Source: eurovision.tv
In recent years, France has become one of the countries most hungry for a win, after winning the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2020 and coming second in Rotterdam with Barbara Pravi’s ‘Voilà’ – their best result at the main contest in many years.
Now, France is back with their popular national final format – et comme toujours, c’est vous qui décidez!
The show will be broadcasted live on France 2 tomorrow morning here in Australia, with 12 songs in competition to win the much-sought ticket to Turin. Like last year, Stéphane Bern et Laurence Boccolini will take on hosting duties.
The full list of entries is:
Alvan et Ahez – ‘Fulenn’
Cyprien Zeni – ‘Ma Famille’
Elia – ‘Téléphone’
Elliott – ‘La Tempête’
Hélène in Paris – ‘Paris, mon amour’
Joan – ‘Madame’
Joanna – ‘Navigateure’
Julia – ‘Chut’
Marius – ‘Les chanson d’amour’
Pauline Chagne – ‘La Nuit Pauline’
Saam – ‘Il est où ?’
SOA – ‘Seule’
The voting process will take place in two stages. In the first stage, 5 songs will be selected by the televote to proceed to a Superfinal. An additional sixth song will be selected by the jury panel.
In the second stage, voting will revert to the standard Eurovision split of 50% jury and 50% televote.
The 10-member jury panel contains a number of shining lights from the French music scene, as well as some familiar faces to Eurovision fans. Watch out for Gjon’s Tears (Eurovision 2021, Switzerland); yé-yé music icon Nicoletta; Yseult (a very popular singer in France known particularly for her hit track Corps); and of course the inimitable Élodie Gossuin, who is an incredible television presenter and was the host of Junior Eurovision 2021, but will always be known to Eurovision fans for this moment:
The show will open with ‘Pray for Ukraine’, a song by Eurovision 2013 star Zlata Ognevich, to pay tribute to the ongoing war and conflict in Ukraine.
Entries to watch out for:
SOA – ‘Seule’
The red-hot favourite to win is a brother and sister duo of French-Malagasy background. Ludy and Nathan bring diverse influences to the table, with Ludy more interested in pop-rock sounds and Nathan being a committed fan of French and American rappers.
They came to prominence in France after appearing on the The Voice : La Plus Belle Voix, where they sung ‘Ravoravo’ for their audition, a song originated in Madagascar. ‘Seule’ is an anthemic pop track which begs anyone who feels left out or excluded from society not to give up, because “you will find your place.” With the bookies giving this one a 40% chance of winning as at writing, the smart money says we might be seeing SOA in Turin – but stranger things have happened!
Alvan et Ahez – ‘Fulenn’
Alvan et Ahez are bringing us the traditional sounds of Bretagne fused with a high-tech electro instrumental in ‘Fulenn’, and the results have become quite a fan favourite. Bretagne (perhaps better-known in English as Brittany) is a region of France situated at the country’s western-most peninsula. It is popular with tourists and is notable because the region has its own language (Breton) which bears more in common with the Celtic languages of the United Kingdom.
‘Fulenn’, then, brings together an up-and-coming DJ and producer (Alvan) and a traditional Breton-language singing group (Ahez) to produce a track that doesn’t sound like anything else we’ve heard this national final season. Prepare yourselves, viewers – this one is going to be a bop.
Saam – ‘Il est où ?’
Originating from Lille, Saam is new to the French music scene, having released his first EP (rather appropriately titled ‘Saam’) in 2021. Describing himself as a rocker infatuated with Radiohead in his younger years, he later turned his attention to masters of French chanson like Georges Brassels and Jacques Brel, who have proven to be great influences on his own work. By day, Saam is a dental surgeon (Serhat eat your heart out) – by night, ‘Il est où ?’ is a wonderful piece of busker pop that recalls the work of Claudio Capéo. On France2’s Facebook page, this song has had a significant response from the French public – don’t rule Saam out!
Pauline Chagne – ‘La Nuit Pauline’
Growing up in the Parisian suburb of Perreux-sur-Marne, Pauline describes herself as a feminist singer-songwriter who infuses the fight for gender equality into all her work. In an interview with Le Figaro, she noted that while her jazz musician parents didn’t let her watch Eurovision as a child, she has become much more of a fan in recent years due to the success and authenticity of recent French entries (the shadow of Barbara Pravi is long). ‘La Nuit Pauline’ is an 80s-infused track that recalls the work of artists such as Mylène Farmer. Notably, the harp is a prominent part of the instrumental, and Pauline appeared with her harp in the promo video. Hopefully it might make an appearance at the final!
Marius – ‘Les chansons d’amour’
Marius hasn’t had heaps of attention in the international media leading up to the contest, but he has had more love on French-language social media, and could be a dark horse on the night. A 22-year-old singer from Lyon, Marius is another newcomer, who was headhunted on Instagram by France 2 to participate in this year’s national final. ‘Les chansons d’amour’ is a delicate ballad about feelings of heartbreak, and is notable for being cowritten by Igit, known to Eurovision Fans for appearing Destination Eurovision 2018 and, more recently, for cowriting Barbara Pravi’s song ‘Voilà’. While Marius emphasizes that he doesn’t want to be compared to Barbara, there is a definite pedigree behind this entry that could lead to a big jury score. Don’t count him (or indeed, his fellow balladeer Joan) out.
When and where can I watch it?
'Eurovision France – c’est vous qui décidez' promises to be a three-hour epic tomorrow morning, and is always a highlight of the national final calendar. You can catch it at 21:05 CET in Europe or the following times in each Australian timezone:
4.00 am (WA)
5.30 am (NT)
6.00 am (QLD)
6.30 am (SA)
7.00 am (ACT, NSW, TAS, VIC)
You can catch it on France2 (it may be geo-blocked in some countries).
For more updates on all things Eurovision and national finals, you can follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at @aussievisionnet.