Monaco in the Eurovision Song Contest explained

Monaco
Contest:ESC
Former Broadcaster:French: [[TMC (TV channel)|Télé Monte-Carlo]]|i=no (TMC; 1959–2006)
Apps:24 (21 finals)
Highest:1st:
Current:2006

Monaco has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 24 times since its debut in . The country's only win in the contest came in, with "French: [[Un banc, un arbre, une rue]]|i=no" performed by Séverine. As a result, Monaco was expected to host the contest in, but it ultimately declined. The Monégasque participant broadcaster in the contest was French: [[TMC (TV channel)|Télé Monte-Carlo]]|i=no (TMC). Monaco is the only microstate to have won the contest to date.

Monaco finished last at its first contest in 1959 before achieving three top three results in the 1960s. Two of these were achieved by François Deguelt, who finished third with "French: [[Ce soir-là]]|i=no" in and second with "French: [[Dis rien]]|i=no" in . "French: [[Où sont-elles passées]]|i=no" by Romuald also finished third in . Severine's victory in 1971 was the first of five top four results in eight years. The others were achieved with "French: [[Celui qui reste et celui qui s'en va]]|i=no" by Romuald (who returned to place fourth in), "French: [[Toi, la musique et moi]]|i=no" by Mary Christy who was third in, "French: [[Une petite française]]|i=no" by Michèle Torr, fourth in, and "French: [[Les jardins de Monaco|Les Jardins de Monaco]]|i=no" by Caline and Olivier Toussaint who were fourth in . After participating in, Monaco was absent from the contest for 25 years.

Monaco is the only country to have internally selected all of its participants. While some countries organise televised national finals, it is believed that TMC does not have enough funding to organise national finals.

Monaco returned to the contest for three years from to but failed to qualify for the final on all three occasions. TMC then withdrew from the contest, stating that regional voting patterns in the contest have effectively given Monaco no chance of qualifying for the final.[1] [2]

History

French: [[TMC (TV channel)|Télé Monte-Carlo]]|i=no (TMC) was a full member of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), thus eligible to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest. It participated in the contest representing Monaco since its in 1959.

TMC participated in the contest 21 times between its debut in 1959 and . Afterwards the it withdrew from the contest for financial reasons and lack of interest.[3] It only returned in, 25 years after its last participation.[4] It withdrew again in, after failing to qualify for the final for three consecutive years.[5]

Monaco won the contest in with the song "French: [[Un banc, un arbre, une rue]]|i=unset", performed by Séverine.[6] The Monégasque victory is rather rare in the history of Eurovision as neither the songwriter, the singer, nor musical director were from the country they represented, something which was also the case with four of 's five victories. Séverine furthermore declared to journalists that she had never set foot in Monaco, forgetting that the song's music video was filmed there.[7] Séverine's producer was dishonest with her and stole her prize, thus she never got paid for her victory, even after suing him.[8] Nevertheless, the singer is still a great fan of the contest.[9]

Monaco's next best placing is second place, which it has achieved once in . It has placed third three times, in,, and ; and last twice, in and .[10] Monaco is among the eight countries which finished last on their first participation, the others being,,,,, the, and .

Hosting withdrawal

Monaco is the only country that has won the contest but has never organised it. After winning in 1971, TMC planned to organise the as an open-air show, setting the date in June rather than early spring.[11] However, due to a lack of funding, TMC sought help from the French public broadcaster, the French: [[Office de Radiodiffusion Télévision Française]]|i=no (ORTF), which accepted to organise the contest. Because TMC wanted the contest to be held in Monaco while ORTF wanted it in France, negotiations never came through. In July 1971, TMC informed the EBU that it was unable to organise the contest.[12] The EBU asked 's Televisión Española (TVE) and 's ARD, which respectively finished second and third at the 1971 contest, but both broadcasters declined to host the 1972 contest. It was eventually organised by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) in Edinburgh.[11]

Absence

Monaco was absent from the contest between 1980 and 2003, before returning for three years from 2004 to 2006. During its three-year return, all the artists representing the country, Maryon (2004), Lise Darly (2005), and Séverine Ferrer (2006), failed to qualify for the final. TMC broadcast the, making the country eligible to participate in the, but TMC decided against it.[13] [14]

TMC had announced that it was possible Monaco would return to the contest in after a two-year absence, following talks with the EBU, as well as new voting measures implemented in the contest that year.[15] Despite this, Monaco did not compete in Moscow in 2009.[16] The EBU announced they would work harder to bring Monaco back into the contest in alongside other lapsed participants.

