France in Eurovision
France and Eurovision go together like coffee and croissants: the latter without the former is almost unimaginable. The country debuted at the inaugural Contest in 1956 and has taken part in 62 of the 64 editions held to date (withdrawing from one only because of the death of the Republic's President in Eurovision week!).
France has won the coveted crystal trophy on five occasions thus far: 1958, 1960, 1962, 1969 and 1977. The country also stands in joint third place in terms of total wins, alongside the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and former entrant Luxembourg. It has, however, been more than four decades since an act representing France was last crowned the victor, and over the past ten years the country has ended up in 6th to 26th (last) place, more often than not towards the lower end of that range.
2021 Entry: Barbara Pravi - 'Voilà'
Barbara Pravi qualifies directly for the Grand Final as the representative of a "Big Five" country
My Eurovision Scoreboard fan ranking: 5th out of 39 entries
Odds to win ranking: 2nd out of 39 entries
(rankings as of 28 April 2021)
About the artist
28-year-old Barbara Pravi is a Paris-born singer, songwriter and actress. She began her music career as a composer and film soundtrack/stage performer, before releasing her first single in 2017. Eschewing the French pop stylings of earlier years, she is now known for her traditional French chanson tracks and renditions.
Barbara already has a strong Junior Eurovision pedigree: she co-wrote France's memorable 2019 entry 'Bim bam toi' for Carla, who came 5th, before going solo to compose the 2020 winning song 'J'imagine' for Valentina.
Having decided to throw her hat into the ring as a performer, she competed at this year's French national final 'Eurovision France: c'est vous qui décidez!' alongside 11 other acts, ultimately claiming victory with her song 'Voilà' after topping both the jury rankings and televote and achieving an impressive 204 points (a 68-point win!).
About the song
Barbara co-wrote 'Voilà' with her former Junior Eurovision collaborator Igit, who competed in the 2018 edition of the country's 'Destination Eurovision' national final with 'Lisboa Jérusalem', and fellow singer-songwriter Lili Poe.
'Voilà' is an intense, passionate, authentically and classically French song in the story-telling style, with echoes of renowned chanteuse Edith Piaf and Jacques Brel's melancholic classic 'Ne me quitte pas'.
Aussievision podcast - France episode
Check out the Aussievision podcast review and rank episode including comments from the team. Listen via:
Apple
Spotify