For the Eurovision Song Contest 1999, held in

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

, France entered "Je veux donner ma voix" to compete, performed by

Nayah Nayah (born Sylvie Mestres) is a French singer. Career Nayah launched her music career after six years of studies at the Perpignan Academy of Music and Drama. She was chosen to represent France during the Eurovision Song Contest of 1999 which ...

. Television channel

France 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 ...

was originally in charge of the French participation, however it was later changed to

France 3 France 3 () is a French free-to-air public television channel and part of the France Télévisions group, which also includes France 2, France 4, France 5 and France Info. It is made up of a network of regional television services providing ...

due to the broadcast of the

French Rugby League Championship The French rugby league championship (french: Le Championnat de France de Rugby à XIII) has been the major rugby league tournament for semi-professional and professional clubs in France since the sport was introduced to the country in the 1930s. ...

which conflicted with the date for the final. France 3 opted to choose their entry via public selection, marking the first time since 1987 France held a national final to select their entry.

Before Eurovision

Eurovision 1999: la sélection

''Eurovision 1999: la sélection'' was the national final organised by

to select France's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 1999. The competition took place on 2 March 1999 at the

L'Olympia The Olympia (; commonly known as L'Olympia or in the English-speaking world as Olympia Hall) is a concert venue in the 9th arrondissement of Paris, France, located at 28 Boulevard des Capucines, equally distancing Madeleine church and Opéra G ...

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 hosted by

Julien Lepers Julien Lepers (; whose real name is Ronan Gerval Lepers) is a French television and radio presenter, and a singer-songwriter, born on in Paris. Biography Early life Son of the conductor Raymond Lepers and the singer Maria Rémusat, and ...

and

Karen Cheryl Isabelle Morizet (formerly Karen Cheryl on 19 July 1955) is a French singer, actress, radio and television presenter. Singing career Karen Cheryl began her career as a singer in the 1970s and 1980s. Her first single "Garde-moi avec toi" was re ...

. The show was broadcast on France 3.

Competing entries

From 600 submissions originally received by France 2, a two-member selection committee reviewed the received submissions and selected twelve entries to compete in the national final. The selection committee consisted of Monique Le Marcis (former RTL Head of Musical Programming) and Catherine Régnier ( M6 music programmer).

Final

The final took place on 2 March 1999. Twelve entries competed and the winner, "Je veux donner ma voix" performed by

, was selected by the combination of public televoting (50%) and a jury panel (50%). The jury panel consisted of

Gilbert Bécaud Gilbert Bécaud (, 24 October 1927 – 18 December 2001) was a French singer, composer, pianist and actor, known as "Monsieur 100,000 Volts" for his energetic performances. His best-known hits are "Nathalie" and "Et maintenant", a 1961 release t ...

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 ...

Jocelyne Béroard Jocelyne Béroard (born 12 September 1954) is a Martinican singer and songwriter. She is one of the lead singers of the Zouk and Compas band Kassav'. As a solo artist, she helped create zouk Beton, a music genre started by Kassav'. The main memb ...

Lââm Lââm (born 1 September 1971) is a French singer of Tunisian descent. She has sold more than 4,000,000 singles & albums. Biography Lââm (whose real name is LamiaRichard Cocciante Riccardo Cocciante (; born 20 February 1946), also known in French-speaking countries and the U.S. as Richard Cocciante (), is an Italian singer, composer, theatre man and musician. He acquired French citizenship. Personal life Cocciante was ...

, Jean-Pierre Bouryayre,

Laurent Petitguillaume Laurent Petitguillaume (born 21 February 1960 in Tours) is a French radio and television host. He debuted in 1983 on the RFM radio, then on Skyrock Skyrock may refer to: *Skyrock (social network site), a French social network site *Skyrock (radio ...

, Jean-Michel Boris and Jean Réveillon, with each member assigning scores to each entry ranging from 1 (lowest) to 10 (highest). The rankings of each half were used to calculate the result; hence, the song with the lowest total won. There was a tie for first place between Ginie Line and Nayah; however, Nayah won as she received the most votes from the public.

At Eurovision

Nayah performed 10th in the running order of the contest, following

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

and preceding 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 ...

. At the close of the voting she received 14 points, placing 19th of 23.

Voting

References

External links

French National Final 1999
{{Eurovision Song Contest 1999

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

Countries in the Eurovision Song Contest 1999

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 ...