The former head of the Monégasque delegation Philippe Boscagli accused certain countries of geopolitical voting, alleging the existence of Eastern European, Nordic, and Old European voting blocs, henceforth hindering Monaco's chances for qualification. With regards to the non-qualification of the Monégasque entry in 2006, "La Coco-Dance", he claimed that the audience voted more for the show than the song. Furthermore, TMC is now part of the TF1 Group, the leading private broadcaster in France, and is now available everywhere in France. TMC programs no longer revolve around the principality. As TF1 Group is the biggest competitor to the French public channels, it is unlikely that TMC would again broadcast the contest. When TMC did so between 2004 and 2006, its audience was much smaller than the one of the French public channel. In those years, it was the government and the municipality of Monaco who chose the contestant and funded the delegation, while it is usually the responsibility of a broadcaster or a producer.[17]

Possible return

On 22 November 2021, L'Observateur de Monaco reported that €100,000 have been allocated towards "initiating the application of the Principality to the Eurovision 2023 competition" in the state budget for 2022.[18] Monaco’s potential return to the contest would have required co-operation between the Monégasque government and broadcaster TMC which is owned by France's TF1 Group,[19] however, in December 2021, the Monégasque government announced the launch of a new national public broadcaster, TVMonaco, which would be fully owned by the government, opening up a possibility of Monaco returning to the contest under the sponsorship of the Monégasque government starting in .[20] However, the channel's launch was later delayed to 1 September 2023.[21] [22] Upon its launch, TVMonaco became a member of Monaco Media Diffusion, the broadcasting company which represents Monaco in the EBU, meaning that the country is, starting in 2024, once again eligible to participate in Eurovision events.[23] [24] However, TVMonaco decided against taking part in the .[25] The broadcaster's editor-in-chief, Frédéric Cauderlier, ascribed the decision to the tight deadline and to being forced to concentrate on other matters in the early stages of the launch.[26] The broadcaster gained full independent EBU membership in late March 2024.[27]

Participation overview

Due to the country's very small size, all Monaco's entrants came from outside the principality, although French-born Minouche Barelli, who represented the principality in 1967, shared her time between Paris and Monaco, acquired Monegasque citizenship in 2002, and died in the principality on 20 February 2004 at the age of 56.[28] The large majority of the participants were French, with also one Yugoslavian, Tereza Kesovija, and one Luxembourgish, Mary Christy (born Marie Ruggeri). Several singers selected to represent Monaco are key figures of the French scene, such as Françoise Hardy and Michèle Torr. Luxembourg, another small country, also sent a great number of French artists to the contest. At the 1967 contest, the Monegasque entry, "French: Boum-Badaboum|i=unset", sung by Minouche Barelli, was written by Serge Gainsbourg. He had already composed the winning entry in 1965, "French: [[Poupée de cire, poupée de son]]|i=unset", sung by France Gall for Luxembourg.[29] Jean Jacques, who represented Monaco in 1969, was the first child to take part in Eurovision. He was 12 years old, making him the first preteen to participate and the first participant to be born after the inauguration of the contest.[30]

