Eurovision 2016: Amir - J'ai Cherché

The video for France's 2016 Eurovision Song Contest entry J'ai Cherché by Amir has emerged, in the run-up to this year's final in Stockholm in Sweden in May.

Amir Haddad was a finalist in season three of the French version of The Voice in  2014, part of team Jenifer. Previously he had taken part in an Israeli TV music competition, and released an album of work in Hebrew in 2011.

The song is an upbeat and positive number without resorting to the kind of novelty that Eurovision has become notorious for. It has of course an appropriately inoffensively uplifting video.

The song was co-written by Amir, and features some English lyrics, quite unusual for a French Eurovision entry.

France has of course had a mixed run of entries in Eurovision in recent years. Their last win was in 1977.

Last year France recieved only four points for the song N'Oubliez Pas by Lisa Angell, while in 2014 they finished last for the first time in France's Eurovision history with the track Moustache by Twin Twin, a song that picked up only two points.

2013's Amandine Bourgoise performance of L'enfer et Moi came in a 23rd,  while in 2012 Anggun's Echo (You and I) came 22nd.

France last reached the top ten in the final results with patricia Kaas in 2009 performing Et s'il fallait le faire.

Forty three contries are taking part this year, equalling the previous record number. A number of countries return after an absence, and Australia takes part again. France qualify straight to the final as the country is one of the five major contributors to the European Broadcasting Union.

The Eurovision Song Contest final takes place on May 14.

Eurovision 2015: Lisa Angell - N'Oubliez Pas

The video has been unveiled for this year's French entry in the Eurovision Song Contest.

The annual event is, for many, the only time in the year a UK audience gets to hear artists from outside the anglophone sphere.

Lisa Angell is representing France this year, with the song N'Oubliez Pas.

The song was written by Robert Goldman, the brother of Jean-Jacques Goldman, one of the most successful names in French songwriting in recent decades.

It's a more traditional song that last year's entry, Twin Twin with the song La moustache. That novelty song didn't perform well for France, while the previous year's power ballad L'enfer et moi by Amandine Bourgeois equally failed to leave much of an impression on voters.

France is one of the countries that automatically goes straight into the  for the final contest without having to participate in qualifying rounds.

This year's Eurovision Song Contest is held on May 23, and comes from Vienna in Austria.

Eurovision 2015: Lisa Angell - N'oubliez pas

A grand unveling today if France's entry to the 2015 Eurovison song contest, with the song N'oubliez pas by Lisa Angell representing France's hopes at Vienna in May.

It's a big ballad number, written by Robert Goldman, brother of Jean Jacques Goldman.

Lisa Angell has released three albums in her career so far, her debut Les Divines coming out in 2011 and reaching number 31 in the French charts. She initially became known for appearing on the TV show Le Plus Grand Cabaret du mond

She followed this wih Des Mots... in 2013 Her most recent, Frou-Frou, was released last year.

While it may bear as much relation to the actual music scene in France, as the UK's entry ever does to what's going on in Britain, for many it's their only experience of French music over the course of the year.

The Eurovison song contest is held on May 23.

 

Eurovision 2014 - Twin Twin: Moustache

It's the annual weekend when European music gets noticed in the UK,  and gets roundly ridiculed by the
British audience.

It's a fun event and an old-school television spectacular that has endued well into the 21st century, and while rows about the expense and the political backdrop of a continent that is certainly not without its problems at the moment may endure, it remains a worthwhile project.

For its faults, few other non-sporting events encourage so much international co-operation and cultural exchange. And few others provide as much entertainment.

This year it's being held in Copenhagen following Denmark's victory in 2013 in  Malmö, Sweden, with  Emmelie de Forests song  Only Teardrops.

France are automatically in the finals on Saturday, when the viewers across the continent will get their say on who they like best.

Twenty six countries are performing at the final, with France fourteenth on the running order.

France's entry this year might actually do quite well, it's  a funny and catchy song by Twin Twin entitled Moustache.

It doesn't take itself too seriously and to be honest I could imagine it doing pretty well in front of an international audience. Perhaps not a million miles away from Stromae, who has done rather well in the European music scene in recent times.



Here's a nice acoustic version,

Eurovision: Amandine Bourgeois - L'enfer et moi

The video's been unveiled for France's entry for the 2013 Eurovision Song Contest, with the song L'enfer et moi by  Amandine Bourgeois.

