France in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015

Eurovision Song Contest 2015
Country  France
National selection
Selection process Internal Selection
Selection date(s) 23 January 2015
Selected entrant Lisa Angell
Selected song "N'oubliez pas"
Selected songwriter(s)
France in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2014 • 2015

France will participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 in Vienna, Austria. The French entry was selected through an internal selection, organised by the French broadcaster France Télévisions. The nation will be represented by the song "N'oubliez pas" performed by Lisa Angell and written by Robert Goldman.

Background

Prior to the 2015 Contest, France had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest fifty-seven times since its first entry 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. France have failed to reach the top ten in eleven of the last twelve contests (2003-2014). In 2014, the nation finished last for the first time with Twin Twin performing the song "Moustache".

Since 1999, France Télévisions delegated the responsibility of selecting and organising the French entry and broadcasting the contest in France to the France 3 television channel; however, the broadcaster announced in August 2014 that starting in 2015, these responsibilities would be transferred to France 2.[2] In early September 2014, France 2 confirmed their participation in the 2015 contest and revealed that the French entry would be chosen via an internal selection.[3][4]

Internal selection

On 23 January 2015, France 2 revealed that "N'oubliez pas" performed by Lisa Angell would represent France at the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest.[5] The song, written by Robert Goldman, was selected after France 2 requested proposals from record companies.[6] Angell first debuted the song in November 2014 when she performed during a First World War centenary concert held at La Madeleine, Paris.[6]

At Eurovision

All countries except the "Big 5" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) and the host country, 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 qualifies to compete in the final on 23 May 2015. 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 26 January 2015, France was assigned to broadcast and vote in the first semi-final on 19 May 2015.[7]

In France, both semi-finals will be broadcast live on France Ô, while the final will air live on France 2.[4]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "France Country Profile". EBU. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
  2. ↑ Jiandani, Sanjay (27 August 2014). "France: Eurovision to move from France 3 to France 2". Esctoday.com. Retrieved 21 November 2014.
  3. ↑ Jiandani, Sanjay (1 September 2014). "France: France 2 confirms participation in Eurovision 2015". Esctoday.com. Retrieved 21 November 2014.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Jiandani, Sanjay (10 September 2014). "France: Internal selection for Eurovision 2015". Esctoday.com. Retrieved 21 November 2014.
  5. ↑ Brey, Marco (23 January 2015). "Lisa Angell to represent France with "N'oubliez pas"". Eurovision.tv. Retrieved 24 January 2015.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Marsick, Laurent; Cesbron, Mathilde (23 January 2015). "Découvrez "N'oubliez pas", le titre que chantera Lisa Angell à l'Eurovision" (in French). RTL. Retrieved 24 January 2015.
  7. ↑ Escudero, Victor M. (26 January 2015). "Allocation Draw results: Who's in which Semi-Final?". Eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 1 February 2015.