Eurovision Song Contest Wiki
Register
Advertisement
Eurovision Song Contest Wiki

France is one of the most successful countries in the Eurovision Song Contest and has entered the competition 60 times since their debut in the very first contest in 1956. France is one of only seven countries to be present at the very first contest and has only been absent from two contests in its history, missing the 1974 (due to the death of President Pompidou) and 1982 (TF1 withdrawing as broadcaster) contests. Despite appearing in the Contest for over 55 years, France has never taken last place until 2014 after accumulating only two points. However, the country has never received Nul Points, making it the only country out of the Big Five without this distinction.

France has gone through a number of broadcasters that presented Eurovision to the French. From 1956 to 1964, RTF was the French broadcaster. ORTF took over from RTF in 1965 and showed Eurovision until 1973. TF1 took over from ORTF from 1975 to 1981, when they withdrew in 1982 citing the contest as "a monument to drivel". Antenne 2 (now France 2) took over from TF1 in 1983 and its current incarnation, france.tv (France Télévisions), is the current French broadcaster from 1992.

With the introduction of the semi-final in 2004, France 4 (as of 2021 twinning with Culturebox), from 2005 presents the Eurovision Song Contest semi-finals. France 3 have now stopped broadcasting Eurovision as of August 2014 with France 2 continuing to organize a selection for the participant song and present the grand final.

France is one of the only countries not to have performed the majority of their songs entirely in English, however only 7 entries have been performed partially in that language. 2 songs have been performed either fully or partially in Corsican, 2 partially in Spanish, two fully in Breton, and one partially in Haitian Creole.

Gallery[]

Participants[]

Year Artist Song Language Final Points Semi Points
1956 Mathé Altéry Le temps perdu French 2 N/A No Semi Finals
Dany Dauberson Il est là
1957 Paule Desjardins La belle amour 17
1958 André Claveau Dors, mon amour 1 27
1959 Jean Philippe Oui, oui, oui, oui 3 15
1960 Jacqueline Boyer Tom Pillibi 1 32
1961 Jean-Paul Mauric Printemps, avril carillonne 4 13
1962 Isabelle Aubret Un premier amour 1 26
1963 Alain Barrière Elle était si jolie 5 25
1964 Rachel Le chant de Mallory 4 14
1965 Guy Mardel N'avoue jamais 3 22
1966 Dominique Walter Chez nous 16 1
1967 Noëlle Cordier Il doit faire beau là-bas 3 20
1968 Isabelle Aubret La source 3 20
1969 Frida Boccara Un jour, un enfant 1 18
1970 Guy Bonnet Marie-Blanche 4 8
1971 Serge Lama Un jardin sur la terre 10 82
1972 Betty Mars Comé-comédie 11 81
1973 Martine Clémenceau Sans toi 15 65
1974 Dani La vie à 25 ans Withdrawn from contest due to president's death
1975 Nicole Rieu Et bonjour à toi l'artiste 4 91 No Semi Finals
1976 Catherine Ferry Un, Deux, Trois 2 147
1977 Marie Myriam L'Oiseau et l'enfant 1 136
1978 Joël Prévost Il y aura toujours des violons 3 119
1979 Anne Marie David Je Suis L'Enfant Soleil 3 106
1980 Profil Hé, hé M'sieurs, dames 11 45
1981 Jean Gabilou Humanahum 3 125
1982 Does not participate
1983 Guy Bonnet Vivre French 8 56 No Semi Finals
1984 Annick Thoumazeau Autant d'amoureux que d'étoiles 8 61
1985 Roger Bens Femme dans ses rêves aussi 10 56
1986 Cocktail Chic Européennes 17 13
1987 Christine Minier Les mots d'amour n'ont pas de dimanche 14 44
1988 Gérard Lenorman Chanteur de charme 10 64
1989 Nathalie Pâque J'ai volé la vie 8 60
1990 Joëlle Ursull White and Black Blues 2 132
1991 Amina C'est le dernier qui a parlé qui a raison 2 146
1992 Kali Monté la riviè French, Haitian Creole 8 73
1993 Patrick Fiori Mama Corsica French, Corsican 4 121 Participated in 1992
1994 Nina Morato Je suis un vrai garçon French 7 74 No Semi Finals
1995 Nathalie Santamaria Il me donne rendez-vous 4 94
1996 Dan Ar Braz Diwanit Bugale Breton 19 18 11 55
1997 Fanny Sentiments Songes French 7 95 No Semi Finals
1998 Marie-Line Où aller 24 3
1999 Nayah Je veux donner ma voix 19 14
2000 Sofia Mestari On Aura Le Ciel 23 5
2001 Natasha St-Pier Je n'ai que mon âme French, English 4 142
2002 Sandrine François Il faut du temps French 5 104
2003 Louisa Baileche Monts et Merveilles 18 19
2004 Jonatan Cerrada À chaque pas French, Spanish 15 40 Member of the Big Four
2005 Ortal Chacun pense à soi French 23 11
2006 Virginie Pouchain Il était temps 22 5
2007 Les Fatals Picards L'amour à la française French, English 22 19
2008 Sébastien Tellier Divine 19 47
2009 Patricia Kaas Et s'il fallait le faire French 8 107
2010 Jessy Matador Allez Ola Olé 12 82
2011 Amaury Vassili Sognu Corsican 15 82 Member of the Big Five
2012 Anggun Echo (You and I) French, English 22 21
2013 Amandine Bourgeois L'Enfer et Moi French 23 14
2014 Twin Twin Moustache 26 2
2015 Lisa Angell N'oubliez pas 25 4
2016 Amir J’ai cherché French, English 6 257
2017 Alma Requiem 12 135
2018 Madame Monsieur Mercy French 13 173
2019 Bilal Hassani Roi French, English 16 105
2020 Tom Leeb Mon Alliée (The Best In Me) Contest cancelled
2021 Barbara Pravi Voilà French 2 499 Member of the Big Five
2022 Alvan & Ahez Fulenn Breton 24 17
2023 La Zarra Évidemment French 16 104
2024 Slimane Mon amour TBA TBA

