| France | |
| Contest: | ESC |
| Broadcaster: | French: [[France Télévisions]]|i=unset (1993–present) |
| Apps: | 66 |
| Highest: | 1st:,,,, |
| Host: | ,, |
| Website: | France 2 page |
| Current: | 2024 |
France has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 66 times since its debut at the first contest in . France is one of only seven countries to be present at the first contest, and has been absent from only two contests in its history, missing the and contests. Since 1993, the French participant broadcaster is French: [[France Télévisions]]|i=no. Along with,,, and the, France is one of the "Big Five" countries that are automatically prequalified for the final, due to their participant broadcasters being the largest financial contributors to the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). France has won the contest five times.
France first won the contest in with "French: [[Dors, mon amour]]|i=no" performed by André Claveau. Three more victories followed in the 1960s, with "French: [[Tom Pillibi]]|i=no" performed by Jacqueline Boyer in, "French: [[Un premier amour]]|i=no" performed by Isabelle Aubret in and "French: [[Un jour, un enfant]]|i=no" performed by Frida Boccara, who won in in a four-way tie with the,, and the . France's fifth victory came in, with the song "French: [[L'Oiseau et l'Enfant]]|i=no" performed by Marie Myriam. During its successful run in the 20th century, France has also finished second four times, with "French: La Belle amour|i=no" by Paule Desjardins, "French: Un, deux, trois|i=no" by Catherine Ferry, "White and Black Blues" by Joëlle Ursull, and "French: [[Le Dernier qui a parlé...|C'est le dernier qui a parlé qui a raison]]|i=no" by Amina, who lost out to Sweden's "Swedish: [[Fångad av en stormvind]]|i=no" by Carola in a tie-break.
After reaching the top five in 24 contests in the 20th century, France has had less success in the 21st century, only making the top five four times, with "French: [[Je n'ai que mon âme]]|i=no" by Natasha St-Pier fourth, "French: [[Il faut du temps (je me battrai pour ça)|Il faut du temps]]|i=no" by Sandrine François fifth, "French: [[Voilà (Barbara Pravi song)|Voilà]]|i=no" by Barbara Pravi second, and "French: [[Mon amour (Slimane song)|Mon amour]]|i=no" by Slimane fourth . France's other top 10 results in the century are "Et s'il fallait le faire" by Patricia Kaas eighth, and "French: [[J'ai cherché]]|i=no" by Amir sixth . France finished last for the first time in, when "French: [[Moustache (song)|Moustache]]|i=unset" by Twin Twin received only two points.
Several national broadcasters have successively participated in the contest representing France over the years: French: [[Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française]]|i=no (RTF; 1956–1964), French: [[Office de Radiodiffusion Télévision Française]]|i=no (ORTF; 1965–1974), French: [[TF1|Télévision Française 1]]|i=no (TF1; 1975–1981), and French: [[Antenne 2]]|i=no (1983–1992). Since 1993, French: [[France Télévisions]]|i=no is who participates representing France, with the final being broadcast on France 2 (1993–1998, 2015–present) and France 3 (1999–2014), and the semi-final which France votes in was broadcast on France 4 (2005–2010, 2016–2019), later France Ô (2011–2015) and since 2021, . The semi-final in 2004 was not broadcast; viewers who were close enough to Monaco were able to watch that year's semi-final via TMC Monte-Carlo. Radio coverage has been provided, although not every year or since 2013, by French: [[France Inter]]|i=no from 1971 to 1998 and from 2001 to 2012, French: [[France Bleu]]|i=no (also in 1976). In 1982, RTL Radio transmitted the contest due to the country's absence that year.
The process to select the French entry in the contest has changed over the years, with either a national final or an internal selection (occasionally a combination of both formats) having been held.
France is one of the most successful countries in Eurovision, winning the contest five times, coming second five times and coming third seven times. However, France has only hosted the contest three times (1959, 1961, and 1978).[1] France was ranked first in number of victories (either alone or tied with other countries) without interruptions from 1960 to 1993. Moreover, "French: [[Le Dernier qui a parlé...|C'est le dernier qui a parlé qui a raison]]|i=no" performed by Amina was close to victory in, when it finished in joint first place with the same number of points as . Therefore, the 'countback' rule applied, but both countries had an equal number of twelve points (four lots), but the victory went to Sweden, when France had fewer 10-point scores. With the current rules in place, France would have won the competition, because they received points from more countries than Sweden. One year before, France was also close to winning with "White and Black Blues" by Joëlle Ursull. The song finished in joint-second place with 's entry.
