Aussievision's Top 5 favourite French entries from 2021-25

Happy Bastille Day or as it is known in the francophone world, le 14 juillet or la fête nationale. French National Day is the anniversary of the Storming of the Bastille on 14 July 1789- a major event of the French Revolution. It is also the Fête de la Fédération that celebrates the unity of the French people on 14 July 1790.

In France a large military parade takes place at the on the Champs-Élysées in Paris in the presence of the President of France, along with other French officials and foreign guests.

At Eurovision, the hexagon is one of the Big 5 countries. They made their debut at the inaugural contest in Lugano, Switzerland in 1956 and have competed 67 times, missing only 2 contests. They withdrew in 1974 due to the death of French president Georges Pompidou a few days before the contest was scheduled. The French broadcaster, Office de Radiodiffusion Télévision Française (ORTF), decided that participating in the event would be inappropriate. The other year was 1982 when France did not have a broadcaster due to reform of telecommunications laws.

France has won the contest 5 times in 1958, 1960, 1962, 1969 with 1977 being their most recent victory. The country boasts an impressive 39 top 10 results with 27 of those being in the top 5, however only 4 top 5 results are post-2000. Their only last place was in 2014 with Twin Twin and the song Moustache.

At Aussievision this year, 12 of the team are celebrating today by ranking our favourite French entries of this decade. We have used a scale of 12, 10, 8, 6, 4 points for the five songs.

So which song gets our douze points? Read on to find out.

5. Louane - Maman (7th place in 2025): 62 points

Highs: 8 points from Joel and Emma.

4. La Zarra- Evidemment (16th place in 2023): 100 points

Highs: 12 points from Srdjan, 10 points from Joel, Fleur, Hayley and Craig

"It's my type of music, would listen to it over the others." ~ Srdjan

"Love this, I want to see more sophisticated French disco on the Eurovision stage. After sending many gut-wrenching ballads that come close but don’t quite reach the peak, this is the direction France should be taking in 2026." ~ Joel

"Honestly, a mid-table result was right for this song. But I am a sucker for dated disco pop. I was always going to rank this high." ~ Fleur

"Another song that was criminally underrated and maybe over-cooked with the staging. I still listen to this also and it slaps." ~ Hayley

3. Barbara Pravi - Voilà (2nd place in 2021): 102 points

Highs: 12 points from Kyriakos and Craig. 10 points from Jamie, John Christian, Justin, Dale and Emma.

"Nothing beats Voila!! The song, the performance, and Barbara are all perfect!! The performance is simple yet works. One of my favourite French Eurovision entries ever!" ~ Kyriakos

"Such a beautiful song that came very close to winning in 2021. Barbara has such an amazing voice and hopefully she will get the opportunity to represent France again at Eurovision." ~ Jamie

"It came so close to winning, but it definitely has some French flair around it." ~ John Christian

"Barbara Pravi helped kick start France’s run in the '20s with a very strong chanson; the problem is the community will always go back to Voilà as the benchmark. Fortunately for us, we get to appreciate it as is as a great ballad with staging to match." ~ Justin

"This was perfectly done - Barbara's delivery, the impeccable staging and a song that a non-French speaker could follow and enjoy. Just a tad too chanson and repetitive to take my top spot though." ~ Dale

2. Slimane - Mon amour (4th place in 2024): 104 points

Highs: 12 points from Joel, John Christian and Dale. 10 points from Kyriakos and Sam.

"Slimane was robbed, he should have won in 2024 for this absolute stunner of a song. His command of the stage when stepping back from the microphone was incredible." ~ Joel

"This is not just a love song, this is a power ballad to the rest of Europe in these trying times." ~ John Christian

"I do love a big, powerful man ballad, and Slimane delivered exactly that with Mon amour. When he stepped back from the microphone and let his voice soar a cappella — that was a MOMENT." ~ Dale

"Slimane's live Eurovision performance really won me over!! The whole performing metres away from his microphone gives me chills every time!" ~ Kyriakos

"You cannot deny the emotion, passion and talent that fills this song. Although the live performance perhaps didn't quite meet the music video, Silmane still delivers this beautifully." ~ Sam

1. Alvan and Ahez - Fulenn (24th place in 2022): 112 points

Highs: 12 points from Jamie, Justin, Fleur, Sam, Emma and Hayley. 10 points from Srdjan

"Fulenn is such an underrated song and should have finished much higher than the 24th place it achieved in 2022. It was something different from France in a local Breton language and is still a song I listen to quite often to this day." ~ Jamie

"Barbara Pravi was a hard act to follow, but I thought Alvan and Ahez took France in a fresh direction that should’ve been rewarded more. The upbeat harmonies, dance beat, and staging worked well, but was maybe a bit too different to what people expect of France." ~ Justin

"I admit to not been a fan when I first heard this at the French National Final. I was very late to jump on the bandwagon with this song. But now, it's a favourite of mine and is one of my most played Eurovision songs from 2022. 24th place in the final was most undeserved, it was a tough year but should have at least placed in the top 20. As a lover of languages, it was fantastic to hear Breton at the contest. Traditional with EDM usually works for me." ~ Fleur

"I absolutely j'adore this Celtic-inspired bop that somehow still feels French. So mysterious, addictive and unique. I'm still stunned this bombed in the contest. As a fan of Celtic music I hope more countries send songs in this genre." ~ Sam

"I highly suspect that this is going to be in the last place out of the group of songs, but I disagree with everybody else because this song is an absolute banger and also he is drop dead gorgeous. I still listen to this song all the time, and I still don't understand why it came close to last at Eurovision that year." ~ Hayley

"Ethnic and Upbeat, love everything about it" ~ Srdjan

Well, the Aussievision team has awarded justice to our Celtic-language songbirds of 2022. Acclamations!!!

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