France in the Eurovision Song Contest 2014

Eurovision Song Contest 2014
Country	France
National selection
Selection process	National Final
Selection date(s)	Presentation show: 26 January 2014 Results announcement: 2 March 2014
Selected entrant	Twin Twin
Selected song	"Moustache"
Selected songwriter(s)	Pierre Beyres Kim N'Guyen Lorent Idir François Ardouvin
Finals performance
Final result	26th (last), 2 points
France in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2013 • 2014 • 2015►

France participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 in Copenhagen, Denmark. The French entry was selected through a national final, organised by the French broadcaster France Télévisions. Twin Twin represented France with the song "Moustache".^[1] France placed 26th (last) in the final, scoring 2 points. This was the first time in the history of the contest that France had placed last in a final.

National final

On 4 November 2013, France 3 announced that it would organise a national final in order to select the French entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2014.^[2] This marked a return to a national final selection procedure by the French broadcaster, who last organised a televised multi-artist national final in 2007, opting instead for internal selections in the years between. In early October 2013, France 3 initiated a casting call for interested artists to submit songs with the criteria that the majority of the lyrics of the submitted song be in French and that instrumental pieces that extensively lacked vocals would not be accepted.^[3][4] The deadline for submissions concluded on 24 November 2013.^[4]

France 3, in cooperation with France Bleu, launched a competition open to the public where entrants were required to successfully answer three questions related to the Eurovision Song Contest in order to enter a draw. The winner had the opportunity to be part of the selection committee for the national final.^[2] On 26 November 2013, the section committee consisting of music industry professionals: Laurent Bentata, Bruno Berberes, Laura Cès, Mary De Vivo, Valérie Michelin and Franck Saurat; representatives of France Télévisions: Thierry Langlois, Yann Chapellon, Marie Claire Mezerette, Frédéric Valencak and Olivier Daube; a representative of France Bleu: Dominique Bourron; a Eurovision fan: Farouk Vallette; and the winner of the public competition, Morgane Buret, convened to select three candidates for the national final.^[5] The fourteen members completed the selection in two rounds of voting: the first round selected the top five songs after a blind audio listening of the submissions and the second round selected the top three. On 27 November 2013, Destan, Joanna and Twin Twin were revealed as the artists that would compete at the national final.^[5]

The three candidates presented their entries in a special edition of the French television program Les chansons d'abord on 26 January 2014, which was hosted by 2001 French Eurovision entrant Natasha St-Pier.^[2][6] All of the competing songs were in French with "Sans toi" featuring some lyrics in English. In addition to the performances of the competing songs, the show also featured Eurovision Song Contest 1977 winner Marie Myriam, 2011 French Eurovision entrant Amaury Vassili and 2012 French Eurovision entrant Anggun.^[7]

Following the presentation, the public had the opportunity to vote for their favourite entry between 26 January 2014 and 23 February 2014.^[6] During this time, the entries were given increased exposure and rotation on France 3 and France Bleu. The votes from the public were combined with the votes of a jury panel in order to select the winning artist and song. The result of the national final was announced on Les chansons d'abord on 2 March 2014.^[6]

At Eurovision

Twin Twin at rehearsal in Copenhagen

As a member of the "Big Five", France automatically qualified for a place in the final, held on 10 May 2014. In addition to their participation in the final, France was assigned to vote in the first semi-final on 6 May 2014.^[9] During the French delegation's press conference on 6 May 2014, France was allocated to compete in the second half of the final.^[10] In the final, the producers of the show decided that France would perform 14th, following Sweden and preceding Russia.^[11] France placed 26th and last in the final, scoring only 2 points.^[12]

On stage, Twin Twin was joined by two backing dancers and a backing vocalist. The LED screens projected colourful moustache motifs.^[13]

In France, the first semi-final 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 Natasha St-Pier.^[6][14] The French spokesperson revealing the result of the French vote in the final was Elodie Suigo.^[15]

