France in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012

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Eurovision Song Contest 2012
CountryFlag of France.svg  France
National selection
Selection processInternal selection
Selection date(s)Artist: 29 November 2011
Song: 29 January 2012
Selected entrant Anggun
Selected song"Echo (You and I)"
Selected songwriter(s)
Finals performance
Final result22nd, 21 points
France in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2011 •2012• 2013►

France participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 with the song "Echo (You and I)" written by William Rousseau, Jean-Pierre Pilot and Anggun. The song was performed by Anggun. The French broadcaster France Télévisions in collaboration with the television channel France 3 internally selected the French entry for the 2012 contest in Baku, Azerbaijan. Anggun was officially announced by France 3 as the French entrant on 29 November 2011 and later the song was presented to the public as the contest entry during a press conference on 29 January 2012.

Contents

As a member of the "Big Five", France automatically qualified to compete in the final of the Eurovision Song Contest. Performing in position 9, France placed twenty-second out of the 26 participating countries with 21 points.

Background

Prior to the 2012 contest, France had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest fifty-four times since its debut as one of seven countries to take part in 1956. [1] France first won the contest in 1958 with "Dors, mon amour" performed by André Claveau. In the 1960s, they won three times, 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". France have also finished second four times, with Paule Desjardins in 1957, Catherine Ferry in 1976, Joëlle Ursull in 1990 and Amina in 1991, who lost out to Sweden's Carola in a tie-break. In the 21st century, France has had less success, only making the top ten three times, with Natasha St-Pier finishing fourth in 2001, Sandrine François finishing fifth in 2002 and Patricia Kaas finishing eighth in 2009.

The French national broadcaster, France Télévisions, broadcasts the event within France and delegates the selection of the nation's entry to the television channel France 3. France 3 confirmed that France would participate in the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest on 19 November 2011. [2] The French broadcaster had used both national finals and internal selection to choose the French entry in the past. From 2008 to 2011, the broadcaster opted to internally select the French entry, a procedure that was continued in order to select the 2012 entry.

Before Eurovision

Internal selection

Anggun was internally selected to represent France in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 Anggun tournee OLA 08628.jpg
Anggun was internally selected to represent France in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012

France 3 announced in late 2011 that the French entry for the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest would be selected internally. The organisation of the internal selection was headed by France 3 entertainment director Marie-Claire Mezerette. [2] [3] On 29 November 2011, France 3 announced that the French entrant for the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 would be Indonesian-French singer Anggun. [4] Her song "Echo (You and I)" was written by William Rousseau, Jean-Pierre Pilot and Anggun and contains lyrics in a bilingual mix of French and English. [5] The entry was formally presented to the public on 29 January 2012 during a press conference held at the Blue Lounge of the Palais des Festivals in Cannes. [6] [7]

Promotion

Anggun made several appearances across Europe to specifically promote "Echo (You and I)" as the French Eurovision entry. Anggun performed "Echo (You and I)" during several Eurovision national finals: in Malta on 6 February, [8] in Ukraine on 18 February, [9] in Slovenia on 26 February, [10] in Bulgaria on 29 February, [11] in Romania on 10 March, [12] and in Greece on 12 March. [13] On 21 April, Anggun performed during the Eurovision in Concert event which was held at the Melkweg venue in Amsterdam, Netherlands and hosted by Cornald Maas and Ruth Jacott. [14] On 23 April, Anggun performed during the London Eurovision Party, which was held at the Shadow Lounge venue in London, United Kingdom and hosted by Nicki French and Paddy O'Connell. [15] On 12 May, Anggun performed in Hungary during the third live show of the RTL talent show Csillag Születik . [16]

At Eurovision

According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big Five" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. As a member of the "Big 5", France automatically qualified to compete in the final on 26 May 2012. In addition to their participation in the final, France is also required to broadcast and vote in one of the two semi-finals. During the semi-final allocation draw on 25 January 2012, France was assigned to broadcast and vote in the second semi-final on 24 May 2012. [17]

In France, the two semi-finals was broadcast on France Ô with commentary by Audrey Chauveau and Bruno Berberes, while the final was broadcast on France 3 with commentary by Cyril Féraud and Mireille Dumas, as well as via radio on France Bleu with commentary by Fabien Lecœuvre and Serge Poezevara. [18] [19] [20] The French spokesperson, who announced the French votes during the final, was Amaury Vassili who represented France in the 2011 Contest.

