In his long and rich television career, Jean-Pierre Foucault has hosted countless stars, including the most brilliant. But the presenter, now 78 years old, said that what could have been one of the biggest hits had above all been a big flop: an interview with Michael Jackson. In his place, Foucault spent an evening with an empty chair.
The Frenchman recounted this aborted meeting in the web show “Isa TV”, by Isabelle Morini-Bosc. Jean-Pierre Foucault did not specify the date, but it was at the time of his show “Sacrée soir”, probably during its first period, from 1987 to 1994.
In terms of bad memories, therefore, the King of pop. “We were promised that we would receive it, that we would be the only ones in France to receive it. One day the record company told us: “That’s it, it’s okay, he agrees! Go quickly to Rome to see his concert and at the end, you have dinner with him. We were really happy,” said the host, reports “Dauphiné”.
With a team, Jean-Pierre Foucault heads to the Italian capital. The entourage of the American singer who died in June 2009 had rented a “Roman palace”. This is where the host is waiting for him. “There were about ten tables, tables of ten, and at our table there was an empty chair. And we said to ourselves: when they see that Michael Jackson is going to sit at our table…”
And? “The long-awaited moment has arrived. There’s a door in the back that opens, Michael Jackson appears, everyone stands up and applauds. He crosses the room and comes towards us,” smiles Jean-Pierre Foucault when he recounts his memory, pretending to relive the crucial moment before a great professional success. “Then he walks past us, there’s another door, he disappears.”
End of story, there was never a meeting and even less an interview, just this quick crossing of a room and an empty chair.
