Whatever happened to France? Are they poised to break their drought? A Brief History of France in the Eurovision Song Contest

I don't know what inspired me to make this post, but I kept thinking about this today. It's no secret that France was one of the most successful countries in the early days of the contest. They won five times in the contest's first 22 years, the most of any country at that time. But since their last win in 1977, France has entered a 45 year drought, the second longest of any country in the contest (only Spain, who last won in 1969, has gone longer). Just last year, however, France put up their best finish in years, taking second place with Barbara Pravi's "Voila". Whatever happened to France? Why weren't they able to maintain their Eurovision supremacy? Was 1980 really the turning point that some people think it is? And does France have a win in their future? I don't have the answers to all these questions, but to attempt to give us an idea, we need to look at France's history in the contest.

Eurovision began in 1956, a time when the French language held more sway across Europe and the world than English did. English was only just beginning to establish itself as the new "Lingua Franca". Eurovision also began as a very strict and serious contest. It was an event where people would dress up in suits, sit in rows of seats, and listen to an orchestra. It was seen as a place for refined music. Not surprisingly, the "French Ballad" dominated the early contests. France themselves won the contest three times in six years with the songs "Dors mon amour", "Tom Pilibi", and "Un premier amour", all of which could be described as ballads. Even when France themselves did not win, often another French-speaking country won with a ballad, such as Lys Assia with "Refrain" for Switzerland in 1956 or Jean-Claude Pascal with "Nous les amoureux" for Luxembourg in 1961. Even when another country, such as Netherlands or Italy, won in their own language, it was done in the style of the French ballad.

Most people mark the end of the French ballad's supremacy to be 1965. That was the year that Luxembourg won with the song "Poupee de cire, Poupee de son". It was performed by budding superstar France Gall and written by the genius songwriter Serge Gainsb

... keep reading on reddit ➑

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Why We Should Send France's M. Pokora to The Eurovision Song Contest [ESC Insight] escinsight.com/2021/09/09…
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French singer France Gall at the Schiphol airport, during her tour of Europe after winning the 1965 Eurovision song contest in Naples, Italy, representing Luxembourg. Amsterdam. Netherlands, 1965.
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πŸ‘€︎ u/frosty1965
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Let's say a song that hit the top 50 charts represented a country in eurovision, like fx. France. Let's say the song Lovers of the sun (David Guetta). How well would it do in the contest?

I'm talking about how well it would do in this years contest (2019)

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πŸ‘€︎ u/Ilik2playgames
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Eurovision Song Contest: France were the only country not to deliver their results in English...
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Alma - Requiem (France) LIVE at the Grand Final of the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest youtube.com/watch?v=HjiLK…
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Who will win Eurovision 2016? Ireland has won 7 times, Luxembourg, France, Sweden and the United Kingdom 5 times. Alos ABBA are the most successful Eurovision Song Contest winner. They won the contest in 1974. eurovisionbettingonline.c…
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πŸ‘€︎ u/sshakes88
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TIL Luxembourg has won the Eurovision Song Contest five times, which is tied with France, UK, and the Netherlands for third most wins by a country. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lis…
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Eskimo Callboy wants to represent Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 with Pump it youtu.be/F8LSngVNBw8
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Countries which won the Junior Eurovision Song Contest twice in a row
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[OC] The Black Sheep of Europe: A Brief History of Portugal in the Eurovision Song Contest youtube.com/watch?v=0a4PV…
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In 1974, ABBA famously performed the hit song β€œWaterloo” live at Eurovision and won the contest. What was there any outrage across the French populace to a song celebrating the fall of Napoleon winning a contest intended to promote European unity?

edit: Sorry I botched the title. The question was supposed to be: Was there any outrage across the French populace to a song celebrating the fall of Napoleon winning a contest intended to promote European unity?

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[Music] [France/Luxembourg] The winning entry in the Eurovision song contest of 1965: France Gall - PoupΓ©e de cire, poupΓ©e de son youtube.com/watch?v=s5aee…
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[OC] A Brief History of the Parody Entry in the Eurovision Song Contest youtube.com/watch?v=SZkq7…
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Bilal Hassani with "Roi" for to represent France in Eurovision Song Contest 2019! youtube.com/watch?v=tCJRi…
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Alma - Requiem (France) LIVE at the Grand Final of the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest youtube.com/watch?v=HjiLK…
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[Eurovision Song Contest] Italy is the first country to win Eurovision and the men’s European Championships in the same year. twitter.com/Eurovision/st…
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Amandine Bourgeois - β€œL’enfer et moi” (France) 2013 Eurovision Song Contest youtu.be/hQwiQj5Dyj8
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Franco-Moroccan queer artist receives death threats due to his sexuality and appearance since he has been chosen to represent France at the Eurovision song contest timesofisrael.com/despite…
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πŸ‘€︎ u/librekom
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The UK received 0 votes in the Eurovision song contest. These queens should have bing bang bonged the judges instead.
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Jonatan Cerrada - A Chaque Pas (France) 2004 Eurovision Song Contest youtube.com/watch?v=vrzC1…
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πŸ‘€︎ u/chartingyou
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In 1974, ABBA famously performed the hit song β€œWaterloo” live at Eurovision and won the contest. What was there any outrage across the French populace to a song celebrating the fall of Napoleon winning a contest intended to promote European unity? reddit.com/r/AskHistorian…
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Eskimo Callboy just announced their application for the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 with their Song "Pump It"

