the essential
Dorothée hosted “Le Club Dorothée” on TF1 for 10 years between 1987 and 1997, introducing cartoons and anime from Japan and launching artists. TF1 invited Dorothée for a tribute evening this Friday evening.
Rare in the media after 20 years of reign over youth programs, Dorothée will return to the small screen this Friday evening for a tribute evening on TF1. “I only react out of love,” explained Dorothée, now 71 years old, in December during a press conference, to justify her participation in the show “Merci Dorothée”.
At the time, she rewinds, “what interested us, the most important thing, was the relay between image and life […] The kids who couldn’t go on vacation were with us, so they weren’t alone. We made a link between family and school to have fun while learning things from time to time.
Frédérique Hoschedé, her real name, presented “Le Club Dorothée” from 1987 to 1997 on TF1, squatting on the air for some 1000 hours a year, after a decade at the helm of “Récré A2” on Antenne 2. She sold passing some 20 million records.
A tribute to the “Club Dorothée” years
Hosted by Nikos Aliagas, the tribute will mainly retrace the “Club Do” years and their cocktail of sketches, songs, charitable operations, mainly Japanese cartoons like “Dragon Ball” and rose-tinted series (“Hélène and the boys”, “First Kisses”…) produced by AB Productions, the group founded by Jean-Luc Azoulay and Claude Berda. Jacky and Patrick Simpson-Jones who, alongside Ariane Carletti and François Corbier, now deceased, accompanied Dorothée to the presentation.
They responded, just like Bernard Minet, member of the group Les Musclées and singer of cult theme songs, or even many figures from sitcoms. In addition, other celebrities (Nolwenn Leroy, Amir, etc.) came to show him their affection, in particular by performing some of his hits.
Dorothée never imagined the scale of her broadcasts
“I took a big blow to my heart,” Dorothée summed up to the press, who still has difficulty measuring her impact on an entire generation. At the time, “we knew that we had a responsibility towards our (millions of) viewers […] that we had a role to play”, but “I didn’t think it had such a great magnitude”, she relates, rejecting any “iconic” status.
-Its shows have nonetheless come under numerous criticism, particularly for the violence of its Japanese cartoons, which have since contributed to making France the second largest consumer of manga behind Japan. As soon as there is something new, “everyone is criticized”, Dorothée brushes aside, even “if it always hurts to see yourself criticized for something you believe in”.
Not resentful towards TF1, she assures that she did not “think at all” about the sudden end of Club Dorothée decided by the channel almost thirty years ago, against a backdrop of conflict with the producer AB.
Dorothée will unveil a new song
“Happy” to do the show, the record holder for concerts at Bercy for a woman (59 concerts) also took up the microphone. In her suitcase, in addition to her “red and yellow socks with little polka dots”, a new song, “J’ai dans mes souvenirs”, her first unreleased since 2010. What hope to see her on stage again? “Perhaps the opportunity will arise again. I don’t know.”
Likewise, “the doors are not closed” regarding a possible recurring return to television, responds the one who has already declined several proposals. This claimed telephage had already made a notable appearance in 2022 in “The Secret Song”, another Nikos Aliagas show. A host that she appreciates… like Cyril Hanouna. Asked about the non-renewal of C8 in March by the audiovisual regulator, the former presenter said she was thinking “especially of the viewers”, “of all those who worked on the channel, on all the shows […] That’s hard.”
More generally, she regrets the absence of “human relay” in current youth programs, “cartoon reels”, according to her, very often devoid of animators.