However, in recent years, the French results have been mixed. Since 1998, when the televoting was introduced, France has almost always ranked in the bottom 10 countries in the final, coming 15th, 16th (and), 18th (and), 19th (and), 22nd (and), 23rd (and), 24th (and), 25th, and 26th (last place, for the first time in its Eurovision history) in .
France has had some good results during the 21st century. In, "French: [[Je n'ai que mon âme]]|i=no" performed by Canadian singer Natasha St-Pier came fourth, being the favourite to win the contest by fans and odds. This good result was carried into the, when "French: Il faut du temps|i=no" by Sandrine François came fifth and received the Marcel Bezençon international press award for the best entry of that year. The positive experience with Sébastien Tellier in created considerable interest among the French showbiz for the contest, which resulted in Eurovision being seen by the French media as a valuable advertising campaign. With these ambitions, Patricia Kaas represented France in the with "French: [[Et s'il fallait le faire]]|i=unset", finishing in eighth place. Kaas received the Marcel Bezençon artistic award, which was voted on by previous winners and presented to the best artist. In the, Amir with his song "French: [[J'ai cherché]]|i=no" ended in sixth place and broke a 40-year record by scoring the most points in France's Eurovision history, by scoring 257 points in the final. That record would later be broken once again in, as Barbara Pravi with her song "French: [[Voilà (Barbara Pravi song)|Voilà]]|i=no" finished in second place with 499 points, France's best result since 1991, only 25 points behind eventual winners Måneskin from Italy. Slimane finished in fourth place in with his song "Mon amour".
Since its debut in 1956, France has only missed two contests, in 1974 and 1982. In 1974, after selecting a singer and song to represent the country at the contest, France withdrew after the French president Georges Pompidou died in the week of the contest.[2] If it had participated, France would have been represented by Dani with the song "French: La Vie à vingt-cinq ans|i=no".
In November 1981, TF1 declined to enter the Eurovision Song Contest for 1982, with the head of entertainment, Pierre Bouteiller, saying, "The absence of talent and the mediocrity of the songs were where annoyance set in. Eurovision is a monument to inanity [sometimes translated as "drivel"]."[3] French: Antenne 2|i=no took over due to the public reaction to TF1's withdrawal, hosting a national final to select the French entry as well, from the 1983 contest.
Since 1999, France, along with,, and the, have automatically qualified for the Eurovision final regardless of their results in previous contests.[4] The participant broadcasters from these countries earned this special status by being the four biggest financial contributors to the EBU, and subsequently became known as the "Big Four". returned to the contest in 2011, thus upgrading the countries to members of a "Big Five".[5] [6]
| 1 | First place | |
| 2 | Second place | |
| 3 | Third place | |
| ◁ | Last place | |
| X | Entry selected but did not compete | |
| † | Upcoming event |
| Year | Artist | Song | Language | Final | Points | Semi | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mathé Altéry | "French: [[Le Temps perdu]]|i=unset" | French | colspan="2" rowspan="37" | ||||