+ Table key
1First place
2Second place
3Third place
Last place
XEntry selected but did not compete
Upcoming event-->
YearEntrantSongLanguageFinalPointsSemiPoints
Jacques Pills"French: [[Mon ami Pierrot]]|i=unset"French11 ◁1colspan="2" rowspan="21"
François Deguelt"French: [[Ce soir-là]]|i=unset"French315
Colette Deréal"French: [[Allons, allons les enfants]]|i=unset"French106
François Deguelt"French: [[Dis rien]]|i=unset"French213
Françoise Hardy"French: [[L'Amour s'en va]]|i=unset"French525
Romuald"French: [[Où sont-elles passées]]|i=unset"French315
Marjorie Noël"French: [[Va dire à l'amour]]|i=unset"French97
Téréza"French: [[Bien plus fort]]|i=unset"French17 ◁0
Minouche Barelli"French: [[Boum-Badaboum]]|i=unset"French510
Line and Willy"French: [[À chacun sa chanson]]|i=unset"French78
Jean Jacques"French: [[Maman, Maman]]|i=unset"French611
Dominique Dussault"French: [[Marlène]]|i=unset"French85
Séverine"French: [[Un banc, un arbre, une rue]]|i=unset"French1128
Anne-Marie Godart and Peter MacLane"French: [[Comme on s'aime]]|i=unset"French1665
Marie"French: [[Un train qui part]]|i=unset"French885
Romuald"French: [[Celui qui reste et celui qui s'en va]]|i=unset"French414
Sophie"French: [[Une chanson c'est une lettre]]|i=unset"French1322
Mary Christy"French: [[Toi, la musique et moi]]|i=unset"French393
Michèle Torr"French: [[Une petite française]]|i=unset"French496
Caline and Olivier Toussaint"French: [[Les jardins de Monaco|Les Jardins de Monaco]]|i=unset"French4107
Laurent Vaguener"French: [[Notre vie c'est la musique]]|i=unset"French1612
Maryon"French: [[Notre planète]]|i=unset"French1910
Lise Darly"French: [[Tout de moi]]|i=unset"French2422
Séverine Ferrer"French: [[La Coco-Dance]]|i=unset"French, Tahitian2114

Related involvement

Heads of delegation

+ Heads of delegation
YearHead of delegation
Philippe Boscagli[31]

Conductors

+ Conductors
YearConductor
Franck Pourcel[32]
Raymond Lefèvre
Michel Colombier
Raymond Bernard
Alain Goraguer
Aimé Barelli
Michel Colombier
Hervé Roy
Jimmy Walter[33]
Jean-Claude Petit
Raymond Bernard
Jean-Claude Vannier
Raymond Donnez
André Popp
Raymond Donnez
Yvon Rioland
Gérard Salesses

Commentators and spokespersons

+ Commentators and spokespersons
YearChannel(s)Commentator(s)Spokesperson
French: [[TMC (TV channel)|Télé Monte-Carlo]]|i=unset
Radio Monte-Carlo
French: [[TMC (TV channel)|Télé Monte-Carlo]]|i=unset
Radio Monte-Carlo
French: [[TMC (TV channel)|Télé Monte-Carlo]]|i=unset
French: [[TMC (TV channel)|Télé Monte-Carlo]]|i=unset
Radio Monte-Carlo
Robert Beauvais
French: [[TMC (TV channel)|Télé Monte-Carlo]]|i=unsetPierre Tchernia
Robert Beauvais
Sophie Hecquet
colspan="2"
TMC Monte CarloAnne Allegrini
Bernard Montiel and
Bernard Montiel and Églantine Éméyé
colspan="2"