Final

Anggun during a rehearsal before the final Anggun @ Eurovision 2012.jpg
Anggun during a rehearsal before the final

Anggun took part in technical rehearsals on 19 and 20 May, followed by dress rehearsals on 25 and 26 May. This included the jury final on 25 May where the professional juries of each country watched and voted on the competing entries. After technical rehearsals were held on 20 May, the "Big 5" countries and host nation Azerbaijan held a press conference. As part of this press conference, the artists took part in a draw to determine the running order for the final and France was subsequently placed to perform in position 9, following the entry from Cyprus and before the entry from Italy.

The French performance featured Anggun on stage wearing a golden veiled dress designed by French designer Jean-Paul Gaultier and performing the song with three dancers: Jimmy Bourcereau, Jeremy Maupilet and Andrea Catozzi, all performing an artistic choreography on three boxes and lifted up Anggun at the conclusion of the performance, which was shown in slow motion. The stage colours and lighting were both predominately blue. [21] [22] Anggun was also joined on stage by two backing vocalists: Caroline Devismes and Sebastien Demeaux. France placed twenty-second in the final, scoring 21 points. [23]

Voting

Voting during the three shows consisted of 50 percent public televoting and 50 percent from a jury deliberation. The jury consisted of five music industry professionals who were citizens of the country they represent, with their names published before the contest to ensure transparency. This jury was asked to judge each contestant based on: vocal capacity; the stage performance; the song's composition and originality; and the overall impression by the act. In addition, no member of a national jury could be related in any way to any of the competing acts in such a way that they cannot vote impartially and independently. The individual rankings of each jury member were released shortly after the grand final.

Following the release of the full split voting by the EBU after the conclusion of the competition, it was revealed that France had placed twenty-sixth with the public televote and thirteenth with the jury vote. In the public vote, France scored 0 points and in the jury vote the nation scored 85 points. [24]

Below is a breakdown of points awarded to France and awarded by France in the second semi-final and grand final of the contest, and the breakdown of the jury voting and televoting conducted during the two shows:

Points awarded to France

Points awarded to France (Final) [25]
ScoreCountry
12 points
10 points
8 points
7 points
6 points
5 points
4 points
3 pointsFlag of Latvia.svg  Latvia
2 points
1 point

Points awarded by France

Related Research Articles

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Germany participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 with the song "Standing Still" written by Steve Robson, Jamie Cullum and Wayne Hector. The song was performed by Roman Lob. The German entry for the 2012 contest in Baku, Azerbaijan was selected through the national final Unser Star für Baku, organised by the German broadcaster ARD in collaboration with Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR) and private broadcaster ProSieben. The national final featured 20 competing artists and consisted of five heats, a quarter-final, a semi-final and a final held in January and February 2012 2012. Contestants were selected to advance in the competition via public televote. Two contestants qualified to compete in the final where the winner was selected over two rounds of voting. "Standing Still" performed by Roman Lob was selected as the German entry for Baku after gaining 50.7% of the votes in the second round.

Slovenia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 with the song "Verjamem" written by Vladimir Graić, Hari Mata Hari and Igor Pirkovič. The song was performed by Eva Boto. Songwriter Hari Mata Hari represented Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 with the song "Lejla" where he placed third in the grand final of the competition. Slovenian broadcaster Radiotelevizija Slovenija organised the national final Misija EMA 2012 in order to select the Slovenian entry for the 2012 contest in Baku, Azerbaijan. 32 performers competed in the first stage of the national final, Misija Evrovizija, from which two artists qualified to compete in Misija EMA 2012 following a five-month-long competition. In Misija EMA 2012, the winner was selected over two rounds of voting. In the first round, each artist performed three songs and one song were selected for each performer following the combination of votes from a four-member jury panel and a public televote. In the second round, "Verjamem" performed by Eva Boto was selected as the winner entirely by a public televote.

Norway participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 with the song "Stay" written by Tooji, Peter Boström and Figge Boström. The song was performed by Tooji. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) organised the national final Melodi Grand Prix 2012 in order to select the Norwegian entry for the 2012 contest in Baku, Azerbaijan. 24 entries competed in the national final that consisted of three semi-finals and a final. Ten entries ultimately qualified to compete in the final on 11 February 2012 where the winner was determined over two rounds of voting. In the first round of voting, a public televote exclusively selected the top four entries to advance to the competition's second round—the Gold Final. In the second round of voting, "Stay" performed by Tooji was selected as the winner following the combination of votes from three regional jury groups and a public vote.