She was the winner of the sixth season of Nouvelle Star in 2008, and has released two albums since then, 2009's 20 m²,a top five album, and 2012's Sans amour mon amour.

In January she was named as the proformed of France's Eurovision entry for the competitionin Malmö in Sweden. Eighteen songs were shortlisted for France's entry this year, and a panel chose five finalists going into a second round which resulted in her performance of L'Enfer Et Moi being chosen by a majority decision. The song was written by Boris Bergman and David Salkin.

Bergman's a writer and lyricist who has been a song writer since the last 60s, working with artists including France Gall, Juliette Gréco and others, including noteably Alain Bashung in the 80s.

He was also behing the English language adaptations of the songs of Serge Gaisbourg that appeared on the 2006 album Monsieur Gainsbourg Revisited. he recently collaborated with ex-Téléphone guitarist Louis Bertignac on his Grizzly album from 2011.

Last year France was represented at the Final in Baku in Azerbaijan by Anggun with the song Echo (You And I).

This year's Eurovision final is being held on May 18.

Eurovision: Anggun

It's the weekend when UK viewers get reminded that there's music made outside the English language world. Eurovision is mocked as much as it is enjoyed in the UK, and while the staging of many of the acts certainly merits mockery, there's usually a sneering tone about how the foreigners really can't really do proper music.

It will take more than a televised music contest to rid the English speaking world of its xenophobia, but at least its a step in the right direction.

This year there's a controversy over the host country and its human rights record. I'm sure there are similar problems in many of the countries in eastern Europe. Again, it will take more than an international TV event to sort these out, but hopefully the attention given to these issues by the international media will at least raise awareness of the problems.

Meanwhile, with the show itself  attention will no doubt focus on the alleged political skullduggery in the voting, with claims of favouritism and partiality. But it was always like this, and much of it is down to acts being established performers in culturally similar countries.

Meanwhile, Spain are asking their entrant not to win because they can't afford to stage it, and the Euro crisis hangs over the event, and a number of countries have withdrawn this year.

Other rows focus on the performers: Are Jedward good enough to represent Ireland? Is Englebert too old to represent the UK?

But we should put our pre-concieved ideas to one side and enjoy the entertainment, because that's what it is.

At its best Eurovision is television entertainment at its finest, as ridiculous as it is spectacular. It's a throwback to a time of more utopian ideas, that a continent could settle its political and cultutral differences in a sing-off, and that a song could unite different peoples regardless of linguistic differences.

Of course, it never quite achieves its lofty ideas, adrift on a sea of kitsch, ropey acts and bad songs, but that distance between its ideals and the reality is where the enjoyment exists.

There will certainly be memorable moments. Many for the wrong reasons. Will Anggun's Echo (You and I) take the prize? We'll see. In the meantime, there will be some quality - in some form or other - TV to watch on Saturday night.

Eurovision: Amaury Vassili

France goes into the 2011 Eurovision Song Contest in Dusseldorf on Saturday with the track Sognu, sung by Amaury Vassili.

It's an unusual entry as it is sung in Corsican, and very much an operatic style song. But as he is one of the youngest professional tenors in the world, it is a style that he is familiar with.

To those unfamiliar with Corsican - like me - you might be forgiven for thinking that it was actually in Italian, a language much more associated with opera.

In short it works well, and a bonus for giving one of France's minority languages an international audience.

Vassili comes from Rouen, and his debut album Vincero, released in 2009, sold over 250,000 copies internationally. His second album Cantero was released in November 2010 and like his debut it went into the top ten in france.

France automatically qualifies for the final on Saturday.

Since 2000, the UK, Germany, France and Spain have automatically qualified for the Eurovision final, regardless of their positions on the scoreboard in previous Contests because they are the four biggest financial contributors to the EBU. In 2010 Italy also joined this group.

Last year France finished 12th with Allez Ola Olé by Jessy Matador, the winner being germany with Lena's Satellite. Lena is also representing Germany this year.

Speaking to the Eurovision Song Contest 2011 website on May 8, he said: "My first rehearsal was really good."

He added: "I thought it was very hard, since we had a lot of things to check, like the in-ear monitors. Everything was very complicated in the preparations. But when I was on stage, it was very simple."