FRANCE IN THE EUROVISION SONG CONTEST

Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française (RTF) (from 1956 to 1964), ORTF (Office de Radiodiffusion et Télévision Française) (from 1965 to 1974) and TF1 (from 1975 to 1981) was the French broadcaster of the Eurovision Song Contest from 1956 until 1981. TF1 organised both a national song contest to select a French participant song and presentation of the actual Contest.
In 1982 TF1 declined to enter the Eurovision Song Contest (along with Italy and Greece) calling the programme 'A monument to drivel - a mediocrity'.''
Public reaction meant that Antenne 2 (later renamed France 2) would instead participate for France from the 1983 song contest, organising both a national final to select a participant song and presentation of the Contest. However, in later years the national final was abandoned, with an announcement by the television station of the participant song and singer each year.
The sister television channel France 3 took over participation for France from the 1999 song contest, due to the fact that France 2 that year had to broadcast a rugby match instead of the Eurovision Song Contest. France 3 took over the job organizing a national final but only for two years. France 3 is still the broadcaster of the Eurovision Song Contest, but chose the French song internally from 2001 to 2004, and came back to national final since 2005.
With the introduction of the semi-final in 2004 France 4 (part of France Télévisions) presents the Eurovision Song Contest semi-final, with France 3 continuing to organise a national selection for the participant song and present the Eurovision Song Contest final.

Contents

Facts

Recent History

Voting history

Results

External links

Facts

France has won the Eurovision Song Contest five times (in 1958, 1960, 1962, 1969, and 1977) and has hosted the song contest three times (1959, 1961, and 1978). In 1963 RTF decided not to host due to a lack of funds and the honor went to the United Kingdom and the BBC. Since there were four winners in 1969, there was a draw to select the host for 1970, the honor went to the Netherlands.
France Télévisions participation in the Song Contest has produced no wins and few successes. However, in 1991 France finished with the same number of points as eventual winner Sweden, but lost the victory because of tiebreak rules.

Recent History

In the past 10 years, France has experienced a severe decline in terms of performance in the Eurovision Song Contest and
the country has had a series of humiliating results: 18th (1996), 24th (1998), 19th (1999), 23rd (2000), 18th (2003), 15th (2004), 23rd (2005) and 22nd (2006 & 2007). However, France's second-best result to date (apart from winning) was in 2001 when the country ranked 4th with famed Canadian singer Natasha St-Pier and was followed in 2002 with Sandrine François who ranked 5th.
Most of the French entries have been sung by amateur singers (Virginie Pouchain, who represented France in 2006, is a hairdresser in life) or unknown artists. Consequently most of the French people do not consider the Eurovision Song Contest as the prime showcase for talented musicians and vocalists.

Voting history

Since the introduction of the televote in 1998, France has frequently awarded relatively high marks to Turkey, Portugal, and Israel, countries with large diasporas in France:

★ 1998 : Israel - 12 points; Portugal - 10 points

★ 1999 : Portugal - 12 points (the only points for Portugal) ; Israel - 10 points

★ 2000 : Turkey - 12 points ; Israel - 6 points (ending with 7 points)

★ 2001 : Portugal - 12 points; Israel - 10 points

★ 2002 : Israel - 10 points

★ 2003 : Turkey - 10 points

★ 2004 : Turkey - 12 points

★ 2005 : Turkey - 12 points; Israel - 10 points

★ 2006 : Turkey - 12 points

★ 2007 : Turkey - 12 points
France is among the few Song Contest participants who do not regularly benefit from neighbourly voting; onthe only neighbouring country that continuously gives France top marks is Monaco, whích doesn't even compete anymore.