Cyprus participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 with the song "La La Love" written by Alex Papaconstantinou, Björn Djupström, Alexandra Zakka and Viktor Svensson. The song was performed by Ivi Adamou, who was selected by the Cypriot broadcaster Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation (CyBC) in August 2011 to represent Cyprus at the 2012 contest in Baku, Azerbaijan. CyBC organised the national final A Song for Ivi on 25 January 2012 to select the Cypriot song. The national final featured three songs and resulted in the selection of "La La Love" as the winning song.

Belgium participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 with the song "Would You?" written by Nina Sampermans, Jean Bosco Safari and Walter Mannaerts. The song was performed by Iris, who was internally selected by the Flemish broadcaster Vlaamse Radio- en Televisieomroeporganisatie (VRT) in November 2011 to represent the nation at the 2012 contest in Baku, Azerbaijan. The song was selected through the national final Eurosong 2012: Een song voor Iris, which was organised by VRT and featured two songs. In the final on 17 March 2012, "Would You?" was selected as the winning song after gaining 53% of the public televote.

Denmark participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 with the song "Should've Known Better" written by Chief 1, Remee and Isam B. The song was performed by Soluna Samay. The Danish broadcaster DR organised the national final Dansk Melodi Grand Prix 2012 in order to select the Danish entry for the 2012 contest in Baku, Azerbaijan. Nine songs competed in a televised show where "Should've Known Better" performed by Soluna Samay was the winner as decided upon through the combination of jury voting and public voting over two rounds.

Romania participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 with the song "Zaleilah" written by Elena Ionescu, Costi Ioniță and Omar Secada. The song was performed by the band Mandinga. The Romanian broadcaster Televiziunea Română (TVR) organised the national final Selecția Națională 2012 in order to select the Romanian entry for the 2012 contest in Baku, Azerbaijan. Fifteen entries were selected to compete in the national final on 10 March 2012 where "Zaleilah" performed by Mandinga was selected as the winner after scoring top marks from a nine-member jury panel and a public televote.

Bulgaria participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 with the song "Love Unlimited" written by Yasen Kozev, Krum Georgiev and Doni Vasileva. The song was performed by Sofi Marinova. The Bulgarian broadcaster Bulgarian National Television (BNT) organised the national final Bŭlgarskata pesen v „Evroviziya 2012” in order to select the Bulgarian entry for the 2012 contest in Baku, Azerbaijan. 22 entries were selected to participate in the national final which consisted of two shows: a semi-final and a final, held on 14 January 2012 and 29 February 2012, respectively. Twelve songs qualified to the final from the semi-final. In the final, "Love Unlimited" performed by Sofi Marinova emerged as the winning entry following the combination of votes from a 24-member jury panel and a public televote.

Malta participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 with the song "This Is the Night" written by Johan Jämtberg, Kurt Calleja and Mikael Gunnerås. The song was performed by Kurt Calleja. The Maltese entry for the 2012 contest in Baku, Azerbaijan was selected through the national final Malta Eurovision Song Contest 2012, organised by the Maltese broadcaster Public Broadcasting Services (PBS). The competition consisted of a semi-final round and a final, held on 3 and 4 February 2012, respectively, where "This Is the Night" performed by Kurt Calleja eventually emerged as the winning entry after scoring the most points from a six-member jury and a public televote.

Belarus participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 with the song "We Are the Heroes" written by Vladimir Karyakin and Dmitry Karyakin. The song was performed by the band Litesound. The Belarusian entry for the 2012 contest in Baku, Azerbaijan was selected through the national final Eurofest 2012, organised by the Belarusian broadcaster National State Television and Radio Company of the Republic of Belarus (BTRC). The national final was a televised production which consisted of a semi-final and a final held on 21 December 2011 and 14 February 2012, respectively. Fifteen competing acts participated in the semi-final where the top five entries qualified to the final. In the final, "All My Life" performed by Alyona Lanskaya was initially selected as the winner following the combination of votes from a jury panel and public televoting, however the entry was later disqualified due to vote rigging and replaced by runner-up "We Are the Heroes" performed by Litesound.

