France in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017
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France| France in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eurovision Song Contest 2017 | ||||
| Participating broadcaster | France Télévisions | |||
| Country | France | |||
| Selection process | Internal selection | |||
| Announcement date | 9 February 2017 | |||
| Competing entry | ||||
| Song | "Requiem" | |||
| Artist | Alma | |||
| Songwriters | ||||
| Placement | ||||
| Final result | 12th, 135 points | |||
| Participation chronology | ||||
| ||||
France was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 with the song "Requiem" written by Nazim Khaled and Alma, and performed by Alma. The French broadcaster France Télévisions in collaboration with the television channel France 2 internally selected the French entry for the 2017 contest in Kyiv, Ukraine. "Requiem" was officially announced by France 2 as the French entry on 9 February 2017 and later the song was presented to the public as the contest entry on 11 March 2017.
As a member of the "Big Five", France automatically qualified to compete in the final of the Eurovision Song Contest. Performing as the closing entry during the show in position 26, France placed twelfth out of the 26 participating countries with 135 points.
Prior to the 2017 contest, France had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest fifty-nine times since its debut as one of seven countries to take part 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, Patricia Kaas finishing eighth in 2009 and Amir finishing sixth in 2016.
The French national broadcaster, France Télévisions, broadcasts the event within France and delegates the selection of the nation's entry to the television channel France 2. France 2 confirmed that France would participate in the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest on 16 May 2016.[2] The French broadcaster had used both national finals and internal selection to choose the French entry in the past. The 2014 French entry was selected via a national final that featured three competing acts. In 2015 and 2016, the broadcaster opted to internally select the French entry, a procedure that was continued in order to select the 2017 entry.[3]
Before Eurovision
Internal selection
France 2 announced in on 13 September 2016 that the French entry for the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest would be selected internally. The broadcaster opened a submission period on 30 September 2016 in order for interested artists and songwriters to submit their proposals through an online submission form up until the deadline on 30 November 2016. Francophone performers 16 to 50 years of age and of any nationality were eligible for consideration, while songs were required to contain at least 80% French language lyrics with a free language allowance for the remaining lyrics. Artists and songwriters could apply individually or together, with artists that applied individually being possibly matched with a song submitted by a songwriter with or without an attached artist.[3] At the closing of the deadline, the French broadcaster received around 300 submissions.[4]
The artistic committee of France Télévisions reviewed the received submissions between 30 November 2016 and 10 March 2017, and on 9 February 2017, France 2 announced that the French entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 would be "Requiem" performed by Alma. The song, performed entirely in French, was written by Alma and Nazim Khaled who co-wrote the French 2016 contest entry "J'ai cherché".[5] "Requiem" was edited at the request of the French broadcaster and included additional lyrics in English. The entry was formally presented to the public on 11 March 2017 via the official Eurovision Song Contest YouTube channel.[6]
It was discovered during the week of 17 February 2017 that the artist's song had been recorded and performed prior to the EBU's submission deadline, 1 September 2016, which therefore violated the EBU's song submission policy.[7] Further research shows that Alma's song was performed at the end of January 2015.[8] The French broadcaster later claimed that they were not in breach of the EBU's submission rules.[8]
Promotion
Alma made several appearances across Europe to specifically promote "Requiem" as the French Eurovision entry. On 25 February, Alma performed "Requiem" during the final of the Ukrainian Eurovision national final.[9] On 2 April, Alma performed during the London Eurovision Party, which was held at the Café de Paris venue in London, United Kingdom and hosted by Nicki French and Paddy O'Connell. On 8 April, Alma performed during the Eurovision in Concert event which was held at the Melkweg venue in Amsterdam, Netherlands and hosted by Cornald Maas and Selma Björnsdóttir.[10] Between 3 and 6 April, Alma took part in promotional activities in Tel Aviv, Israel and performed during the Israel Calling event held at the Ha'teatron venue.[11] On 15 April, Amir performed during the Eurovision-Spain Pre-Party, which was held at the La Riviera venue in Madrid, Spain.[12]
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