Videos[]

Eurovision Song Contest
Editions
195619571958195919601961196219631964196519661967196819691970197119721973197419751976197719781979198019811982198319841985198619871988198919901991199219931994199519961997199819992000200120022003200420052006200720082009201020112012201320142015201620172018201920202021202220232024
Countries
AlbaniaAndorraArmeniaAustraliaAustriaAzerbaijanBelarusBelgiumBosnia and HerzegovinaBulgariaCroatiaCyprusCzechiaDenmarkEstoniaFinlandFranceGeorgiaGermanyGreeceHungaryIcelandIrelandIsraelItalyLatviaLithuaniaLuxembourgMaltaMoldovaMonacoMontenegroMoroccoThe NetherlandsNorth MacedoniaNorwayPolandPortugalRomaniaRussiaSan MarinoSerbiaSerbia and MontenegroSlovakiaSloveniaSpainSwedenSwitzerlandTurkeyUnited KingdomUkraineYugoslavia
Winning Songs
RefrainNet Als ToenDors, mon amourEen beetjeTom PillibiNous les amoureuxUn premier amourDanseviseNon ho l'etàPoupée de Cire, Poupée de SonMerci, ChériePuppet on a StringLa, La, LaBoom Bang-a-BangVivo CantandoUn jour, un enfantDe TroubadourAll Kinds of EverythingUn banc, un arbre, une rueAprès ToiTu Te ReconnaîtrasWaterlooDing-a-DongSave Your Kisses For MeL'Oiseau et l'enfantA-Ba-Ni-BiHallelujahWhat's Another YearMaking Your Mind UpEin bißchen FriedenSi la vie est cadeauDiggiloo DiggileyLa Det SwingeJ'aime La VieHold Me NowNe Partez Pas Sans MoiRock MeInsieme: 1992Fångad av en stormvindWhy Me?In Your EyesRock 'n' Roll KidsNocturneThe VoiceLove Shine a LightDivaTake Me To Your HeavenFly on the Wings of LoveEverybodyI WannaEveryway That I CanWild DancesMy Number OneHard Rock HallelujahMolitvaBelieveFairytaleSatelliteRunning ScaredEuphoriaOnly TeardropsRise Like a PhoenixHeroes1944Amar pelos doisToyArcadeZitti e buoniStefaniaTattoo
Specials
Congratulations: 50 Years of the Eurovision Song ContestEurovision's Greatest HitsEurope Shine a Light
Aspects of Eurovision
CommentatorEuroClubEurovision VillageExecutive SupervisorFlag ParadeGrand PrixGreen RoomHead of DelegationInterval ActNational FinalNational JuryOfficial RulesOpening CeremonyPre-PartiesPre-Song PostcardsReference GroupRest of the World VoteRunning Order DrawSemi-FinalsScoreboardSpokespersonTelevotingVoting Systems
Miscellaneous
Big FiveCurse of 43Curse of Number TwoCurse of GreenDouze Points!ESCRadio AwardsESC Top 250Eurovision AgainEurovision National BroadcastersEurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire SagaFounding SevenLGBT visibilityLynda WoodruffMarcel Bezençon AwardsNul PointsOGAERecordsStand-insThe Reorder BoardTie SituationTop Scoring SongsVoting DiasporaWinner's CurseWithdrawn SongsYou're a Vision Award
Advertisement