Points awarded to France

Points awarded by France

Semi-final 1 Points awarded in first semi-final:[16] 12 points  Armenia 10 points  Netherlands 8 points  Iceland 7 points  Montenegro 6 points  Sweden 5 points  Portugal 4 points  Estonia 3 points  Hungary 2 points  Azerbaijan 1 point  Belgium

Final Points awarded in the final: 12 points  Armenia 10 points  Austria 8 points  Netherlands 7 points  Iceland 6 points  Spain 5 points  Poland 4 points  Sweden 3 points  Denmark 2 points  Norway 1 point  Italy

Split voting results

The following five members comprised the French jury:^[17]

• Fabrice Marchal – Chairperson – producer
• Jean-Marc Sauvagnargues – writer, composer, drummer
• Fanny Llado – singer
• Julie Solia – singer, lyricist
• Boris Bergman – writer

Semi-final 1

The French votes in the first semi-final were based on 50% jury voting and 50% televoting results.^[18]

Semi-final 1 – French Results
Draw	Country	F. Marchal	J. Sauvagnargues	F. Llado	J. Solia	B. Bergman	Average Jury Rank	Televote Rank	Combined Rank	Scoreboard (Points)
01	Armenia	5	3	1	1	4	3	1	1	12
02	Latvia	11	7	7	5	5	6	15	14
03	Estonia	3	6	5	6	6	4	12	7	4
04	Sweden	4	8	10	10	7	8	6	5	6
05	Iceland	2	2	2	2	2	2	8	3	8
06	Albania	12	5	6	7	8	7	13	11
07	Russia	14	11	15	9	15	14	11	15
08	Azerbaijan	6	4	4	4	9	5	14	9	2
09	Ukraine	13	10	9	15	10	11	10	13
10	Belgium	15	16	16	16	16	16	4	10	1
11	Moldova	16	15	11	12	14	15	16	16
12	San Marino	10	13	12	11	12	12	9	12
13	Portugal	8	12	14	13	13	13	2	6	5
14	Netherlands	1	1	3	3	1	1	3	2	10
15	Montenegro	9	9	8	14	3	9	5	4	7
16	Hungary	7	14	13	8	11	10	7	8	3

Final

The French votes in the grand final were based on 50% jury voting and 50% televoting results.^[19]

Final – French Results
Draw	Country	F. Marchal	J. Sauvagnargues	F. Llado	J. Solia	B. Bergman	Average Jury Rank	Televote Rank	Combined Rank	Scoreboard (Points)
01	Ukraine	22	22	23	22	19	24	8	19
02	Belarus	14	23	18	23	20	20	24	25
03	Azerbaijan	24	6	8	5	14	9	22	18
04	Iceland	6	5	4	7	2	3	13	4	7
05	Norway	9	7	7	6	21	8	14	9	2
06	Romania	19	19	24	25	16	22	4	13
07	Armenia	5	4	2	1	7	1	1	1	12
08	Montenegro	13	13	13	15	5	11	21	20
09	Poland	23	15	11	12	6	15	3	6	5
10	Greece	10	25	20	20	8	19	12	17
11	Austria	2	3	1	2	17	4	2	2	10
12	Germany	21	24	21	17	23	23	19	22
13	Sweden	4	14	12	14	18	13	6	7	4
14	France
15	Russia	25	11	25	24	24	25	15	21
16	Italy	18	9	15	8	13	14	10	10	1
17	Slovenia	20	21	16	13	12	18	25	23
18	Finland	7	12	10	10	10	7	18	12
19	Spain	17	16	9	8	9	10	7	5	6
20	Switzerland	12	17	19	16	11	16	9	11
21	Hungary	8	20	17	19	15	17	11	15
22	Malta	11	8	6	4	3	6	20	14
23	Denmark	1	1	3	3	22	5	16	8	3
24	Netherlands	3	2	5	11	1	2	5	3	8
25	San Marino	15	18	22	21	25	21	23	24
26	United Kingdom	16	10	14	18	4	12	17	16

See also

• France in the Eurovision Song Contest
• Eurovision Song Contest 2014

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)