Austria participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 with the song "Woki mit deim Popo" written by Lukas Plöchl and Manuel Hoffelner. The song was performed by the duo Trackshittaz. The Austrian broadcaster Österreichischer Rundfunk (ORF) organised the national final Österreich rockt den Song Contest in order to select the Austrian entry for the 2012 contest in Baku, Azerbaijan. Ten songs competed in a televised show where a public vote first selected the top two entries to proceed to a second round of voting. In the second round, "Woki mit deim Popo" was selected as the winner after gaining 51% of the votes from a public vote. This was the first time that the Austrian song was performed entirely in the Mühlviertlerisch dialect at the Eurovision Song Contest.

Lithuania participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 with the song "Love Is Blind" written by Brandon Stone and Jodie Rose. The song was performed by Donny Montell. The Lithuanian broadcaster Lithuanian National Radio and Television (LRT) organised the national final "Eurovizijos" dainų konkurso nacionalinė atranka in order to select the Lithuanian entry for the 2012 contest in Baku, Azerbaijan. The national final took place over five weeks and involved 36 competing entries. In the final, fourteen entries remained and the winner was selected over two rounds of voting. In the first round, the combination of votes from a jury panel and a public vote selected the top three to qualify to the superfinal. In the superfinal, a jury vote entirely selected "Love Is Blind" performed by Donny Montell as the winner.

Macedonia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 with the song "Crno i belo" written by Kaliopi and Romeo Grill. The song was performed by Kaliopi, who was internally selected by the Macedonian broadcaster Macedonian Radio Television (MRT) to compete for Macedonia at the 2012 contest in Baku, Azerbaijan. Kaliopi's appointment as the Macedonian representative was announced on 19 November 2011, while her song, "Crno i belo", was presented to the public in a television special titled Evrosong 2012 on 29 February 2012.

Ukraine participated in Eurovision Song Contest 2012 with the song "Be My Guest" written by Gaitana and Kiwi Project. The song was performed by Gaitana. The Ukrainian broadcaster National Television Company of Ukraine (NTU) organised a national final in order to select the Ukrainian entry for the 2012 contest in Baku, Azerbaijan. Twenty-one entries competed in the national selection held on 18 February 2012 and "Be My Guest" performed by Gaitana was selected as the winner following the combination of votes from a seven-member jury panel and a public televote.

Bosnia and Herzegovina participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 with the song "Korake ti znam" written and performed by Maya Sar. On 15 December 2011, the Bosnian broadcaster Radio and Television of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BHRT) revealed that they had internally selected Maya Sar to compete at the 2012 contest in Baku, Azerbaijan. Her song, "Korake ti znam", was presented to the public during a show on 15 March 2012.

Georgia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 with the song "I'm a Joker" written by Rusudan Chkhaidze and Bibi Kvachadze. The song was performed by Anri Jokhadze. The Georgian broadcaster Georgian Public Broadcaster (GPB) held a national final in order to select the Georgian entry for the 2012 contest in Baku, Azerbaijan. An open call for submissions was held which resulted in the shortlisting of nine entries that were presented to the public during a televised production on 19 February 2012. The results of a public televote combined with the votes of an expert jury resulted in the selection of "I'm a Joker" performed by Anri Jokhadze as the Georgian entry.

Spain participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 with the song "Quédate conmigo" written by Thomas G:son, Tony Sánchez-Ohlsson and Erik Bernholm. The song was performed by Pastora Soler, who was internally selected by the Spanish broadcaster Televisión Española (TVE) in December 2011 to represent Spain at the 2012 contest in Baku, Azerbaijan. The national final Eurovisión: Pastora Soler was organised in order to select the song Soler would perform. Three songs, one selected through an Internet public vote, competed in the televised show where an in-studio jury and a public televote selected "Quédate conmigo" as the winning song.

Moldova participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 with the song "Lăutar" written by Pasha Parfeny and Alex Brașoveanu. The song was performed by Pasha Parfeny. The Moldovan broadcaster TeleRadio-Moldova (TRM) organised the national final O melodie pentru Europa 2012 in order to select the Moldovan entry for the 2012 contest in Baku, Azerbaijan. 85 entries competed to represent Moldova in Baku, with 21 being shortlisted to participate in the televised national final which took place on 11 March 2012 after auditioning in front of a jury panel. "Lăutar" performed by Pasha Parfeny emerged as the winner after gaining the most points following the combination of votes from a jury panel and a public televote.

France participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 with the song "L'enfer et moi" written by Boris Bergman and David Salkin. The song was performed by Amandine Bourgeois. The French broadcaster France Télévisions in collaboration with the television channel France 3 internally selected the French entry for the 2013 contest in Malmö, Sweden. "L'enfer et moi" was officially announced by France 3 as the French entry on 22 January 2013 and later the song was presented to the public as the contest entry on 13 March 2013.

References

  1. ↑ "France Country Profile". EBU . Retrieved 20 November 2014.
  2. 1 2 Dufaut, Dominique (19 November 2011). "France to choose internally for Eurovision 2012". Esctoday. Archived from the original on 11 January 2012. Retrieved 29 November 2020.
  3. ↑ "Eurovision 2012 : Anggun représentera la France". Télé-Loisirs (in French). 29 November 2011. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
  4. ↑ Jiandani, Sanjay (29 November 2011). "France: Anggun will represent France in Baku". Esctoday.com. Retrieved 29 November 2011.
  5. ↑ "France 2012".
  6. ↑ Dufaut, Dominique (29 January 2012). "French song online today at 16:00 CET". Esctoday. Archived from the original on 27 March 2012. Retrieved 29 November 2020.
  7. ↑ Escuerdo, Victor M. (29 January 2012). "Listen to Echo (You And I), the French entry!". Eurovision.tv.
  8. ↑ "Malta National Final – Running Order". tvm.com.mt. 4 February 2012. Archived from the original on 6 February 2012. Retrieved 3 September 2023.
  9. ↑ Hondal, Victor (18 February 2012). "Gaitana will represent Ukraine in Baku". Esctoday. Archived from the original on 10 April 2012. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
  10. ↑ Vikend, Teja Roglič (26 February 2012). "Drevi Ema 2012: »Do nastopa čaj z medom, na odru brez petk«". old.delo.si (in Slovenian). Retrieved 24 June 2023.
  11. ↑ Hondal, Victor (29 February 2012). "Watch now: National final in Bulgaria". Esctoday. Archived from the original on 2 May 2012. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
  12. ↑ "John and Edward in Romania". Jedward Eurovision. Retrieved 18 December 2021.
  13. ↑ Stanton, John (12 March 2012). "Greece selects Eleftheria Eleftheriou to sing at the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest". EuroVisionary. Archived from the original on 13 March 2012. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
  14. ↑ Uluçay, Serkan (9 April 2012). "Ivi Adamou Withdraws From Eurovision in Concert – But There's no Danger for 2012 Eurovision Song Contest Participation". EuroVisionary. Retrieved 17 November 2021.
  15. ↑ "Gallery: London Eurovision Party 2012". EuroVisionary. 30 April 2012. Retrieved 17 November 2021.
  16. ↑ "Francia énekesnő, eurovíziós fellépő jön a Csillag születikbe". origo.hu (in Hungarian). Retrieved 19 December 2023.
  17. ↑ Escudero, Victor (25 January 2012). "Results of the Semi-Final allocation draw". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 6 July 2013. Retrieved 25 January 2012.
  18. ↑ "Programme de Le 57ème Concours Eurovision de la chanson". France Télévisions (in French). Archived from the original on 29 April 2009. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
  19. ↑ "Soirée fun en vue: Mireille Dumas et Cyril Féraud commenteront l'Eurovision". L'Express. 12 March 2012. Archived from the original on 29 May 2012. Retrieved 13 March 2012.
  20. ↑ "On repeint la musique sur France Bleu" (in French). France Bleu . Retrieved 1 June 2012.[ permanent dead link ]
  21. ↑ "Anggun echoes the Baku Crystal Hall". eurovision.tv. 19 May 2012. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
  22. ↑ "Elegance and energy for France". eurovision.tv. 20 May 2012. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
  23. ↑ "Eurovision Song Contest 2012 Grand Final". Eurovision.tv. Archived from the original on 22 January 2013.
  24. ↑ Siim, Jarmo (18 June 2012). "Eurovision 2012 split jury-televote results revealed". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 21 June 2012. Retrieved 1 May 2021.
  25. 1 2 "Results of the Grand Final of Baku 2012". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 1 May 2021. Retrieved 1 May 2021.
  26. ↑ "Results of the Second Semi-Final of Baku 2012". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 1 May 2021. Retrieved 1 May 2021.
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