France in the Eurovision Song Contest | |
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Participating broadcaster | France Télévisions (1993–present) Former members
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Participation summary | |
Appearances | 68 |
First appearance | 1956 |
Highest placement | 1st: 1958, 1960, 1962, 1969, 1977 |
Host | 1959, 1961, 1978 |
Participation history
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External links | |
France 2 page | |
France's page at Eurovision.tv | |
For the most recent participation see France in the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 |
France has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 68 times since its debut at the first contest in 1956. France is one of only seven countries to be present at the first contest, and has been absent from only two contests in its history, missing the 1974 and 1982 contests. Along with Germany, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom, France is one of the "Big Five" countries that are automatically prequalified for the final, due to being the largest financial contributors to the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). France has won the contest five times.
France first won the contest in 1958 with " Dors, mon amour " performed by André Claveau. Three more victories followed in the 1960s, with " Tom Pillibi " performed by Jacqueline Boyer in 1960, " Un premier amour " performed by Isabelle Aubret in 1962 and " Un jour, un enfant " performed by Frida Boccara, who won in 1969 in a four-way tie with the Netherlands, Spain and the United Kingdom. France's fifth victory came in 1977, when Marie Myriam won with the song " L'Oiseau et l'Enfant ". During its successful run in the 20th century, France has also finished second four times, with Paule Desjardins (1957), Catherine Ferry (1976), Joëlle Ursull (1990) and Amina (1991), who lost out to Sweden's Carola in a tie-break.
After reaching the top five in 24 contests in the 20th century, France has had less success in the 21st century, only making the top five four times, with Natasha St-Pier fourth (2001), Sandrine François fifth (2002), Barbara Pravi second (2021) and Slimane fourth (2024). France's other top 10 results in the century are Patricia Kaas's eighth place in 2009 and Amir's sixth place in 2016. France finished last for the first time in 2014, when Twin Twin received only two points.
Several French broadcasters have been used to present Eurovision in the country, formerly RTF (1956–1964), ORTF (1965–1974), TF1 (1975–1981) and Antenne 2 (1983–1992). Since 1993, France Télévisions has been responsible for France's participation in the contest, with the final being broadcast on France 2 (1993–98, 2015–present) and France 3 (1999–2014), and the semi-final which France votes in was broadcast on France 4 (2005–2010, 2016–19), later France Ô (2011–15) and since 2021, Culturebox . The semi-final in 2004 was not broadcast; viewers who were close enough to Monaco were able to watch that year's semi-final via TMC Monte-Carlo. Radio coverage has been provided, although not every year or since 2013, by France Inter from 1971 to 1998 and from 2001 to 2012, France Bleu (also in 1976). In 1982, RTL Radio transmitted the contest due to the country's absence that year.
France has often changed the selection process for the country's entry for the contest, with either a national final or an internal selection (occasionally a combination of both formats) having been held over the years.
France is one of the most successful countries in the Eurovision, winning the contest five times, coming second five times and coming third seven times. However, France has only hosted the Eurovision contest three times (1959, 1961, 1978). [1] France was ranked first in number of victories (either alone or tied with other countries) without interruptions from 1960 to 1993. Moreover, Amina was close to victory with the song " C'est le dernier qui a parlé qui a raison " in 1991, when she finished in joint first place (with the same number of points as Sweden). Therefore, the 'countback' rule applied, but both countries had an equal number of twelve points (four lots), but the victory went to Sweden, when France had fewer 10-point scores. Today, with the new rules, France would have won the competition, because they received points from more countries than Sweden. One year before, France was also close to winning with Joëlle Ursull performing "White and Black Blues". The song finished in joint-second place with Ireland's entry.
However, in recent years, the French results have been mixed. Since 1998, when the televoting was introduced, France has almost always ranked in the bottom 10 countries in the final, coming 15th (2004), 16th (2019 and 2023), 18th (2003 and 2008), 19th (1999 and 2008), 22nd (2006, 2007 and 2012), 23rd (2000, 2005 and 2013), 24th (1998 and 2022), 25th (2015), and 26th (last place, for the first time in its Eurovision history) in 2014.
