Michel Bérubé

John Terauds
ENTERTAINMENT REPORTER

Michel Bérubé fell in love with singing at age 6. His first audience was his younger twin brothers in the family living room.

"One of them would hold up the flashlight. Even then, I had to have a follow spot," he recalls, laughing at his precocious ambitions.

It's been a long and winding road from the tiny village of Sainte-Louise, perched at the foot of the Appalachian ridge that overlooks the St. Lawrence River east of Quebec City.

Tonight, Bérubé sings the first of three live shows at the Fleck Dance Theatre (formerly the Premiere) at Harbourfront. He performs a wide range of contemporary classics, including Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah," a foray into the Josh Groban songbook as well as a fresh take on the Beatles' "Help."

"I'm doing it in gospel style, which I think suits that song very well," Bérubé explains.

The creative wizard behind Bérubé's arrangements is Mark Lalama, best known as Canadian Idol's piano man. Lalama's collaborators represent the cream of Canadian pop.

Like Santa Claus, Bérubé has been popping into public consciousness every Christmas, thanks to an excellent debut album of seasonal favourites that gets regular airplay. "I'm on the air for three months, then I disappear," says Bérubé.

The three-year-old Christmas album landed him the opener slot for Kenny Rogers at Casino Rama last November. But the creamy-toffee-voiced singer is ready for year-round attention.

Making that kind of jump in the adult-pop world is no easy task. TV talent shows and the head-spinning notoriety of Susan Boyle or Paul Potts make it easy to overlook the long, hard slog of reality. Most of the top contestants on these talent searches have spent years practising, pounding the pavement, scraping together next month's rent – and never losing faith in their dream.

When Bérubé decided to follow an aunt's invitation and move to Montreal at age 18 to take voice lessons, he had no idea of the commitment he would need to make.

"I was so naive," he says, smiling.

But he was never shy, calling up Lucille Dumont (now 90), who was one of the country's first big songstresses, with a career bred on the radio and the early days of television. Dumont introduced Bérubé to the songs of Jacques Brel and Jacques Blanchet.

His first real stage performance was for CÉGEP en spectacle, a talent show for Quebec junior-college students.

He graduated to gigs as a backup singer and cabaret performer. To earn extra money, "I did just about everything," he recalls – including running a Zamboni. "But, mostly, I have had a lot of jobs as a waiter."

Ten years ago, he came to visit a friend in Toronto. "The moment I arrived, I felt a special energy here," Bérubé says. "I knew immediately that I had to move here, that this is the place where I would make it happen."

Within a month, he had met his future manager. He also committed to more training.

"I walked in to the Royal Conservatory on Bloor St. and said, I want to take classical voice lessons," Bérubé says.

He didn't let on that he had never learned to read music. "I had to do it all by ear," he admits.

Last October, he started piano lessons. "The first time I could play a tune that I recognized, I almost started to cry, it was such a moving moment," says the singer.

"I love a challenge," is a phrase that Bérubé repeats several times during the interview. He has a challenge for Torontonians, too, to give his live show a chance. - Toronto Star