| Dany Dauberson | "French: [[Il est là]]|i=unset" | French | |||||
| Paule Desjardins | "French: [[La Belle Amour]]|i=unset" | French | 2 | 17 | |||
| André Claveau | "French: [[Dors, mon amour|Dors mon amour]]|i=unset" | French | 1 | 27 | |||
| Jean Philippe | "French: [[Oui, oui, oui, oui|Oui oui oui oui]]|i=unset" | French | 3 | 15 | |||
| Jacqueline Boyer | "French: [[Tom Pillibi]]|i=unset" | French | 1 | 32 | |||
| Jean-Paul Mauric | "French: [[Printemps, avril carillonne|Printemps (avril carillonne)]]|i=unset" | French | 4 | 13 | |||
| Isabelle Aubret | "French: [[Un premier amour]]|i=unset" | French | 1 | 26 | |||
| Alain Barrière | "French: [[Elle était si jolie]]|i=unset" | French | 5 | 25 | |||
| Rachel | "French: [[Le Chant de Mallory]]|i=unset" | French | 4 | 14 | |||
| Guy Mardel | "French: [[N'avoue jamais]]|i=unset" | French | 3 | 22 | |||
| Dominique Walter | "French: [[Chez nous (song)|Chez nous]]|i=unset" | French | 16 | 1 | |||
| Noëlle Cordier | "French: [[Il doit faire beau là-bas]]|i=unset" | French | 3 | 20 | |||
| Isabelle Aubret | "French: [[La source (song)|La Source]]|i=unset" | French | 3 | 20 | |||
| Frida Boccara | "French: [[Un jour, un enfant]]|i=unset" | French | 1 | 18 | |||
| Guy Bonnet | "French: [[Marie-Blanche]]|i=unset" | French | 4 | 8 | |||
| Serge Lama | "French: [[Un jardin sur la terre]]|i=unset" | French | 10 | 82 | |||
| Betty Mars | "French: [[Comé-comédie]]|i=unset" | French | 11 | 81 | |||
| Martine Clémenceau | "French: [[Sans toi]]|i=unset" | French | 15 | 65 | |||
| Dani | "French: La Vie à vingt-cinq ans|i=unset" | French | colspan="2" X | ||||
| Nicole | "French: [[Et bonjour à toi l'artiste]]|i=unset" | French | 4 | 91 | |||
| Catherine Ferry | "French: [[Un, deux, trois]]|i=unset" | French | 2 | 147 | |||
| Marie Myriam | "French: [[L'Oiseau et l'Enfant]]|i=unset" | French | 1 | 136 | |||
| Joël Prévost | "French: [[Il y aura toujours des violons]]|i=unset" | French | 3 | 119 | |||
| Anne-Marie David | "French: [[Je suis l'enfant soleil]]|i=unset" | French | 3 | 106 | |||
| French: [[Profil (band)|Profil]]|i=unset | "French: [[Hé, hé m'sieurs dames]]|i=unset" | French | 11 | 45 | |||
| Jean Gabilou | "French: [[Humanahum]]|i=unset" | French | 3 | 125 | |||
| Guy Bonnet | "French: [[Vivre (Guy Bonnet song)|Vivre]]|i=unset" | French | 8 | 56 | |||
| Annick Thoumazeau | "French: [[Autant d'amoureux que d'étoiles]]|i=unset" | French | 8 | 61 | |||
| Roger Bens | "French: [[Femme dans ses rêves aussi]]|i=unset" | French | 10 | 56 | |||
| Cocktail Chic | "French: [[Européennes]]|i=unset" | French | 17 | 13 | |||
| Christine Minier | "French: [[Les mots d'amour n'ont pas de dimanche]]|i=unset" | French | 14 | 44 | |||
| Gérard Lenorman | "French: [[Chanteur de charme]]|i=unset" | French | 10 | 64 | |||
| Nathalie Pâque | "French: [[J'ai volé la vie]]|i=unset" | French | 8 | 60 | |||
| Joëlle Ursull | "French: [[White and Black Blues]]|i=unset" | French | 2 | 132 | |||
| Amina | "French: [[Le Dernier qui a parlé...|C'est le dernier qui a parlé qui a raison]]|i=unset" | French | 2 | 146 | |||
| Kali | "French: [[Monté la riviè]]|i=unset" | French, Antillean Creole | 8 | 73 | |||
| Patrick Fiori | "French: [[Mama Corsica]]|i=unset" | French, Corsican | 4 | 121 | colspan="2" | ||
| Nina Morato | "French: [[Je suis un vrai garçon]]|i=unset" | French | 7 | 74 | colspan="2" rowspan="2" | ||