France has had some good results during the 21st century. In 2001, Canadian singer Natasha St-Pier came fourth with her song " Je n'ai que mon âme ", being the favourite to win the contest by fans and odds. This good result was carried into the 2002 contest, when Sandrine François came fifth with "Il faut du temps" and received the Marcel Bezençon international press award for the best entry of that year. The positive experience with Sébastien Tellier in 2008 created considerable interest among the French showbiz for the contest, which resulted in Eurovision being seen by the French media as a valuable advertising campaign. With these ambitions, Patricia Kaas represented France in the 2009 contest with " Et s'il fallait le faire ", finishing in eighth place. Kaas received the Marcel Bezençon artistic award, which was voted on by previous winners and presented to the best artist. In the 2016 contest, Amir with his song " J'ai cherché " ended in sixth place and broke a 40-year record by scoring the most points in France's Eurovision history, by scoring 257 points in the final. That record would later be broken once again in 2021, as Barbara Pravi with her song " Voilà " finished in second place with 499 points, France's best result since 1991, only 25 points behind eventual winners Måneskin from Italy.
Since their debut in 1956, France has only missed two contests, in 1974 and 1982. In 1974, after selecting a singer and song to represent them at the contest, France withdrew after the President of France Georges Pompidou died in the week of the contest. [2] If they had participated, France would have been represented by Dani with the song "La Vie à vingt-cinq ans".
In November 1981, TF1 declined to enter the Eurovision Song Contest for 1982, with the head of entertainment, Pierre Bouteiller, saying, "The absence of talent and the mediocrity of the songs were where annoyance set in. Eurovision is a monument to inanity [sometimes translated as "drivel"]." [3] Antenne 2 took over the job due to public reaction of TF1's withdrawal, hosting a national final to select their entry as well, from the 1983 contest.
Since 1999, France, along with Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom, have automatically qualified for the Eurovision final regardless of their results in previous contests. [4] These countries earned this special status by being the four biggest financial contributors to the EBU, and subsequently became known as the "Big Four". Italy returned to the contest in 2011, thus upgrading the countries to members of a "Big Five". [5] [6]
1 | First place |
2 | Second place |
3 | Third place |
◁ | Last place |
X | Entry selected but did not compete |
† | Upcoming event |
Year | Location | Venue | Presenters |
---|---|---|---|
1959 | Cannes | Palais des Festivals | Jacqueline Joubert |
1961 | |||
1978 | Paris | Palais des Congrès | Denise Fabre and Léon Zitrone |
Year | Category | Song | Composer(s) lyrics (l) / music (m) | Performer | Final | Points | Host city | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2002 | Press Award | " Il faut du temps " | Rick Allison (m), Patrick Bruel (m&l), Marie-Florence Gros (l) | Sandrine François | 5 | 104 | Tallinn | |
2009 | Artistic Award [lower-alpha 3] | " Et s'il fallait le faire " | Anse Lazio, Fred Blondin | Patricia Kaas | 8 | 107 | Moscow | |
2011 | Composer Award | " Sognu " | Daniel Moyne (m), Quentin Bachelet (m), Jean-Pierre Marcellesi (l), Julie Miller (l) | Amaury Vassili | 15 | 82 | Düsseldorf | |
2018 | Press Award | "Mercy" | Émilie Satt (m&l), Jean-Karl Lucas (m&l) | Madame Monsieur | 13 | 173 | Lisbon | |
2021 | Press Award Artistic Award [lower-alpha 4] | " Voilà " | Barbara Pravi, Lili Poe, Igit (m&l) | Barbara Pravi | 2 | 499 | Rotterdam |
Year | Song | Performer | Final | Points | Host city | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2016 | " J'ai cherché " | Amir | 6 | 257 | Stockholm |
Year | Conductor [lower-alpha 5] | Musical Director | Notes | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
