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“At Canal, my heart was beating every day”

Photo by Muriel Franceschetti / W9

The major stages that found a life and a journey. This week, Metz journalist Denis Balbir, 63, sports commentator for the M6 ​​group, after spending seventeen years at Canal Plus in particular.

The day you made your debut at the microphone?

Denis Balbir: “I had spent eighteen months in Somalia as an active national service volunteer. Coming out of journalism school, in Mogadishu I took care of the daily half-hour of news in French on the radio. When I returned to France, there was an explosion of free radios. I was told that NRJ was looking for journalists. I passed a model to the law firm of Max Guazzini (the former boss of the station); the next day he called me to meet. I was like crazy. But it was a volunteer activity, so to earn some money I worked at the same time for Radio Tour Eiffel, which depended on the City of Paris. Radio has always been an exceptional medium for me. »

The one where you discover the “Canal spirit”?

“After seven and a half years, I got tired of getting up at 4:30 a.m. every day to host morning shows. A friend plugged me into tests to integrate the editorial staff of TV Sport, the ancestor of Eurosport. I commented on archery in Chambord, then a basketball tournament in Angers. But that wasn’t enough. Frédéric Chevit, the boss of TV Sport, directed me to a casting organized at Canal Plus: “You go there, so I can see what you are worth.” I went there without pressure, since I was not applying for Canal Plus. There was a crazy crowd there. I passed the casting in front of Pierre Sled, Thierry Gilardi and Jérôme Valcke. That same evening, Charles Biétry called me. Thinking it was a joke, I hung up on him. He called me back. The next day, I was in his office to sign a contract with a three-month trial period. I stayed there for seventeen years. »

The very first live meeting?

“An Italian match, Sampdoria-Parma, for the program “L’Équipe du dimanche”. It was the time when Canal had many rights to foreign championships, with special correspondents everywhere. I commented on over a thousand matches for the channel. A dream. Every day, I went to the office with my heart pounding. »

The day you had the perfect match?

“That doesn’t exist. The perfect match would be to be good at commentating on a meeting that is not good. But the game that is closest to my heart is that of April 12, 2018. It’s the day I lost my dad. And the day I covered the Marseille-Leipzig match in the European Cup, with the incident of the microphone remaining open*. A sequence that has been talked about too much. »

The one that leaves you with regrets?

“When you come from the radio, you talk too much. I had to refine my comment, it took me a while to understand it. What I have been accused of from time to time is screaming. The big sentence was: “Denis, he even ignites on a key.” Partly true, partly unfair. I tried to correct. »

The game you would have loved to commentate on?

“No doubt the 2018 World Cup final. The incredible journey of the France team, many goals, a new generation planting its flag after that of 1998…”

For a “one shot”, the consultant you would dream of by your side?

” Difficult ! I had so many good consultants: Claude Le Roy, Aimé Jacquet, Franck Sauzée, Rémi Garde, Michel Platini… Very different registers, all reliable personalities. To the commentator the description, to the consultant the explanations. Everyone must stay in their place and listen to the other. »

The day when you will return the antenna?

“(Smile.) As Gilardi (who passed away in 2008 at the age of 50) said, you go on air the day you are “carbon”. We know that day. That said, there are channel leaders who make you realize you’re not far from the end. It can be a source of motivation. I still have the same passion, the same desire. At the moment, I’m doing shows for the national Foot website (“Live N2”), I have other projects… But I’m not sticking to any place since I don’t have a contract with anyone. I cling to what I love to live. »

Thinking his microphone was off, Denis Balbir had insulted the players of the German team after the match. He had been suspended by M6.

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