France: Eurovision 2021 hopeful to be selected through " Eurovision France, c'est vous qui decidez"

Friday, 17 July 2020

• As France has decided to switch to a national selection for Eurovision 2021, the next French representative will be determined through the show " Eurovision France, c'est vous qui decidez".

  Following "Déstination Eurovision" as the country's national selection format,  this  year the French broadcaster went internal and selected Tom Leeb to represent the country in a contest that was eventually cancelled due to the covid-19 pandemic. Now  France Télévision opts for a new national selection to select its hopeful for the next Eurovision Song Contest. Namely the national selection show " Eurovision France, c'est vous qui decidez" (Eurovision France; It's you who decides) will determine next year's representative. 

  Head of delegation Alexandra Redde-Amiel stated: 

  “ A great prime-time event produced by France Télévision, with the idea of ​​putting Eurovision in the foreground. The event will be shot in a large concert hall in one of the French capitals and will be presented by Stéphane Bern. "

  Stéphane Bern is a well-known face in France: writer and radio speaker, he commented on all editions of Eurovision from 2015 onwards, including Eurovision 2010 and the special event Europe Shine A Light. In addition he also commented on the last two editions of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest, which saw the return of France after fourteen years of absence. 

   

  Why returning to a national final

  After this year's internal selection the French broadcaster has decided to switch back to a national selection format. The Head of Delegation shed more light on that decision. Alexandra Redde-Amiel explained the reasons that led to the return to a national final:

  “We want the public to decide the next representative, so as not to leave the audience for another year without choice. We also talked about it with Tom and we think it is better to start Eurovision France, c'est vous qui decidez ".

  France would had been represented in the final by Tom Leeb , with his song Mon Alliée (The best in me) . The singer, who had been chosen internally at France Televisions at the end of last year, The decision was taken by mutual agreement," says the head of delegation. Preparing for Eurovision 2021 would have taken up too much of his time for him, who is also a comedian and actor. "And to specify:" We are accompanying him, Tom Leeb is a France Télévisions artist. "

   

  France in Eurovision 

  
  France is  one of the seven countries that had its first participation back in 1956. Since then the country has won the contest 5 times. Last time was in 1977, with Marie Myriam and her song L’oiseau et l’enfant. The last two years, however,  seems to be an increasing interest for the contest .

  Destination Eurovision  was used for the first time as the country’s national selection format in 2018, including two recorded semi final shows and a live grand final. 2018 was the first time France held a nationa final since 2014. National final 2018 winners were the duo Madame Monsieur who represented France in Lisbon with their entry “Mercy” which finished 13th.

  In 2019 Bilal Hassani won the second edition of Destination Eurovision 2019 and defended the French colours in Tel Aviv with his entry Roi which came 16th in the Grand final.

  After that France Televisions went internal selecting Tom Leeb to represent the country in Rotterdam last May. Unfortunately his ESC 2020 journey never took place as the covid-19 pandemic caused the cancellation of this year's edition.