"À force de prier" (; "By Persistently Praying") is a song recorded in

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

by Greek singer Nana Mouskouri. The song was written by Raymond Bernard and Pierre Delanoë. It is best known as the entry at the

Eurovision Song Contest 1963 The Eurovision Song Contest 1963 was the eighth edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest and took place in London, United Kingdom. It was organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster British Broadcasting Corporatio ...

, held in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

Background

Mouskouri had had her international breakthrough with the

German language German ( ) is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and Official language, official or co-official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the Ita ...

single "Weiße Rosen aus Athen" ("White Roses from Athens") in 1961, a song originally adapted from a Greek folk melody. The song was later translated into several different languages and went on to become one of Mouskouri's signature tunes. When she received the offer to represent Luxembourg at the Eurovision Song Contest in early 1963 she and her family had recently relocated from

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

, Greece, to

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, France, where she was signed to the

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label. "À force de prier" is a ballad in

, with Mouskouri telling the object of her affections that she intends to have him love her "by persistently praying" for this to occur. Moskouri recorded her entry also in German (as "Die Worte dieser Nacht"),

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

("The One That Got Away") and Italian ("La notte non lo sa").

Eurovision

This was the second appearance of a Greek artist on the Eurovision stage after

Jimmy Makulis Dimitrios Makulis (''Greek'': Τζίμης Μακούλης; 12 April 1935 in Athens – 28 October 2007 in Athens), known as Jimmy Makulis, was a Greek singer who had a successful career in German-speaking markets in the 1950s and 1960s, an ...

in . Greece as a nation would not join the Contest until . The song was performed sixteenth on the night, following 's Françoise Hardy with " L'amour s'en va". At the close of voting, it had received 13 points, placing 8th in a field of 16. "À force de prier" was succeeded as Luxembourgish representative at the 1964 contest by Hugues Aufray with " Dès que le printemps revient".

After Eurovision

Although "À force de prier" was only a minor international success for Mouskouri, it won her the prestigious

Grand Prix du Disque Grand may refer to: People with the name * Grand (surname) * Grand L. Bush (born 1955), American actor * Grand Mixer DXT, American turntablist * Grand Puba (born 1966), American rapper Places * Grand, Oklahoma * Grand, Vosges, village and commu ...

in France that same year, and her Eurovision appearance also caught the attention of noted French composer

Michel Legrand Michel Jean Legrand (; 24 February 1932 – 26 January 2019) was a French musical composer, arranger, conductor, and jazz pianist. Legrand was a prolific composer, having written over 200 film and television scores, in addition to many son ...

, who went on to write and arrange two major hits for her in the

Francophone French became an international language in the Middle Ages, when the power of the Kingdom of France made it the second international language, alongside Latin. This status continued to grow into the 18th century, by which time French was the l ...

markets; "Les parapluies de Cherbourg" (1964) and "L'enfant au tambour" (1965). The

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

, the host broadcaster of the contest, also noticed her talents and started to do specials with her afterwards.

Sources and external links

Official Eurovision Song Contest site, history by year, 1963.

Detailed info and lyrics, The Diggiloo Thrush, "À force de prier".
* Allmusic.com, Nana Mouskouri biography. Eurovision songs of Luxembourg Eurovision songs of 1963 Songs written by Pierre Delanoë Nana Mouskouri songs 1963 songs Fontana Records singles 1963 singles {{1960s-song-stub