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Monaco withdraws. ESCToday. Kasapoglou, Yiorgos. 12 December 2006. 12 December 2006.
  2. Web site: Monaco - it's not the money!. ESCToday. Viniker, Barry. 14 December 2006. 14 December 2006.
  3. Book: Roxburgh . Gordon . Songs for Europe: The United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest . 2016 . . Prestatyn . 978-1-84583-118-9 . 86–103. Volume Three: The 1980s.
  4. Web site: Eurovision Song Contest 1980 | Eurovision Song Contest . Eurovision Song Contest. 19 April 1980 . 29 October 2016.
  5. Web site: Eurovision Song Contest 2007 Semi-Final | Eurovision Song Contest . . 10 May 2007 . 29 October 2016.
  6. Web site: Eurovision Song Contest 1971 | Eurovision Song Contest . Eurovision.tv . 3 April 1971 . 29 October 2016.
  7. Book: The Eurovision Song Contest. 50 Years. The Official History. John Kennedy O'Connor. Carlton Books Limited. London. 2005. 47.
  8. Book: La folie de l'Eurovision. Jean-Pierre Hautier. Éditions de l’Arbre. Brussels. 2010. 37.
  9. Book: Congratulations. 50 Years of The Eurovision Song Contest. The Official DVD. 1956-1980. Jan Feddersen and Ivor Lyttle. Copenhagen. 2005. CMC Entertainment. 7.
  10. Web site: Monaco | Eurovision Song Contest . Eurovision.tv . 29 October 2016.
  11. Web site: Seeking out more about the 1972 contest? | News | Eurovision Song Contest . Eurovision.tv . 25 March 2014 . 29 October 2016.
  12. Book: The Eurovision Song Contest. 50 Years. The Official History. John Kennedy O'Connor. Carlton Books Limited. London. 2005. 48.
  13. Web site: Monaco to show Eurovision 2007. ESCToday. Kuipers. Michael. 26 December 2006. 16 July 2020.
  14. Web site: Monaco will not return in 2008. ESCToday. Floras. Stella. 6 December 2007. 16 July 2020.
  15. Web site: Monaco back in Moscow?. Kuipers. Michael. 19 November 2008. ESCToday. 19 November 2008.
  16. Web site: San Marino & Monaco out?. Konstantopoulos. Fotis. 27 November 2008. Oikotimes. 27 November 2008.
  17. Web site: Eurovision?: Monaco, 40 ans plus tard. Eurovision? Monaco, 40 years later. fr. Monaco Hebdo. https://web.archive.org/web/20150714220755/https://www.monacohebdo.mc/5674-eurovision%E2%80%89-monaco-40-ans-plus-tard. 14 July 2015. 3 February 2020. 18 May 2011. Adrien. Paredes.
  18. Web site: Bonarrigo, Sabrina . 22 November 2021 . Monaco: Returning to the Eurovision Song Contest in 2023? . 22 November 2021 . L'observateur de Monaco.
  19. Web site: Granger, Anthony . 22 November 2021 . Monaco: Returning to the Eurovision Song Contest in 2023? . 22 November 2021 . Eurovoix.
  20. Web site: Granger, Anthony . 10 December 2021 . Monaco: Launching New Public Service Broadcaster Monte-Carlo Riviera . 10 December 2021 . Eurovoix.
  21. Web site: Tang . Isabella . 2022-04-25 . Launch of Monaco's Monte-Carlo Riviera TV delayed until 2023 . 2022-05-17 . ESCXTRA . en-GB.
  22. Web site: 23 March 2023 . La future chaîne de télévision s'appellera finalement TVMONACO . 15 April 2023 . . fr.
  23. Web site: Radios/TV . 5 September 2023 . . fr.
  24. Web site: 5 September 2023 . Eurovoix . Monaco: Eligible to Compete in the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 . Granger . Anthony . 6 September 2023.
  25. Web site: Jiandani . Sanjay . 2023-09-15 . Monaco: MMD-TVMONACO will not compete at Eurovision 2024 . 2023-09-15 . ESCToday .
  26. Web site: Granger . Anthony . 2023-10-11 . Monaco: TVMonaco Editor-in-Chief Explains Eurovision 2024 Non-Participation . 2023-10-12 . Eurovoix .
  27. Web site: Granger . Anthony . 2024-04-12 . Monaco: TV Monaco Gains Full EBU Membership . 2024-04-12 . Eurovoix .
  28. https://www.lemonde.fr/archives/article/2004/02/27/minouche-barelli-chanteuse_354714_1819218.html "Minouche Barelli, chanteuse"
  29. Book: Congratulations. 50 Years of The Eurovision Song Contest. The Official DVD. 1956-1980. Jan Feddersen and Ivor Lyttle. Copenhagen. 2005. CMC Entertainment. 12.
  30. Book: The Eurovision Song Contest. 50 Years. The Official History. John Kennedy O'Connor. Carlton Books Limited. London. 2005. 37.
  31. Web site: Monaco decides on participation next week. 18 September 2004. 3 February 2019. ESCToday.
  32. Book: Roxburgh . Gordon . Songs for Europe: The United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest . 2012 . . Prestatyn, United Kingdom . 978-1-84583-065-6 . One: The 1950s and 1960s.
  33. Book: Roxburgh . Gordon . Songs for Europe: The United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest . 2014 . . Prestatyn, United Kingdom . 978-1-84583-093-9 . Two: The 1970s.