On December 2, the excitement was palpable in the studio It’s a good end to the weekin the middle of filming the special show 15e anniversary which will be broadcast on January 10 at 7 p.m. on TVA. The hosts Julie Bélanger and Jean-Michel Anctil were enthusiastic, aware that it was a unique opportunity to remember significant moments and to be, in turn, celebrated by their guests.
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The atmosphere was festive in the studio as Julie St-Pierre and Bryan Audet performed a part full of songs, accompanied by musicians from It’s a good end to the week under the direction of Simon Godin. 15 years ago, the show was presented by Mélanie Maynard and Isabelle Racicot, before the latter took sole reins of the set with a different co-host each week. Then, 12 years ago, Julie Bélanger made her dream come true by joining José Gaudet in animation. For three years, she has formed a duo with Jean-Michel Anctil. During our time in the studio, we met Julie a few moments before she took her chair as host. “Preparing for this special 15e anniversary was a really moving exercise, because with the whole team, we brought out lots of extracts from our best moments. We dive back into our memories. What’s also great is that Jean-Michel and I are temporarily giving up our place to Clodine Desrochers and Denis Lévesque who will have the task of interviewing us. It’s very funny that two TVA star personalities meet us for an interview. It will be an opportunity to show lots of extracts from funny and even uncomfortable moments from recent years!”
We asked Clodine Desrochers and Denis Lévesque why, in their opinion, the team of It’s a good end to the week had chosen them to conduct this interview. Clodine first said: “I think the idea was to create an improbable duo, a bit like what they did with Julie Bélanger and José Gaudet, or Jean-Michel Anctil!” Denis added: “How long did you host your show at TVA, Clodine? Not far from 13? I was 16 years old. I think the idea was also to bring together hosts who have left their mark on the channel for this interview!” Then, smiling, he continued: “Currently, I am in the countryside with my cows. I don’t do TV anymore, but coming back to the screen for a small appearance feels really good!”
Jean-Michel Anctil was delighted to celebrate this show in the company of his fiancée, Mélodie Charest, who accompanied him backstage for the occasion. He told us that he took the initiative to call his agent to become José Gaudet’s replacement in animation. “I always dreamed of co-hosting this show. When I got the contract, it was one of the best things that ever happened to me. First of all, it’s a real pleasure to host alongside Julie, and secondly, to meet artists that I admire, it’s a real pleasure!”
For this celebration, Guillaume Pineault joined the evening and had the honor of preparing a well-cooked dish where he would not hesitate to tease the hosts. “I’ve been on the show four or five times since the start of my career and, from the start, there was a great chemistry. They welcomed me at the time when my show was postponed due to the pandemic. I thought we wouldn’t have much to say to each other, but on the contrary, it’s been great. This time I was asked to make a well-cooked dish. I admit that I had a little stress, but I received help to find interesting moments which allowed us to introduce a little scathing humor!”
The most notable moments
For Jean-Michel, the special show Legends was particularly moving: “It was a show with Janette Bertrand and Yvon Deschamps. Janette will soon be 100 years old, but it doesn’t seem at all. At the end of filming, she said: “Okay, see you again next year?” I was also surprised by my interviews with Émile Bilodeau, Patrick Hivon and Ginette Reno.”
For her part, Julie remembers with enthusiasm her interview with Serge Fiori, whose discussion, supposed to last 25 minutes, spilled over into 45 minutes because it was so captivating. She also recalls a particularly strange moment: “We did karaoke with the Compagnie Creole and Denis Coderre. It was a surreal moment!”
