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)	Moïse Albert Michel Illouz Laure Izon
Finals performance
Final result	25th, 4 points
France in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2014 • 2015 • 2016►

France participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 with the song "N'oubliez pas", written by Moïse Albert, Michel Illouz and Laure Izon. The song was performed by Lisa Angell, who was selected by French broadcaster France Télévisions in collaboration with the France 2 channel in January 2015 to represent the nation at the 2015 contest in Vienna, Austria. As a member of the "Big 5" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom), France competed directly in the final on 23 May 2015 and did not have to qualify from one of two semi-finals held on 19 May and 21 May. However, France was obligated to vote in the first semi-final. In France's fifty-sixth Eurovision appearance on 23 May, "N'oubliez pas" finished in twenty-fifth place out of 27 competing songs with 4 points.

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]

Before Eurovision

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 under the pseudonym Moïse Albert, was selected after France 2 requested proposals from record companies.^[6] Angell debuted the song in November 2014 when she performed during a First World War centenary concert held at La Madeleine, Paris.^[6] On 28 February 2015, "N'oubliez pas" was officially presented to the public as the French Eurovision entry with a performance by Lisa Angell on the France 2 programme Chico And The Gypsies, Le Grand Show, hosted by Michel Drucker.^[7]

At Eurovision

Lisa Angell at the Eurovision Song Contest opening ceremony

According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big 5" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) 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. In the 2015 contest, Australia also competed directly in the final as an invited guest nation.^[8] As a member of the "Big 5", France automatically qualified to compete in the final on 23 May 2015. In addition to their participation in the final, France was 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.^[9]

The first semi-final was broadcast in France on France Ô with commentary by Mareva Galanter and Jérémy Parayre.^[10] The final was broadcast on France 2 with commentary by Stéphane Bern and Marianne James.^[11] The French spokesperson, who announced the French votes during the final, was Virginie Guilhaume.^[12]

Final

Lisa Angell at a dress rehearsal for the final

Lisa Angell took part in technical rehearsals on 17 and 20 May,^[13][14] followed by dress rehearsals on 22 and 23 May. This included the jury final where professional juries of each country, responsible for 50 percent of each country's vote, watched and voted on the competing entries.^[15] After technical rehearsals were held on 20 May, the "Big 5" countries, host nation Austria and special guest Australia held a press conference. As part of this press conference, the artists took part in a draw to determine which half of the grand final they would subsequently participate in. France was drawn to compete in the first half.^[16] Following the conclusion of the second semi-final, the shows' producers decided upon the running order of the final. The running order for the semi-finals and final was decided by the shows' producers rather than through another draw, so that similar songs were not placed next to each other. France was subsequently placed to perform in position 2, following the entry from Slovenia and before the entry from Israel.^[17]

The stage show featured Lisa Angell wearing a black dress performing the song at a microphone stand. The story of the performance was told through the background LED screens which portrayed Lisa Angell as a woman returning to a village in ruins with war-torn landscapes and grey skies. About the performance and song, Lisa Angell stated: "It is the song about peace and hope. It was important for us to underline the role of a woman as women often stay in the shadow." As the performance progressed, the LED screens depicted hundreds of drummers, while five male drummers joined Angell on stage: Yann Forleo, Julien Botas, Benoit Crozatier and William Pigache. Lisa Angell also had one off-stage backing vocalist: Delphine Elbé.^[13][14][18]

At the conclusion of the voting, France finished in twenty-fifth place with 4 points.^[19][20]

Voting

Voting during the three shows consisted of 50 percent public televoting and 50 percent from a jury deliberation. The jury consisted of five music industry professionals who were citizens of the country they represent, with their names published before the contest to ensure transparency. This jury was asked to judge each contestant based on: vocal capacity; the stage performance; the song's composition and originality; and the overall impression by the act. In addition, no member of a national jury could be related in any way to any of the competing acts in such a way that they cannot vote impartially and independently. The individual rankings of each jury member were released shortly after the grand final.^[21]