1956 | Franck Pourcel | N/A | [13] | |
1957 | ||||
1958 | ||||
1959 | Franck Pourcel | [lower-alpha 6] | ||
1960 | Franck Pourcel | N/A | ||
1961 | Franck Pourcel | [lower-alpha 7] | ||
1962 | Franck Pourcel | N/A | ||
1963 | ||||
1964 | ||||
1965 | ||||
1966 | ||||
1967 | ||||
1968 | Alain Goraguer | |||
1969 | Franck Pourcel | |||
1970 | [14] | |||
1971 | ||||
1972 | ||||
1973 | Jean Claudric | |||
1974 | Jean-Claude Petit | [lower-alpha 8] | ||
1975 | Jean Musy | |||
1976 | Tony Rallo | |||
1977 | Raymond Donnez | |||
1978 | Alain Goraguer | François Rauber | ||
1979 | Guy Matteoni | N/A | ||
1980 | Sylvano Santorio | [lower-alpha 9] | [15] | |
1981 | David Sprinfield | |||
1983 | François Rauber | |||
1984 | ||||
1985 | Michel Bernholc | [lower-alpha 10] | ||
1986 | Jean-Claude Petit | |||
1987 | ||||
1988 | Guy Matteoni | |||
1989 | ||||
1990 | Régis Dupré | |||
1991 | Jérôme Pillement | |||
1992 | Magdi Vasco Noverraz | |||
1993 | Christian Cravero | |||
1994 | Alain Goraguer | |||
1995 | Michel Bernholc | |||
1996 | Fiachra Trench | |||
1997 | Régis Dupré | |||
1998 | Martin Koch | Host conductor [lower-alpha 11] | ||
1999 | No orchestra | [lower-alpha 12] | ||
2000 |
Year | Head of delegation | Ref. |
---|---|---|
2002–2012 | Bruno Berberes | |
2013–2015 | Frederic Valencak | |
2016–2018 | Edoardo Grassi | |
2019 | Steven Clerima | |
2020–present | Alexandra Redde-Amiel |
This section needs additional citations for verification .(May 2020) |
Since its debut in 1956, French broadcasters has sent commentators to provide coverage on the contest, including Robert Beauvais and Léon Zitrone. During the 1960s, its commentators was relayed in Luxembourg, Monaco, and French-speaking Switzerland.
Year | Commentator | Spokesperson | Ref. | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Final | Semi-final | |||
1956 | Michelle Rebel | No semi-finals | No spokesperson | [21] |
1957 | Robert Beauvais | Claude Darget | [22] | |
1958 | Pierre Tchernia | Armand Lanoux | [23] | |
1959 | Claude Darget | Marianne Lecène | [24] | |
1960 | Pierre Tchernia | Armand Lanoux | [25] | |
1961 | Robert Beauvais | [26] | ||
1962 | Pierre Tchernia | André Valmy | ||
1963 | Armand Lanoux | |||
1964 | Robert Beauvais | Jean-Claude Massoulier | ||
1965 | Pierre Tchernia [27] | |||
1966 | François Deguelt | |||
1967 | Pierre Tchernia [28] | |||
1968 | ||||
1969 | ||||
1970 | ||||
1971 | Georges de Caunes | No spokesperson | ||
1972 | Pierre Tchernia | |||
1973 | ||||
1974 | Did not participate | |||
1975 | Georges de Caunes | Marc Menant | ||
1976 | Jean-Claude Massoulier | |||
1977 | Georges de Caunes | |||
1978 | Léon Zitrone [29] | Patrice Laffont | ||
1979 | Marc Menant | Fabienne Égal | ||
1980 | Patrick Sabatier | |||
1981 | Denise Fabre | |||
1982 | Andre Torrent | Did not participate | ||
1983 | Léon Zitrone | Nicole André | ||
1984 | ||||
1985 | Patrice Laffont | Clémentine Célarié | ||
1986 | Patricia Lesieur | |||
1987 | Patrick Simpson-Jones | Lionel Cassan | ||
1988 | Lionel Cassan | Catherine Ceylac | ||
1989 | Marie-Ange Nardi | |||
1990 | Richard Adaridi | Valérie Maurice | ||
1991 | Léon Zitrone | Daniela Lumbroso | ||
1992 | Thierry Beccaro | Olivier Minne | ||
1993 | Patrice Laffont | |||
1994 | Laurent Romejko | |||
1995 | Olivier Minne | Thierry Beccaro | ||
1996 | Laurent Broomhead | |||
1997 | Frédéric Ferrer and Marie Myriam | |||
1998 | Chris Mayne, Laura Mayne | Marie Myriam | ||
1999 | Julien Lepers | |||
2000 | ||||
2001 | Marc-Olivier Fogiel, Dave | Corinne Hermès | ||
2002 | Marie Myriam | |||
2003 | Laurent Ruquier, Isabelle Mergault | Sandrine François | ||
2004 | Laurent Ruquier, Elsa Fayer | No broadcast | Alex Taylor | |
2005 | Julien Lepers, Guy Carlier | Peggy Olmi | Marie Myriam | |
2006 | Michel Drucker, Claudy Siar | Peggy Olmi, Eric Jean-Jean | Sophie Jovillard | |
2007 | Julien Lepers, Tex | Peggy Olmi, Yann Renoard | Vanessa Dolmen | |
2008 | Julien Lepers, Jean-Paul Gaultier | Cyril Hanouna | ||
