France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

originally planned to participate in the

Eurovision Song Contest 2020 The Eurovision Song Contest 2020 was planned to be the 65th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It would have taken place in Rotterdam, Netherlands, following the country's victory at the with the song "Arcade" by Duncan Laurence. The con ...

with the song " Mon alliée (The Best in Me)" written by

Tom Leeb Tom Leeb (born 21 March, 1989) is a French actor, singer and comedian. He would have represented France in the Eurovision Song Contest, France in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 at Rotterdam, Netherlands, the Netherlands, with the song "Mon al ...

, Léa Ivanne,

Amir Haddad Laurent Amir Khlifa Khedider Haddad ( he, לורן עמיר חליפה חדידר חדד, born 20 June 1984), better known as Amir Haddad ( he, עמיר חדד), or simply as Amir, is a French-Israeli singer and songwriter. He took part in 2006 ...

John Lundvik John Lundvik (; born 27 January 1983) is a Swedish singer, songwriter, and former sprinter. He was part of the athletic team for IFK Växjö. Lundvik also has a singing and songwriter career having composed songs for films and the Wedding of ...

, Peter Boström and Thomas G:son. The song was performed by Tom Leeb. The French broadcaster in collaboration with the television channel internally selected the French entry for the 2020 contest in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

, Netherlands. Tom Leeb was officially announced by as the French entrant on 14 January 2020 and later the song was presented to the public as the contest entry during a live performance by Leeb on 16 February 2020 during the France 2 programme . As a member of the " Big Five", France automatically qualified to compete in the final of the Eurovision Song Contest. However, the contest was cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

Background

Prior to the 2020 contest, France had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest sixty-two times since its debut as one of seven countries to take part in

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim ...

. France first won the contest in

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the third ...

with "" performed by André Claveau. In the 1960s, they won three times, with "" performed by

Jacqueline Boyer Jacqueline Boyer (, born Eliane Ducos, 23 April 1941) is a French singer and actress. She is also the daughter of performers Jacques Pills and Lucienne Boyer. In 1960, she won the Eurovision Song Contest for France singing "Tom Pillibi", with m ...

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Ja ...

, "" performed by

Isabelle Aubret Isabelle Aubret (; born Thérèse Coquerelle; 27 July 1938) is a French singer best known for winning the Eurovision Song Contest in 1962 with the song "Un premier amour". Early life Thérèse Coquerelle was born in Lille, France, on 27 July ...

1962 Events January * January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand. * January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism. * January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wors ...

and "" performed by

Frida Boccara Danielle Frida Hélène Boccara (29 October 1940 – 1 August 1996) was a Moroccan-born French singer of Italian descent, who performed and recorded in a number of languages, including French, Spanish, English, Italian, German, Dutch and Russia ...

, who won in

1969 This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 **Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...

in a four-way tie with the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. France's fifth victory came in

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democratic R ...

, when

Marie Myriam Marie Myriam (born Myriam Lopes, 8 May 1957, Luluabourg, Belgian Congo, (now Democratic Republic of the Congo) is a French singer of Portuguese descent. Career Representing France, she won the Eurovision Song Contest in 1977 with '' L'oise ...

won with the song "". France have also finished second four times, with

Paule Desjardins The Eurovision Song Contest 1957 was the second edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster (HR) on behalf of ARD, the contest, originally known as the (English: Euro ...

1957 1957 ( MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1957th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 957th year of the 2nd millennium, the 57th year of the 20th century, and the 8th y ...

, Catherine Ferry in

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...

Joëlle Ursull Joëlle Ursull (born 9 November 1960) is a French singer. She performed "White and Black Blues", composed by Georges Augier de Moussac with lyrics by Serge Gainsbourg, in the Eurovision Song Contest 1990 of 5 May 1990. She scored 132 points an ...

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

and

Amina Aminatu (also Amina; died 1610) was a Hausa Muslim historical figure in the city-state Zazzau (now city of Zaria in Kaduna State), in what is now in the north-west region of Nigeria. She might have ruled in the mid-sixteenth century. A controv ...