| Nathalie Santamaria | "French: [[Il me donne rendez-vous]]|i=unset" | French | 4 | 94 | |||
| Dan Ar Braz and French: l'[[Héritage des Celtes]]|i=unset | "Breton: [[Diwanit bugale]]|i=unset" | Breton | 19 | 18 | 11 | 55 | |
| Fanny | "French: [[Sentiments songes]]|i=unset" | French | 7 | 95 | colspan="2" rowspan="7" | ||
| Marie Line | "French: [[Où aller]]|i=unset" | French | 24 | 3 | |||
| Nayah | "French: [[Je veux donner ma voix]]|i=unset" | French | 19 | 14 | |||
| Sofia Mestari | "French: [[On aura le ciel]]|i=unset" | French | 23 | 5 | |||
| Natasha St-Pier | "French: [[Je n'ai que mon âme]]|i=unset" | French, English | 4 | 142 | |||
| Sandrine François | "French: [[Il faut du temps (je me battrai pour ça)|Il faut du temps]]|i=unset" | French | 5 | 104 | |||
| Louisa Baïleche | "French: [[Monts et merveilles]]|i=unset" | French | 18 | 19 | |||
| Jonatan Cerrada | "French: [[À chaque pas]]|i=unset" | French, Spanish | 15 | 40 | colspan="2" rowspan="7" | ||
| Ortal | "French: [[Chacun pense à soi]]|i=unset" | French | 23 | 11 | |||
| Virginie Pouchain | "French: [[Il était temps]]|i=unset" | French | 22 | 5 | |||
| Les Fatals Picards | "French: [[L'Amour à la française]]|i=unset" | French, English ("Franglais") | 22 | 19 | |||
| Sébastien Tellier | "French: [[Divine (Sébastien Tellier song)|Divine]]|i=unset" | English | 19 | 47 | |||
| Patricia Kaas | "French: [[Et s'il fallait le faire]]|i=unset" | French | 8 | 107 | |||
| Jessy Matador | "French: [[Allez Ola Olé]]|i=unset" | French | 12 | 82 | |||
| Amaury Vassili | "Corsican: [[Sognu]]|i=unset" | Corsican | 15 | 82 | colspan="2" rowspan="14" | ||
| Anggun | "French: [[Echo (You and I)]]|i=unset" | French, English | 22 | 21 | |||
| Amandine Bourgeois | "French: [[L'Enfer et moi]]|i=unset" | French | 23 | 14 | |||
| Twin Twin | "French: [[Moustache (song)|Moustache]]|i=unset" | French | 26 ◁ | 2 | |||
| Lisa Angell | "French: [[N'oubliez pas]]|i=unset" | French | 25 | 4 | |||
| Amir | "French: [[J'ai cherché]]|i=unset" | French, English | 6 | 257 | |||
| Alma | "French: [[Requiem (Alma song)|Requiem]]|i=unset" | French, English | 12 | 135 | |||
| French: [[Madame Monsieur]]|i=unset | "Mercy" | French | 13 | 173 | |||
| Bilal Hassani | "French: [[Roi (song)|Roi]]|i=unset" | French, English | 16 | 105 | |||
| Tom Leeb | "Mon alliée (The Best in Me)" | French, English | colspan="2" X | ||||
| Barbara Pravi | "French: [[Voilà (Barbara Pravi song)|Voilà]]|i=unset" | French | 2 | 499 | |||
| "Breton: [[Fulenn]]|i=unset" | Breton | 24 | 17 | ||||
| La Zarra | "Évidemment" | French | 16 | 104 | |||
| Slimane | "Mon amour" | French | 4 | 445 | |||
| Year | Location | Venue | Presenters | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cannes | Palais des Festivals | Jacqueline Joubert | ||
| Paris | Palais des Congrès | Denise Fabre and Léon Zitrone |
| Year | Category | Song | Composer(s) | Performer | Final | Points | Host city | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Press Award | "French: [[Il faut du temps (je me battrai pour ça)|Il faut du temps]]|i=no" | Rick Allison (m), Patrick Bruel (m&l), Marie-Florence Gros (l) | Sandrine François | 5 | 104 |  Tallinn | |||
| Artistic Award | Anse Lazio, Fred Blondin | Patricia Kaas | 8 | 107 | Moscow | ||||
| "Corsican: [[Sognu]]|i=no" | Daniel Moyne (m), Quentin Bachelet (m), Jean-Pierre Marcellesi (l), Julie Miller (l) | Amaury Vassili | 15 | 82 | |||||
