France in the Eurovision Song Contest 2000

Eurovision Song Contest 2000
Country	France
National selection
Selection process	National Final
Selection date(s)	15 February 2000
Selected entrant	Sofia Mestari
Selected song	"On aura le ciel"
Finals performance
Final result	23rd, 5 points
France in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄1999 • 2000 • 2001►

France was represented by Sofia Mestari, with the song '"On aura le ciel", at the 2000 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 13 May in Stockholm. This was the second year in which broadcaster France 3 had been in charge of the French participation, and as in 1999 they opted to choose their entry via public selection, with a national final being organised on 15 February. However the poor result obtained by Nayah in 1999 followed by the even worse result in 2000, together with the controversy surrounding the 2000 selection process, led to France 3 changing to internal selection in the years following, initially with much greater success.

Final

The national final was held at L'Olympia in Paris, hosted by Julien Lepers and Karen Cheryl. Fourteen songs took part with the winner chosen by a 50:50 split between televoting and an "expert" jury. Only the top three placings were announced, and a degree of controversy arose when it became known that "On aura le ciel" had been placed first by the jury but "Espoir" had won the televote, it was rumoured by a very large margin. The explanation of France 3 – that "On aura le ciel" came second in the televote while "Espoir" was ranked only fourth by the jury – prompted complaints that in the event of the televote and jury vote coming up with different winners, the televote should have taken precedence, otherwise there was a degree of dishonesty in asking the public to pay to vote, only for their choice to be overruled by a small group of jurors. (A similar controversy would later engulf the 2005 Swedish selection.)^[1]

At Eurovision

On the night of the final Mestari performed fifth in the running order, following Estonia and preceding Romania. At the close of voting "On aura le ciel" had received only 5 points (3 from Russia and 2 from the Netherlands), placing France 23rd of the 24 entries, ahead only of Belgium. This was the second time in three contests that France had finished one place off the bottom, and led to reiterated claims that the wrong song for a televoting environment had been sent. The 12 points from the French televote were awarded to Turkey.^[2]

Points Awarded by France

Final

12 points	Turkey
10 points	Germany
8 points	Croatia
7 points	Denmark
6 points	Israel
5 points	Russia
4 points	Ireland
3 points	Latvia
2 points	Netherlands
1 point	Sweden

Points Awarded to France

See also

• France in the Eurovision Song Contest
• Eurovision Song Contest 2000

References

France in the Eurovision Song Contest   Participation 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016   Artists 1950s Mathé Altéry (1956) Dany Dauberson (1956) Paule Desjardins André Claveau Jean Philippe 1960s Jacqueline Boyer Jean-Paul Mauric Isabelle Aubret Alain Barrière Rachel Guy Mardel Dominique Walter Noëlle Cordier Isabelle Aubret Frida Boccara 1970s Guy Bonnet Serge Lama Betty Mars Martine Clemenceau 1974 Nicole Rieu Catherine Ferry Marie Myriam Joël Prévost Anne-Marie David 1980s Profil Jean Gabilou 1982 Guy Bonnet Annick Thoumazeau Roger Bens Cocktail Chic Christine Minier Gérard Lenorman Nathalie Pâque 1990s Joëlle Ursull Amina Kali Patrick Fiori Nina Morato Nathalie Santamaria Dan Ar Braz & l'Héritage des Celtes Fanny Marie Line Nayah 2000s Sofia Mestari Natasha St-Pier Sandrine François Louisa Baïleche Jonatan Cerrada Ortal Virginie Pouchain Les Fatals Picards Sébastien Tellier Patricia Kaas 2010s Jessy Matador Amaury Vassili Anggun Amandine Bourgeois Twin Twin Lisa Angell   Songs 1950s "Le temps perdu" (1956) "Il est là" (1956) "La belle amour" "Dors, mon amour" "Oui, oui, oui, oui" 1960s "Tom Pillibi" "Printemps, avril carillonne" "Un premier amour" "Elle était si jolie" "Le chant de Mallory" "N'avoue jamais" "Chez nous" "Il doit faire beau là-bas" "La source" "Un jour, un enfant" 1970s "Marie-Blanche" "Un jardin sur la terre" "Comé-comédie" "Sans toi" 1974 "Et bonjour à toi l'artiste" "Un, deux, trois" "L'oiseau et l'enfant" "Il y aura toujours des violons" "Je suis l'enfant soleil" 1980s "Hé, hé M'sieurs dames" "Humanahum" 1982 "Vivre" "Autant d'amoureux que d'étoiles" "Femme dans ses rêves aussi" "Européennes" "Les mots d'amour n'ont pas de dimanche" "Chanteur de charme" "J'ai volé la vie" 1990s "White and Black Blues" "C'est le dernier qui a parlé qui a raison" "Monté la riviè" "Mama Corsica" "Je suis un vrai garçon" "Il me donne rendez-vous" "Diwanit Bugale" "Sentiments songes" "Où aller" "Je veux donner ma voix" 2000s "On aura le ciel" "Je n'ai que mon âme" "Il faut du temps" "Monts et merveilles" "À chaque pas" "Chacun pense à soi" "Il était temps" "L'amour à la française" "Divine" "Et s'il fallait le faire" 2010s "Allez Ola Olé" "Sognu" "Echo (You and I)" "L'enfer et moi" "Moustache" "N'oubliez pas" (Note: Entries scored out are when France did not compete)