France in the Eurovision Song Contest 1983
| Eurovision Song Contest 1983 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country |
 France | |||
| National selection | ||||
| Selection process | National Final | |||
| Selection date(s) | 20 March 1983 | |||
| Selected entrant | Guy Bonnet | |||
| Selected song | "Vivre" | |||
| Finals performance | ||||
| Final result | 8th, 56 points | |||
| France in the Eurovision Song Contest | ||||
| ||||
France was represented by Guy Bonnet, with the song '"Vivre", at the 1983 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 23 April in Munich. Broadcaster Antenne 2 took over responsibility for French Eurovision participation in 1983, after the country had been absent from the 1982 contest when previous broadcaster TF1 opted out, citing the facile nature of the music on offer in Eurovision as they perceived it. Antenne 2 decided to choose their first entry via a broadcast national final, and would continue to do until 1987, after which a run of undistinguished results with entries chosen using this method caused a reversion to internal selection. Bonnet had previously represented France in the 1970 contest in Amsterdam.
Final
The national final was held on March 20, hosted by Jean-Pierre Foucault and 1977 contest winner Marie Myriam. Fourteen songs took part with the winner chosen by a panel of TV viewers who were telephoned and asked to vote on the songs. Other participants included previous and future French representatives Isabelle Aubret (1962 & 1968) and Joël Prévost (1978).[1]
| Draw | Artist | Song | Place |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Philippe Houbert | "Les manèges de l'amour" | 12 |
| 2 | Joël Prévost | "Je t'aime" | 9 |
| 3 | Claude Merlebois | "Je reviendrai" | 8 |
| 4 | Jean-Marc Courtois | "L'homme est un mobile" | 7 |
| 5 | Joséphine Coppola | "Passionément" | 14 |
| 6 | Kali | "Je vous oublie" | 13 |
| 7 | Guy Bonnet | "Vivre" | 1 |
| 8 | Rebecca | "Mais où est l'amour" | 11 |
| 9 | Isabelle Aubret | "France France" | 3 |
| 10 | Nicolas Leyani | "Quand je vois le soleil" | 6 |
| 11 | Jean-Paul Cara | "À Chantefrance" | 5 |
| 12 | Christine Fontane | "Avec" | 10 |
| 13 | La "Compagnie Créole" | "Vive le Douanier Rousseau" | 2 |
| 14 | Anne-Marie Gancel | "J'en appelle à la vie" | 4 |
At Eurovision
On the night of the final Bonnet performed first in the running order, preceding Norway. At the close of voting "Vivre" had received 56 points (the highest being 10s from Italy and Switzerland), placing France 8th of the 20 entries. The French jury awarded its 12 points to contest winners Luxembourg.[2]