I'm actually a long time fan of the ESC so seeing this made me extremely excited!
Now I'm curious what your thoughts are about it (as I don't expect too many ESC fans in this sub).

You can watch their announcement here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8LSngVNBw8

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Patricia Kaas - Et S'il Fallait Le Faire (France) LIVE 2009 Eurovision Song Contest youtube.com/watch?v=6gee9…
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πŸ‘€︎ u/theo7777
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i played around with the β€žstarry AIβ€œ app (art made by Artificial Intelligence) and entered the term β€žEurovision Song Contest Stageβ€œ, this is what came out.
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JESC 2021 Participants so far (Deny & Marti will sing "Voice of Love" in Paris, making Bulgaria becoming the 4th country to send a duo for this year's Junior Eurovision song contest!)
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Hi I'm Sietse Bakker and I'm the Executive Producer - Event for the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 in Rotterdam, The Netherlands! Ask my anything!

I'm Sietse Bakker and I'm the Executive Producer Event at the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 and responsible for all creative and event programming.

I have been working for the European Broadcasting Union since 2006, including as event supervisor of the Eurovision Song Contest. In 2019 I was appointed as Executive Producer Event of the 2020 Eurovision Song Contest, which would take place in the Netherlands but was, like many other events, cancelled due to the pandemic, for the first time in its 64-year history. After the cancellation we immediately decided to do all we could to host the Eurovision Song Contest in 2021.

And we're back, hosting the biggest and most complex TV show the Netherlands ever had. Looking forward to answer all your questions about it.

Proof: https://i.redd.it/cblp9fo74ly61.png

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Each country's best Eurovision Song Contest result, based on ranking in the final
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EBU/UER: No drug use took place in the Green Room at the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 and we consider the matter closed. eurovision.tv/mediacentre…
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I have 3 minutes of actual TV broadcast footage of the lost 1964 Eurovision Song Contest

This may be the best kept secret I’ve ever had.

So, as many die hard Eurovision fans know, the full television broadcast of the 1964 contest is lost (presumably forever) and there have only been short glimpses of video footage from the contest.

I have spent months contacting each country’s broadcasting companies that aired the contest back in 1964 and asked if they had any footage remaining in their archives. Most of the companies responded with no luck, however a few months ago I was able to purchase a copy of a 3 minute long video of the actual TV broadcast from Finland.

The footage contains Gigliola Cinquetti being presented as the winner, the host introducing the award presenter, a shot of the Grand Prix medal, a shot of the audience, and about a minute and a half of Gigliola singing.

The issue I have is that after contacting Danmark Radio, I am not able to upload the footage to YouTube due to rights issues. This is something I really want the ESC community to see, but I do not know how this can be done.

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Countries with broadcasters that are members or associated members of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). And whether they have competed or shown interest/tried to compete in the Eurovision Song Contest.
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Thoughts on the French song? Eurovision Song Contest 2017: France – β€œRequiem” By Alma talkaboutpopmusic.com/201…
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What ending(s) would be most likely to have a version of Eurovision Song Contest after the 2nd Weltkrieg?

I personally feel like an Entente+Reichspakt victory would be the best result for the ESC being created

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SΓ©bastien Tellier - Divine (France) Live 2008 Eurovision Song Contest youtube.com/watch?v=CZQjB…
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Division of Europe according to the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC)
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Countries with broadcasters that are members or associated members of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). And whether they have competed or shown interest/tried to compete in the Eurovision Song Contest.
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πŸ‘€︎ u/jimi15
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Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga is a masterpiece

I just watched the movie for the first time, and am honestly shocked. This movie was an absolute masterpiece and is much better than ratings show. I will say that you can not go into it thinking of it as a comedy, because it is not a comedy. It is a movie with comedic tones. If you watch the move with this mindset, it plays as a charming, heartwarming, and truly masterful work of art.

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Jessy Matador - Allez Ola OlΓ© (France) Live 2010 Eurovision Song Contest youtube.com/watch?v=-NlvQ…
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πŸ‘€︎ u/Groenboys
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Will Morocco ever participate in the Eurovision Song Contest again?

They have participated once in 1980 and never again.

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πŸ‘€︎ u/chennaouii
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