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...

, who lost out to Sweden's

Carola Carola is a female given name, the Latinized form of the Germanic given names Caroline or Carol. People named Carola include: Acting * Carola Braunbock (1924–1978), Czech-born East German actress *Carola Höhn (1910–2005), German actres ...

in a tie-break. In the 21st century, France has had less success, only making the top ten four times, with

Natasha St-Pier Natasha St-Pier (born 10 February 1981) is a Canadian singer of Acadian origin who has spent most of her career in France. She was coach in the second and third season of The Voice Belgique (''The Voice of Belgium''). Career Natasha St-Pier r ...

finishing fourth in

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

, Sandrine François finishing fifth in

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

Patricia Kaas Patricia Kaas (; born 5 December 1966) is a French singer. Her music is a mix of pop, cabaret, jazz, and chanson. Since the appearance of her 1988 debut album '' Mademoiselle chante...'', Kaas has sold over 17 million records worldwide. She h ...

finishing eighth in

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

and

Amir Emir (; ar, أمير ' ), sometimes transliterated amir, amier, or ameer, is a word of Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person possessing actual or cerem ...

finishing sixth in

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

. In

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

, the nation finished in sixteenth place with the song "" performed by Bilal Hassani. The French national broadcaster, , broadcasts the event within France and delegates the selection of the nation's entry to the television channel . confirmed that France would participate in the 2020 Eurovision Song Contest on 23 September 2019. The French broadcaster had used both national finals and internal selection to choose the French entry in the past. The

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

and 2019 French entries were selected via the national final , however the broadcaster announced in November 2019 that they would opt to internally select the 2020 French entry.

Before Eurovision

Internal selection

announced in late 2019 that the French entry for the 2020 Eurovision Song Contest would be selected internally. On 14 January 2020, France 2 announced

as the French entrant for the Eurovision Song Contest 2020. His song " Mon alliée (The Best in Me)" was presented to the public on 16 February 2020 during a live performance at the

Eiffel Tower The Eiffel Tower ( ; french: links=yes, tour Eiffel ) is a wrought-iron lattice tower on the Champ de Mars in Paris, France. It is named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower. Locally nicknamed "'' ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, broadcast on during the programme and hosted by

Laurent Delahousse Laurent Delahousse (born 30 August 1969) is a French journalist and documentary filmmaker. He is best known for hosting the ''Journal de 20 heures'' news bulletin and ''Un jour, un destin'' biographical show, all on France 2. Education Delah ...

. " (The Best in Me)", written by Tom Leeb, Léa Ivanne,

, Peter Boström and Thomas G:son and contains lyrics in a bilingual mix of French and English, was selected by the artistic committee of from over 100 submissions, headed by entertainment director and newly appointed French Head of Delegation for the Eurovision Song Contest Alexandra Redde-Amiel, after the French broadcaster requested proposals from Francophone and international songwriters. G:son and Boström had written the Swedish

Eurovision Song Contest 2012 The Eurovision Song Contest 2012 was the 57th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Baku, Azerbaijan, following the country's victory at the with the song " Running Scared" by the duo Ell & Nikki. It was the first time Azerb ...

winning song "

Euphoria Euphoria ( ) is the experience (or affect) of pleasure or excitement and intense feelings of well-being and happiness. Certain natural rewards and social activities, such as aerobic exercise, laughter, listening to or making music and da ...

", while Haddad represented France in the 2016 Contest and Lundvik represented Sweden in the 2019 Contest.

At Eurovision

According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the " Big Five" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final. As a member of the "Big 5", France automatically qualified to compete in the final on 16 May 2020. In addition to their participation in the final, France was also required to broadcast and vote in one of the two semi-finals. During the semi-final allocation draw on 28 January 2020, France was assigned to broadcast and vote in the second semi-final on 14 May 2020. However, due to

, the contest was cancelled.

References

External links

Official France 2 Eurovision site
{{Eurovision Song Contest 2020

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

Countries in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020

Eurovision The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...