2009 | Cyril Hanouna, Julien Courbet | Yann Renoard | ||
2010 | Cyril Hanouna, Stéphane Bern | Audrey Chauveau | ||
2011 | Laurent Boyer, Catherine Lara | Audrey Chauveau, Bruno Berberes | Cyril Féraud | |
2012 | Cyril Féraud, Mireille Dumas | Amaury Vassili | ||
2013 | Marine Vignes | |||
2014 | Cyril Féraud, Natasha St-Pier | Elodie Suigo | ||
2015 | Stéphane Bern, Marianne James | Mareva Galanter, Jérémy Parayre | Virginie Guilhaume | |
2016 | Marianne James, Jarry | Élodie Gossuin | ||
2017 | Stéphane Bern, Marianne James, Amir | |||
2018 | Stéphane Bern, Christophe Willem, Alma | Christophe Willem, André Manoukian | ||
2019 | Stéphane Bern, André Manoukian | Sandy Héribert, André Manoukian | Julia Molkhou | |
2021 | Stéphane Bern, Laurence Boccolini | Laurence Boccolini | Carla | |
2022 | Élodie Gossuin | |||
2023 | Anggun, André Manoukian | Anggun | ||
2024 | Nicky Doll | Natasha St-Pier |
The Eurovision Song Contest 1956 was the first edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest, organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Radio svizzera italiana (RSI) on behalf of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation. The contest, originally titled the Gran Premio Eurovisione 1956 della Canzone Europea, was held on Thursday 24 May 1956 at the Teatro Kursaal in Lugano, Switzerland, and hosted by Swiss television presenter Lohengrin Filipello, which remains the only time that the contest has been hosted by a solo male presenter.
The Netherlands has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 64 times since making its debut as one of the seven countries at the first contest in 1956. The country has missed only four contests, twice because the dates coincided with Remembrance of the Dead, and twice because of being relegated due to poor results the previous year. It has missed the final despite qualifying once, in 2024, due to the personal conduct of its entrant which led to disqualification. The Netherlands has hosted the contest five times: in Hilversum (1958), Amsterdam (1970), The Hague, and Rotterdam (2021).
Belgium has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 64 times since making its debut as one of seven countries at the first contest in 1956. The only countries with the same number or more appearances are Germany (66), France (65) and the United Kingdom (65). Belgium have been absent only three times in total, in 1994, 1997 and 2001, due to low scores in the previous contests that relegated them from the contest. Belgium has won the contest once, in 1986.
Italy has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 48 times since making its debut as one of only seven countries to compete at the first contest in 1956, which took inspiration from the Sanremo Music Festival. Italy competed at the contest without interruption until 1980, discontinuing its participation on a number of occasions during the 1980s and 1990s. After a 13-year absence starting in 1998, the country returned to the contest in 2011. Italy has won the contest three times, along with an additional 16 top-five finishes. Italy hosted the contest in Naples (1965), Rome (1991) and Turin (2022).
Switzerland has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 63 times since making its debut at the first contest in 1956, missing only four contests, in 1995, 1999, 2001 and 2003. Switzerland hosted the first contest in 1956 in Lugano, and won it. Switzerland won the contest again in 1988 and 2024.
Luxembourg has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 38 times since its debut at the first contest in 1956. The nation participated in all but one event between 1956 and 1993, only missing the 1959 contest. After finishing among the bottom seven countries in 1993, Luxembourg was relegated and prevented from competing in 1994. The nation did not return to the contest in 1995, and would make no further appearances over the next three decades. The country returned to the event for the first time in 31 years in 2024, qualifying for the final.
