Léa Salamé hosts the show “Quelle époque!” with Christophe Dechavanne. every Saturday evening, in the second part of the evening. Friday February 9, she will present with Cyril Féraud the big musical evening of the Victoires de la Musique 2024, a show that she agreed to do, because according to her: “There aren’t many events on TV that bring everyone together.”
franceinfo: Les Victoires de la musique, I admit that I didn’t see you coming.
Léa Salamé: I didn’t see it coming either!
Was it a secret desire?
No, it’s the channel’s desire. A few months ago, with Stéphane Bern, I presented a major concert for the victims of the earthquake in Syria and Turkey, and the head of entertainment saw me and said: “But you were made for this! Next time, you win“. I thought she was playing a joke on me and in fact she offered it to me at the start of the school year. I admit that I hesitated. And then she said to me: “Look at the Victories, it’s a magnificent ceremony“.
“There aren’t many events on TV that bring everyone together. You have the Miss France, the Césars, Eurovision and I believe there is the Victoires de la Musique.”
Léa Salaméat franceinfo
I don’t see many others, outside of sporting events, that really bring people together. And I thought it was chic that she thought of me and so I accepted with great pleasure.
We thought of you and Cyril Féraud!
Yes, that’s the second pleasure. Cyril Féraud, who is one of the rare game hosts on TV today who is successful in prime time. He gets crazy scores with his games, whether it’s “100% Logic” or “The Floor” recently. And you know, apart from fiction which is a hit, it’s difficult to offer shows which work in prime time. He gets there on France Télévisions. I had a crush on this boy. I invited him to “What a time!”, a year ago, and we get along really well, we have a real bond and we’re really happy to do it together.
You said you were nervous about tonight. Seriously ? You know live.
It’s not the live action that freaks me out, it’s saying something stupid, it’s being caught up in time, it’s having to furnish and “bug”. As for politics, I can sit for two hours without any problem, I can tell the story of the political guest before he is there, because he is late or because there is a technical problem. Music… I’m going to work! There are artists that I adore and that I know and who helped me grow, like Véronique Sanson, like Étienne Daho. There are some that I know less about and that’s what I love about this event, it’s that it’s very unifying and there’s something for everyone. I think there are nine rappers who are nominated in the categories, because we always say: “We forget rap! Rap, today, is the music that sells the most” and that’s true, it is not represented enough at the Victoires.
“We have the impression that rap is a subcategory. There, the artists are within the categories. Gazo is named at the same time as Étienne Daho, Vianney and Pierre de Maere for the male artist of the year.”
Léa Salaméat franceinfo
We’re going to have lots of surprises. Zazie will be the honorary president. We are going to do a Victory of Honor for Bernard Lavilliers, where lots of artists will sing for him. There will also be magnificent tributes because it is always a moment where there is a special tribute. I remember, in 2008, this incredible moment from Alain Bashung, who received three Victoires de la Musique. He is completely emaciated and tired. He will die three weeks later and you have this incredible moment, bathed in grace, where he is there, he receives the Victories and in a way he says goodbye to his audience. I’ll just let you imagine that there were musicians and great singers that I love very much who left us this year. There will be tributes for them.
Does doing political interviews, for example for arriving Europeans, no longer interest you?
For Europeans, I stop. I say it simply because it is totally in agreement with my management of France 2 and France Inter, like my companion [Raphaël Glucksmann] is a candidateI will withdraw from political broadcasts and a gradual withdrawal will take place from April, until the official campaign period.
But my question was more to know if political interviews still interest you.
Yes, I’m still interested. It’s my DNA, it’s my passion. But more and more, I like mixtures. I take more pleasure at the moment in questioning artists, their visions of the era, in questioning the great intellectuals than undoubtedly the politicians, because the political language has changed, because the political language has been formatted, it has become a lot of language elements. When I started political journalism, my microphone was shaking. We had to try to be smart, to find the right question, to destabilize. Today, things are more settled. It lacks guts, it lacks flesh.
They don’t scare you anymore?
“Interrogating an artist scares me more than questioning a politician.”
Léa Salaméat franceinfo
I have never been so afraid of questioning politicians, perhaps because I grew up in that, I was immersed in that. Whereas going to support an artist to make him give birth to something or deal with his fragility is something that scares me, surprisingly, more than politicians.
You continue to receive politicians in “Quelle époque!”, the Saturday evening magazine, in the second half of the evening, which is doing very well. Is it also a more personal success? Because it allowed you to break your image which was quite serious, rigorous, “hard“, you say it yourself.
People have said a lot that I’m tough. It could be said that I was aggressive. I think there was a grain of truth, even if I always balance it with the fact that people say of a male journalist who asks the same question with the same tone as me, “he is pugnacious, he has some!” If it’s a woman, we say “ah she’s aggressive”. But I still hear that there were moments, especially at the beginning, when I wanted to assert myself, or undoubtedly I was a little too much, too everything. Afterwards, I don’t know if I did that to ruin my image, but I did that. I have a feeling, maybe at some point you feel like you belong. You no longer need to prove, you are yourself, you no longer need to play a character on TV, on the radio or in life. And I have the feeling that on “What a time!” I am in my place.
You will have a third news this summer, since during the Olympic Games, you will be at the head of a daily second part of the evening magazine called “Quels Jeux !“. Here again, it’s not necessarily you we were expecting. Now, are you taking up sport?
We like to categorize people in France and for me, it’s probably my oriental or Lebanese side, I like to get out of the box in which I am confined. The Games will be a historic event and it will be first and foremost an event for sports, sports journalists and the France Télévisions sports department. But it’s true that the management of France Télé suggested that we think of a program which would combine sport, culture and which would in fact be a “What an era!” a little more focused on sport, everyday life, in which we would see the images of the day again. For now, the show is completely under construction. I can’t tell you more.
With Michel Drucker or not?
With Michel Drucker! Of course. He will be there on the first and second week. Afterwards, he will be there when he wants it, when he feels it. Michel Drucker has been to all the Olympics.
We don’t say “no” to Michel Drucker!
We always say “yes” to Michel Drucker. And then if he is tired, we said to ourselves that he would make a duplex of his house.
Watch this interview on video: