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 | 66 |
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 66 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. Since 1993, the French participant broadcaster is France Télévisions . 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 their participant broadcasters 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, with the song " L'Oiseau et l'Enfant " performed by Marie Myriam. During its successful run in the 20th century, France has also finished second four times, with "La Belle amour" by Paule Desjardins (1957), "Un, deux, trois" by Catherine Ferry (1976), "White and Black Blues" by Joëlle Ursull (1990), and " C'est le dernier qui a parlé qui a raison " by Amina (1991), who lost out to Sweden's " Fångad av en stormvind " by 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 " Je n'ai que mon âme " by Natasha St-Pier fourth (2001), " Il faut du temps " by Sandrine François fifth (2002), " Voilà " by Barbara Pravi second (2021), and " Mon amour " by Slimane fourth (2024). France's other top 10 results in the century are "Et s'il fallait le faire" by Patricia Kaas eighth (2009), and " J'ai cherché " by Amir sixth (2016). France finished last for the first time in 2014, when " Moustache " by Twin Twin received only two points.
Several national broadcasters have successively participated in the contest representing France over the years: Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française (RTF; 1956–1964), Office de Radiodiffusion Télévision Française (ORTF; 1965–1974), Télévision Française 1 (TF1; 1975–1981), and Antenne 2 (1983–1992). Since 1993, France Télévisions is who participates representing France, with the final being broadcast on France 2 (1993–1998, 2015–present) and France 3 (1999–2014), and the semi-final which France votes in was broadcast on France 4 (2005–2010, 2016–2019), later France Ô (2011–2015) 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.
The process to select the French entry in the contest has changed over the years, with either a national final or an internal selection (occasionally a combination of both formats) having been held.
France is one of the most successful countries in Eurovision, winning the contest five times, coming second five times and coming third seven times. However, France has only hosted the contest three times (1959, 1961, and 1978). [1] France was ranked first in number of victories (either alone or tied with other countries) without interruptions from 1960 to 1993. Moreover, " C'est le dernier qui a parlé qui a raison " performed by Amina was close to victory in 1991, when it 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. With the current rules in place, 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 "White and Black Blues" by Joëlle Ursull. 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, " Je n'ai que mon âme " performed by Canadian singer Natasha St-Pier came fourth, being the favourite to win the contest by fans and odds. This good result was carried into the 2002 contest, when "Il faut du temps" by Sandrine François came fifth 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. Slimane finished in fourth place in 2024 with his song "Mon amour".
Since its debut in 1956, France has only missed two contests, in 1974 and 1982. In 1974, after selecting a singer and song to represent the country at the contest, France withdrew after the French president Georges Pompidou died in the week of the contest. [2] If it 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 due to the public reaction to TF1's withdrawal, hosting a national final to select the French 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] The participant broadcasters from 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 | [14] | |
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 | [15] | |||
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] | [16] | |
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 | [22] |
1957 | Robert Beauvais | Claude Darget | [23] | |
1958 | Pierre Tchernia | Armand Lanoux | [24] | |
1959 | Claude Darget | Marianne Lecène | [25] | |
1960 | Pierre Tchernia | Armand Lanoux | [26] | |
1961 | Robert Beauvais | [27] | ||
1962 | Pierre Tchernia | André Valmy | ||
1963 | Armand Lanoux | |||
1964 | Robert Beauvais | Jean-Claude Massoulier | ||
1965 | Pierre Tchernia [28] | |||
1966 | François Deguelt | |||
1967 | Pierre Tchernia [29] | |||
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 [30] | 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 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 Eurovision Song Contest 1959 was the fourth edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest, held on Wednesday 11 March 1959 at the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès in Cannes, France, and hosted by French television presenter Jacqueline Joubert. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française (RTF), the contest, originally known as the Grand Prix Eurovision de la Chanson Européenne 1959, was held in France following the country's victory at the 1958 contest with the song "Dors, mon amour", performed by André Claveau.
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 current Dutch participant broadcaster in the contest is AVROTROS. 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 65 times since making its debut as one of seven countries at the first contest in 1956. The only countries with more appearances are Germany (67), France (66) and the United Kingdom (66). 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. The Italian participant broadcaster in the contest is Radiotelevisione italiana (RAI). It 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 64 times since its debut at the first contest in 1956, missing only four contests because of being relegated due to poor results the previous year: 1995, 1999, 2001, and 2003. Switzerland hosted the inaugural contest in 1956 in Lugano, where it also won. The country claimed its second victory in 1988, 32 years after the first, and its third in 2024, 36 years after the second win. The Swiss participant broadcaster in the contest is the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation.
Luxembourg has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 38 times since its debut at the first contest in 1956. The current Luxembourgish participant broadcaster in the contest is RTL Lëtzebuerg (RTL). 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 declined to 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.
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, with "Un banc, un arbre, une rue" performed by Séverine. As a result, Monaco was expected to host the contest in 1972, but it ultimately declined. The Monégasque participant broadcaster in the contest was Télé Monte-Carlo (TMC). Monaco is the only microstate to have won the contest to date.
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". The current Bosnian-Herzegovinian participant broadcaster in the contest is the Radio and Television of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BHRT).
Sweden has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 63 times since making its debut in 1958, missing only three contests since then. The current Swedish participant broadcaster in the contest is Sveriges Television (SVT), which select its entrant with the national competition Melodifestivalen. Sweden has hosted the contest seven times: three times in Stockholm, three times in Malmö and once in Gothenburg (1985). At the 1997 contest, Sweden was one of the first five countries to adopt televoting.
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 Austrian participant broadcaster in the contest is Österreichischer Rundfunk (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 62 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 Norwegian participant broadcaster in the contest is Norsk rikskringkasting (NRK), which select its entrant with the national competition Melodi Grand Prix.
Cyprus has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 40 times since making its debut in 1981. The Cypriot participant broadcaster in the contest is the Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation (CyBC). Its first entry was "Monika" performed by the group Island, who finished sixth. The country's best result is a second-place finish with "Fuego" by Eleni Foureira in 2018. Cyprus holds the record for most editions competing in the contest without a single win to date.
France has participated in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest seven times, debuting in Lillehammer, Norway, at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2004. France Télévisions, a member organisation of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), is responsible for the selection process of their participation. The first representative to participate for the nation was Thomas Pontier with the song "Si on voulait bien", which finished in sixth place out of eighteen participating entries, achieving a score of seventy-eight points. France did not participate after 2004, and made its return to the contest in 2018, 14 years later. France has won the contest on three occasions: in 2020, with Valentina and the song "J'imagine", in 2022, with Lissandro and the song "Oh Maman!", and in 2023, with Zoé Clauzure and the song "Cœur".
France participated at the Eurovision Song Contest 1958, held in Hilversum, Netherlands. André Claveau with the song "Dors, mon amour" was selected as the nation's entry following an internal selection as well as a national final held on 7 February 1958. At the contest, held on 12 March 1958, France won with 27 points.
The Eurovision Song Contest 2023 was the 67th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Liverpool, United Kingdom, as Ukraine, the winner of the 2022 contest with the song "Stefania" by Kalush Orchestra, was unable to host the event due to the Russian invasion of the country. It was organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), with the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) acting as host broadcaster on behalf of the Public Broadcasting Company of Ukraine (UA:PBC). The contest was held at Liverpool Arena, and consisted of two semi-finals on 9 and 11 May and a final on 13 May 2023. The three live shows were presented by British singer Alesha Dixon, British actress Hannah Waddingham, and Ukrainian singer Julia Sanina, with Irish television presenter Graham Norton joining for the final.
France participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 in Turin, Italy, with "Fulenn" performed by Alvan and Ahez. The French broadcaster France Télévisions organised the national final Eurovision France, c'est vous qui décidez ! in order to select the French entry for the 2022 contest. Twelve songs competed in the national final on 5 March 2022, where the winner was selected over two rounds of voting.
France participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 in Malmö, Sweden with the song "Mon amour", written by Slimane, Yaacov Salah and Meïr Salah and performed by Slimane. The French broadcaster France Télévisions internally selected the French entry for the contest.
Belgium participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 in Malmö, Sweden, with "Before the Party's Over" performed by Mustii. The Walloon broadcaster Radio Télévision Belge de la Communauté Française (RTBF) internally selected the Belgian entrant for the contest.