France was present at the Eurovision Song Contest 1981, held in

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Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

Before Eurovision

''Concours de la Chanson Française pour l'Eurovision 1981''

The final was held on 8 March 1981 at the TF1 Studios in

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 ...

, and was hosted by television hostess

Fabienne Égal Fabienne Égal (born 21 July 1954 in Rabat, Morocco) is a French announcer and television host. Career She became an announcer on TF1 in the 1970s, then hosted ''Les pieds au mur'' with Nicolas Hulot in 1980 and ''La Une chez vous'' (1985-1987). ...

. Six songs made it to the national final after two semi-final heats. The winner was decided by a random sampling of 1,086 television viewers who were contacted by TF1 and asked which song was their favorite. The winning entry was "Humanahum", performed by Jean Gabilou and composed by

Jean-Paul Cara Jean-Paul Cara (born 9 September 1948, Montpellier) is a French singer and composer. He has authored several songs that have won prizes at the Eurovision contest, most notably the single '' L'Oiseau et l'Enfant'' in collaboration with Joe Grac ...

with lyrics by Joe Gracy. Cara and Gracy also penned the 1977 Contest winner " L'oiseau et l'enfant". Gabilou, a Tahitian singer, was the first ever to represent France from one of its

overseas territories A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or an ...

. The order of the songs presented on the night of the Contest vary from other published material.French National Final 1981
/ref>Concours de la Chanson Française pour l'Eurovision 1981, pres. Fabienne Égal, 8 March 1981, TF1.

At Eurovision

Jean Gabilou performed ninth on the night of the contest, following

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and preceding

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 ...

. At the close of the voting the song had received 125 points, placing 3rd in a field of 20 competing countries. Despite finishing in the top three, TF1's head of entertainment programming, Pierre Bouteiller, famously opted out of the 1982 Contest, referring to Eurovision as "a monument to inanity ometimes translated as "drivel""1982 Eurovision source in French
/ref> France would return to the fold in

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to Internet protocol suite, TCP/IP is officially completed (this is consid ...

, albeit with a different broadcaster,

Antenne 2 France 2 () is a French public national television channel. It is part of the state-owned France Télévisions group, along with France 3, France 4 and France 5. France Télévisions also participates in Arte and Euronews. Since 3:20 CET on 7 Ap ...

Voting

References

{{Eurovision Song Contest 1981

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

Countries in the Eurovision Song Contest 1981

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 ...