Monaco has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 24 times since its debut in 1959. The country's only win in the contest came in 1971, when Séverine performed "Un banc, un arbre, une rue". As a result, Monaco was expected to host the contest in 1972, but it ultimately declined. Monaco is the only microstate to have won the contest to date.
Bulgaria has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 14 times since making its debut at the 2005 contest in Kyiv. The country's best result is a second-place finish for Kristian Kostov and the song "Beautiful Mess" at the 2017 contest also in Kyiv.
Hungary has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 17 times since making its debut in 1994. Hungary attempted to participate in 1993 but failed to qualify from Kvalifikacija za Millstreet, a special qualifying competition set up for seven former Eastern Bloc countries.
Romania has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 23 times since its debut in 1994, and has placed in the top ten six times. Its best results were achieved by Luminița Anghel and Sistem in 2005, and by Paula Seling and Ovi in 2010, who both finished in third place. Selecția Națională, a song contest that has been taking place every year in Romania except for 2021, has been used to select the country's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest.
Bosnia and Herzegovina has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 19 times since making its debut in 1993, after coming second in the qualification round "Kvalifikacija za Millstreet". Prior to 1993, Bosnia and Herzegovina participated in the Eurovision Song Contest as part of Yugoslavia.
Sweden has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 62 times since making its debut in 1958, missing only three contests since then. Since 1959, the Swedish entry has been chosen through an annual televised competition, known since 1967 as Melodifestivalen. At the 1997 contest, Sweden was one of the first five countries to adopt televoting. Sweden has hosted the contest seven times: three times in Stockholm, three times in Malmö and once in Gothenburg (1985).
Ireland has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 56 times since making its debut at the 1965 contest in Naples, missing only two contests since, in 1983 and 2002. The contest's final is broadcast in Ireland on RTÉ One. Ireland shares a joint record total of seven wins with Sweden, and is the only country to have won three times consecutively. Ireland has finished second four times, while Sweden has done that just once. However, all of Ireland's victories were decided by juries only, in the era before public voting became the norm in 1998.
Finland has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 57 times since its debut in 1961. Finland won the contest for the first – and to date only – time in 2006 with Lordi and their song "Hard Rock Hallelujah". The country's best result before then was achieved by Marion Rung with the song "Tom Tom Tom" in 1973, which placed sixth.
Austria has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 56 times since its debut in 1957. The country has won twice, in 1966 and 2014, and such it holds the record for the longest gap between consecutive wins — 48 years. The contest is broadcast in Austria by ORF. Vienna was the host city on both of the occasions that the contest was held in Austria, in 1967 and 2015.
Norway has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 61 times since making its debut in 1960 and has only been absent twice since then. In 1970, the country boycotted the contest over disagreements about the voting structure, and in 2002, they were relegated. The contest is broadcast in Norway by NRK, which also broadcasts Norway's national selection competition, Melodi Grand Prix.
Greece has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 43 times since its debut in 1974, missing six contests in that time. Greece's first win came in 2005 with "My Number One", sung by Helena Paparizou. The Greek national broadcaster, Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT), broadcasts the event each year and organises the process for the selection of the Greek entry. Greece has never finished last in the contest.
Cyprus has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 40 times since making its debut in 1981. Cyprus' first entry was the group Island, who finished sixth. The country's best result in the contest is a second-place finish with Eleni Foureira in 2018.
Portugal has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 54 times since its debut at the 1964 contest. Since then it has missed five contests. The contest is broadcast in Portugal by Rádio e Televisão de Portugal (RTP). Portugal won the contest for the first time in 2017 and hosted the 2018 contest in Lisbon.
The United Kingdom has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 65 times. It first took part in the second contest in 1957 and has entered every year since 1959. Along with Sweden and the Netherlands, the UK is one of only three countries with Eurovision victories in four different decades. It is one of the "Big Five" countries, along with France, Germany, Italy and Spain, that are automatically prequalified for the final each year as they are the biggest financial contributors to the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). The British national broadcaster, the BBC, broadcasts the event and has, on multiple occasions, organised different national selection processes to choose the British entry. The United Kingdom has won the Eurovision Song Contest five times, and has finished as runner-up on a record sixteen occasions. The UK has hosted the contest a record nine times, four times in London and once each in Edinburgh (1972), Brighton (1974), Harrogate (1982), Birmingham (1998), and Liverpool (2023).