MusiquePlus: dead and buried? | La Presse

MusiquePlus is about to come back to life for one evening, in a special show mainly focused on emerging musical talent. There will be, in MusicPlus as an encorethe unforgettable disco ball logo, musical performances and nods to former presenters. The goal of this special? To sketch out in 60 minutes what a MusiquePlus that would bring together all ages would look like today. Does this mean that there could still be life for MusiquePlus… after MusiquePlus?

Let’s ask the question another way. Is Bell Media, which is devoting notable efforts to trying to attract a younger audience with bold concepts, OD Temptations in the Sun, Completely High School and the deceased Club Soly on its various platforms, is testing the water temperature with this one-night meeting, with a view to a possible resurrection of MusiquePlus on one or other of its windows, if the listening proves to be significant?

Short answer from Mélanie Bhérer, general manager, variety, lifestyle, documentary and digital of the company: not for the moment.

“We’re not there at all. For now, we’re really just having fun, a bit like when we did our specials. Mixmania: 20 years later And In a galaxy near you: 25 years of mission. We just want to have fun. and pay tribute to this magnificent brand, with which we grew up,” explains M.^me Bhérer.

From VJ to Youtuber

Any excuse seems good to revive memories of MusiquePlus, anniversary year or not. Born in 1986, the splintered Quebec TV station shut down in August 2019 to become Elle Fictions, which still shows films and series that are essentially romantic and sentimental.

The then owner, Groupe V Média, had resigned itself to dismantling MusiquePlus, which was slowly dying, a victim of the rise of web and digital technologies. The channel’s last miles were mostly covered on the babble of reality TV shows Single and naked, Barmaids Or The Kults. However, the nostalgia for the Vox Pop counter, the Clip fightof Solidrock and of CD Graveyard from the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s, it remains.

Less than two years ago, in December 2022, Noovo.ca and iHeart Radio offered video and podcast capsules The MusicPlus Yearsgiving voice to the iconic former VJs of the channel. We are also confirmed that a book on the history of MusiquePlus is currently in preparation at Éditions de Ta Mère, without a release date being set for the moment.

Comedian Chloée Deblois, who hosts MusicPlus as an encore (with the participation of Chéli Sauvé-Castonguay, former star of MusiquePlus, and content creator Tai TL), fantasizes loudly about one day seeing MusiquePlus return to service. The 30-year-old communicator, who once aspired to enter the competition VJ Wantedbuilt her reputation on social networks and considers herself a worthy descendant of the self-taught Véronique Cloutier, Geneviève Borne, Anne-Marie Withenshaw and Pierre Landry. They really worked hard with their 10 fingers in the relaxed context of MusiquePlus and were not afraid of the unexpected on air.

“I started with my YouTube channel, I did my own editing and content, a bit like VJs did at the time. They were their own researchers and they had to figure it out. It’s a kind of logical progression. MusiquePlus gave its hosts so much freedom!”, underlines Chloée Deblois, who likes to say that the generation of thirty-somethings is often “nostalgic for a time they didn’t live through” and is far from shunning the traditional small screen.

An illusion?

The recording of MusicPlus as an encore was held on Friday, August 16, in front of an audience, at the Société des arts technologiques (SAT), whose window recreates the effect of the legendary windows on the corner of De Bleury and Sainte-Catherine, where so many fans gathered curious about MusiquePlus over the years, and which also offers its large terrace for the seven singing performances.

The party will have more of the feel of a festival show – hey, another possible way to rekindle the MusiquePlus flame? – than a collection of archives and testimonies. We are still expecting a few surprises; MusicPlus as an encore will have its segment in particular Get out of here. The group Muzion, which had released its second album, I Revolutionizein the MusiquePlus studios in 2002, will also be there.

Former VJ Tatiana Polevoy, who developed and directed the series The MusicPlus Yearsentered MusiquePlus thanks to his victory at VJ Wantedin 2009, claims to be very bored with the type of “team, gang” TV on MusiquePlus, where the boundaries fell between the front and back of the camera.

Now working at Rythme FM, ICI Première and Hello Hellothe host and columnist nevertheless considers that, if MusiquePlus were to be reborn, it would be necessary above all to focus on… its past. On its emblematic headliners rather than its relaxed atmosphere.

“We’re not going to bring Britney Spears or Red Hot Chili Peppers back to the MusiquePlus studios, let’s forget about it. Artists don’t need that anymore. Social networks and YouTube have killed MusiquePlus. It will always be illusory to bring clips, interviews and performances back to TV.”

“The heritage we have is our VJs, that is to say about thirty people who are still active in the media world,” continues Tatiana. “Sonia Benezra, every time she makes a TV appearance, everyone fights over her. She still has her place. We have to go back and find the world that built this…”

The show MusicPlus as an encore will be broadcast on Tuesday, September 3, at 8 p.m., simultaneously on Noovo, Noovo.ca and Crave and will include performances by Aswell, Soran, Marilyne Léonard, Naomi and L’Isle.

Read “Your best MusiquePlus memories… as a reminder”