| Press Award | "Mercy" | Émilie Satt (m&l), Jean-Karl Lucas (m&l) | 13 | 173 |  Lisbon | ||||
| Press Award Artistic Award | "French: [[Voilà (Barbara Pravi song)|Voilà]]|i=no" | Barbara Pravi, Lili Poe, Igit (m&l) | 2 | 499 |  Rotterdam |
| Year | Conductor | Musical Director | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Franck Pourcel | [7] | |||
| Franck Pourcel | ||||
| Franck Pourcel | ||||
| Franck Pourcel | ||||
| Franck Pourcel | ||||
| Alain Goraguer | ||||
| Franck Pourcel | ||||
| [8] | ||||
| Jean Claudric | ||||
| Jean-Claude Petit | ||||
| Jean Musy | ||||
| Tony Rallo | ||||
| Raymond Donnez | ||||
| Alain Goraguer | François Rauber | |||
| Guy Matteoni | rowspan="19" | |||
| Sylvano Santorio | [9] | |||
| David Sprinfield | ||||
| François Rauber | ||||
| Michel Bernholc | ||||
| Jean-Claude Petit | ||||
| Guy Matteoni | ||||
| Régis Dupré | ||||
| Jérôme Pillement | ||||
| Magdi Vasco Noverraz | ||||
| Christian Cravero | ||||
| Alain Goraguer | ||||
| Michel Bernholc | ||||
| Fiachra Trench | ||||
| Régis Dupré | ||||
| Martin Koch | Host conductor | |||
| Year | Head of delegation | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| – | Bruno Berberes | ||
| – | Frederic Valencak | ||
| – | Edoardo Grassi | ||
| Steven Clerima | |||
| –present | Alexandra Redde-Amiel |
Since its debut in 1956, French broadcasters has sent commentators to provide coverage on the contest, including Robert Beauvais and Léon Zitrone. During the 1960s, its commentators was relayed in Luxembourg, Monaco, and French-speaking Switzerland.
| Year | Commentator | Spokesperson | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Final | Semi-final | |||
| Michelle Rebel | rowspan="48" | [10] | ||
| Claude Darget | [11] | |||
| Armand Lanoux | [12] | |||
| Claude Darget | Marianne Lecène | [13] | ||
| Pierre Tchernia | Armand Lanoux | [14] | ||
| Robert Beauvais | [15] | |||
| Pierre Tchernia | ||||
| Armand Lanoux | ||||
| Robert Beauvais | Jean-Claude Massoulier | |||
| Pierre Tchernia[16] | ||||
| Pierre Tchernia[17] | ||||
| rowspan="3" | ||||
| Pierre Tchernia | ||||
| Georges de Caunes | ||||
| Jean-Claude Massoulier | ||||
| Georges de Caunes | ||||
| Léon Zitrone[18] | ||||
| Marc Menant | ||||
| Andre Torrent | ||||
| Léon Zitrone | Nicole André | |||
| Patrice Laffont | ||||
| Patricia Lesieur | ||||
| Patrick Simpson-Jones | Lionel Cassan | |||
| Lionel Cassan | Catherine Ceylac | |||
| Richard Adaridi | Valérie Maurice | |||
| Léon Zitrone | Daniela Lumbroso | |||
| Chris Mayne, Laura Mayne | ||||
| Marc-Olivier Fogiel, Dave | ||||
| Laurent Ruquier, Isabelle Mergault | ||||
| Alex Taylor | ||||
| Julien Lepers, Guy Carlier | Peggy Olmi | |||
| Michel Drucker, Claudy Siar | Sophie Jovillard | |||
| Julien Lepers, Tex | Peggy Olmi, Yann Renoard | Vanessa Dolmen | ||
| Julien Lepers, Jean-Paul Gaultier | ||||
| Cyril Hanouna, Julien Courbet | Yann Renoard | |||
| Audrey Chauveau | ||||
| Audrey Chauveau, Bruno Berberes | ||||
| Marine Vignes | ||||
| Elodie Suigo | ||||
| Mareva Galanter, Jérémy Parayre | ||||
| Marianne James, Jarry | Élodie Gossuin | |||
| Christophe Willem, André Manoukian | ||||
| Sandy Héribert, André Manoukian | Julia Molkhou | |||
| Laurence Boccolini | ||||
| Élodie Gossuin | ||||
| Anggun, André Manoukian | Anggun | |||