Following the release of the full split voting by the EBU after the conclusion of the competition, it was revealed that France had placed twenty-sixth with the public televote and nineteenth with the jury vote. In the public vote, France scored 4 points and in the jury vote the nation scored 24 points.^[22]

Below is a breakdown of points awarded to France and awarded by France in the first semi-final and grand final of the contest, and the breakdown of the jury voting and televoting conducted during the two shows:^{[23][20][24][25]}

Points awarded to France

Points awarded by France

Semi-final 1 12 points  Belgium 10 points  Russia 8 points  Romania 7 points  Albania 6 points  Hungary 5 points  Armenia 4 points  Estonia 3 points  Greece 2 points  Netherlands 1 point  Serbia

Final 12 points  Belgium 10 points  Russia 8 points  Sweden 7 points  Latvia 6 points  Italy 5 points  Spain 4 points  Poland 3 points  Armenia 2 points  Australia 1 point  Hungary

Split voting results

The following five members comprised the French jury:^[21]

• Bruno Berberes – Chairperson – casting director, producer, composer
• Matthieu Gonet – composer, musician
• Eric Jeanjean – radio DJ
• Yseult – singer
• Marie Myriam – singer, winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 1977

Split voting results from France (Semi-final 1)
Draw	Country	B. Berberes	M. Gonet	E. Jeanjean	Yseult	M. Myriam	Average Jury Rank	Televote Rank	Combined Rank	Scoreboard (Points)
01	Moldova	15	6	8	14	7	11	9	11
02	Armenia	7	12	15	15	11	14	1	6	5
03	Belgium	1	3	1	2	2	2	4	1	12
04	Netherlands	4	9	6	13	4	4	12	9	2
05	Finland	16	15	16	4	16	16	13	16
06	Greece	5	4	10	12	5	5	10	8	3
07	Estonia	6	10	5	11	8	7	8	7	4
08	Macedonia	12	16	14	10	6	12	15	15
09	Serbia	13	13	13	9	12	13	5	10	1
10	Hungary	3	2	4	1	3	3	11	5	6
11	Belarus	10	5	12	8	14	10	16	14
12	Russia	2	1	2	3	1	1	6	2	10
13	Denmark	11	7	9	6	9	8	14	13
14	Albania	9	14	11	5	10	9	3	4	7
15	Romania	8	8	3	7	13	6	2	3	8
16	Georgia	14	11	7	16	15	15	7	12

Split voting results from France (Final)
Draw	Country	B. Berberes	M. Gonet	E. Jeanjean	Yseult	M. Myriam	Average Jury Rank	Televote Rank	Combined Rank	Scoreboard (Points)
01	Slovenia	13	22	23	22	15	22	24	26
02	France
03	Israel	23	26	25	23	19	25	5	16
04	Estonia	12	20	11	25	21	19	15	20
05	United Kingdom	20	18	14	24	7	17	25	25
06	Armenia	10	14	22	26	18	20	2	8	3
07	Lithuania	14	12	26	1	20	14	20	21
08	Serbia	24	21	24	21	26	26	8	18
09	Norway	4	8	3	19	5	7	21	13
10	Sweden	2	3	2	20	3	3	9	3	8
11	Cyprus	6	2	1	18	6	4	23	11
12	Australia	7	10	5	17	1	8	14	9	2
13	Belgium	1	6	7	4	2	2	3	1	12
14	Austria	15	16	9	16	9	12	26	24
15	Greece	16	17	18	15	12	16	22	23
16	Montenegro	17	13	16	2	14	11	18	14
17	Germany	11	9	15	14	10	10	19	15
18	Poland	18	1	8	13	16	9	10	7	4
19	Latvia	3	5	4	3	4	1	12	4	7
20	Romania	22	23	21	12	24	24	4	12
21	Spain	19	11	12	11	13	13	6	6	5
22	Hungary	8	7	6	5	11	6	16	10	1
23	Georgia	25	15	13	10	23	18	13	17
24	Azerbaijan	21	19	20	9	22	21	17	22
25	Russia	5	4	10	7	8	5	7	2	10
26	Albania	26	25	19	6	25	23	11	19
27	Italy	9	24	17	8	17	15	1	5	6

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)