years, then five, then three…
Marie-Claude Savard, who describes the main person concerned as a “marathoner”, always knew that he would occupy this position for a long time. “Because that’s what he wanted. It was a dream. It was a career goal. »
“No one should underestimate the enormous amount of work he has done,” she continued. “It’s immense. Especially with the transformations he has gone through in the industry.”