Results

'Year'	'Finished'	'Points'	'Artist'	'Song'
1956	n/a	n/a	Mathé Altèry	''Le Temps Perdu''
1956	n/a	n/a	Dany Dauberson	''Il Est Là''
1957	2nd	17	Paul Desjardins	''La Belle Amour''
1958	1st	27	André Claveau	''Dors, Mon Amour''
1959	3rd	15	Jacques Philippe	''Oui, Oui, Oui, Oui''
1960	1st	32	Jacqueline Boyer	''Tom Pillibi''
1961	4th	13	Jean-Paul Mauric	''Printemps, Avril Carillonne''
1962	1st	26	Isabelle Auret	''Un Premier Amour''
1963	5th	25	Alain Barrière	''Elle Était Si Jolie''
1964	4th	14	Rachel	''Le Chant De Mallory''
1965	3rd	22	Guy Mardel	''N'Avoue Jamais''
1966	16th	1	Dominique Walter	''Chez Nous''
1967	3rd	20	Noëlle Cordier	''Il Doit Faire Beau Là-Bas''
1968	3rd	20	Isabelle Aubret	''La Source''
1969	=1st	18	Frida Boccara	''Un Jour, Un Enfant''
1970	4th	8	Guy Bonnet	''Marie-Blanche''
1971	10th	82	Serge Lama	''Un Jardin Sur La Terre''
1972	10th	81	Betty Mars	''Comé Comédie''
1973	15th	65	Martine Clemenceau	''Sans Toi''
1975	4th	91	Nicole Rieu	''Et Bonjour À Toi L'Artiste''
1976	2nd	147	Catherine Ferry	''Un, Deux, Trois''
1977	1st	136	Marie Myriam	''L'Oiseau Et L'Enfant''
1978	3rd	119	Joël Prévost	''Il Y Aura Toujours Des Violons''
1979	3rd	106	Anne-Marie David	''Je Suis L'Enfant-Soleil''
1980	11th	45	Profil	''Hé Hé M'Sieurs Dames''
1981	3rd	125	Jean Gabilou	''Humanahum''
1983	8th	56	Guy Bonnet	''Vivre''
1984	8th	61	Annick Thoumazeau	''Autant D'Amoureux Que D'Étoiles''
1985	10th	56	Roger Bens	''Femme Dans Ses Rêves Aussi''
1986	17th	13	Cocktail Chic	''Européennes''
1987	14th	44	Christine Minier	''Les Mots D'Amour N'Ont Pas De Dimanche''
1988	10th	64	Gérard Lenorman	''Chanteur De Charme''
1989	8th	60	Nathalie Pâque	''J'Ai Volé La Vie''
1990	=2nd	132	Joëlle Ursull	''White and Black Blues''
1991	2nd	146	Amina	''C'Est Le Dernier Qui A Parlé A Raison''
1992	8th	73	Kali (Jean-Marc Monnerville)	''Monté La Riviè''
1993	4th	121	Patrick Fiori	''Mama Corsica''
1994	7th	71	Nina Morato	''Je Suis Un Vrai Garçon''
1995	4th	94	Nathalia Santamaria	''Il Me Donne Rendez-Vous''
1996	19th	18	Dan Ar Braz & l'Héritage des Celtes	''Diwanit Bugale''
1997	7th	95	Fanny	''Sentiments Songes''
1998	24th	3	Marie Line	''Où Aller''
1999	19th	14	Nayah	''Je Veux Donner Ma Voix''
2000	23rd	5	Sofia Mestari	''On Aura Le Ciel''
2001	4th	142	Natasha St-Pier	''Je N'Ai Que Mon Âme''
2002	5th	104	Sandrine François	''Il Faut Du Temps (Je Me Battrai Pour Ça)''
2003	18th	19	Louisa Baïleche	''Monts Et Merveilles''
2004	15th	40	Jonatan Cerrada	''À Chaque Pas''
2005	23rd	11	Ortal	''Chacun Pense À Soi''
2006	22nd	5	Virginie Pouchain	''Il Était Temps''
2007	22nd	19	Les Fatals Picards	''L'amour à la française''
2008

External links

★ www.eurovision.tv ''(official)''

★ French Eurovision site ''(unofficial)''

★ French website ''(unofficial)''