Gino Chouinard | A guy in the morning, the end

Gino Chouinard took the reins of Hi hello on Monday, August 20, 2007. Once the theme song was over, the host launched the show at 5:30 a.m. sharp by declaring: “It’s a rather 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 news of the murder of a teenage girl.

Ça prend beaucoup d’instinct pour animer Salut Bonjour. Il faut que tu sois capable de faire des fajitas au poulet, et après la pause, d’interviewer le premier ministre.

Ève-Marie Lortie

« Gino n’a jamais emprunté de personnage, poursuit la prochaine animatrice de l’émission. C’est un conseil que Guy Mongrain m’a déjà donné. Parce qu’un personnage, c’est trop lourd à porter à bout de bras, en direct, pendant toute une émission. Ça risque de craquer. »

Nouveau rythme

Gino Chouinard s’est installé aux commandes de Salut Bonjour après avoir piloté son édition du week-end pendant quatre ans. Il succédait à Matthias Rioux et Anne Poliquin (1988-1989), Claude Saucier (1989-1991), Guy Mongrain (1991-2004) et Benoît Gagnon (2004-2007).

Vice-présidente des programmes de TVA de 2006 à 2013, France Lauzière raconte avoir évalué la candidature d’une poignée de candidats avant d’opter pour Gino Chouinard. Une poignée, parce que « seul un petit nombre de personnalités pouvaient remplir ce type de mandat », qui s’accompagne d’un horaire très atypique, souligne-t-elle.

Plusieurs facteurs ont contribué au recrutement de Gino Chouinard : ses qualités de communicateur, son jugement sans faille, sa rigueur au travail, son sens du respect, etc. Une caractéristique particulière semble toutefois avoir scellé son sort.

Gino sait comment mettre les autres en valeur. C’est son grand talent. C’est un don. C’est ce qui a fait la différence.

France Lauzière, vice-présidente des programmes de TVA de 2006 à 2013

« À ses côtés, les collaborateurs rayonnaient. Les invités aussi. Tout le monde était en confiance. C’est quelque chose qu’on pouvait voir », ajoute celle qui assume désormais les fonctions de conseillère stratégique chez Productions Déferlantes (Star Académie, Chanteurs masqués), après avoir été présidente du Groupe TVA et cheffe du contenu chez Québecor Contenu.

Ève-Marie Lortie, qui voyait ses animateurs comme « des partenaires de danse », garde un souvenir heureux des premières semaines de Gino Chouinard à Salut Bonjour. « Avec Guy [Mongrain], I had danced a waltz. It was elegant. It was prudent. With Benoit Gagnon, it was swing! 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 Hello 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. »

High level of pressure

Although he proved himself in Quebec, at the wheel of Hello hello weekend, the game was not won in advance for Gino Chouinard in Montreal. The challenge was great, underlines Marie-Claude Savard.

It was a lot, a lot of pressure. It was a super competitive time. We were against Caffeine at TQS. It was a nudge. It was going fast. He had to shift.

Marie-Claude Savard, former sports columnist now presenter at Énergie

At that time, Hi hello 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.

A team guy

Replacing Annick Dumontet, then on maternity leave, Julie Houle presented the weather, in the program of August 20, 2007, when Gino Chouinard experienced his baptism of Hi hello. “It was remarkable to have someone so solid, funny and unifying,” she emphasizes.

When viewers ask her what Gino Chouinard is like “in real life”, the former weather presenter of Hi hello And Hello Hello weekend always responds the same thing: exactly what it says on the screen.

Gino is the brother-in-law that everyone wants to have, he’s the neighbor that everyone wants to have. He’s a generous guy, a team guy, a guy who likes to make the people around him shine.

Julie Houle

According to statistics provided by TVA, during his 21 seasons at Hi hello And Hello Hello weekend, Gino Chouinard piloted 3,800 broadcasts, 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 “marathon runner”, 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 work he did,” she continues. It’s huge. Especially with the transformations he has gone through in the industry. »

Gino Chouinard hosts his latest show Hi hello Friday from 6:30 a.m.

Wishes for the afterHi hello

Aged 56, Gino Chouinard has not yet revealed his plans for the post-Hi hello. After announcing his departure in November 2022, the winner of 14 Artis prizes repeated that he wanted to “dive into the void”.

In an industry that “easily labels people,” Julie Houle hopes that he will have the chance to explore other avenues. “We need to see him shine in something else,” insists his former colleague, who now co-hosts The goose that lays golden eggs with Sébastien Benoit and Richard Turcotte.

Same story with Marie-Claude Savard, who crosses her fingers that the presenter and businessman (he was a partner in seven Chocolats Favoris branches) frees himself from the “shackles” Hi hello and that he finds “a little madness”.

I hope he does what he wants to do and shows us all his colors. He still has plenty to say. He can still contribute in so many ways.

Marie-Claude Savard

For her part, Ève-Marie Lortie wishes her some rest to begin with (“nice family lunches”), and then another time slot to continue to evolve. But more than anything, she wants him to be proud of how far he has come.

“A lot of people grew up with Gino on TV. People who are young adults today. I hope it’s something he will cherish. Because it’s valuable. It’s not easy for everyone. »