About France...

2006 Result
History (1956 to 2005)
This year's entry
What I predicted...
What you thought...
What actually happened...
What the bookies thought...

top of page 

2006 Result

Points in Semi Final: N/A
Position in Semi Final: N/A

Points in Final: 5
Position in Final: 22nd
More about the 2006 result for France

2007 Contest: Big 4 - Directly qualified to Final

top of page 

History (1956 to 2005)

France's previous appearances: 49 year(s) out of 50 [note]
Years participated: 1956-1981; 1983- [note]
Best result: 1st (1958, 1960, 1962, 1969, 1977)

France is one of Eurovision's most successful nations, winning on five occasions and appearing in all but one of the 49 contests to date. However, these statistics hide a stark contrast between the country's early form (with five victories in a 20 year period between 1958 and 1977) and its more recent performance. It is now nearly thirty years since France's last Eurovision victory; perhaps, more worryingly, Celine Dion in 1988 was the last time an artist representing any country won Eurovision with a song performed in French.

France ought to have won a deserved victory in 1991, when Amina performed the unusual and beautiful 'C'est le dernier qui a parlé qui a raison'. Unfortunately, France and Sweden were tied not only on points, but on the number of 'douze points' that both countries had received; in the end, Sweden's Carola clinched victory due to her entry receiving the highest number of second-placed 'dix points'. Today, the system is slightly different in that ties are resolved by counting the number of countries awarding an entry any points at all - interestingly, this rule would have delivered victory to France and Amina, given that her song received votes from 18 of the 21 other countries, compared to 17 for Sweden. Hindsight, I would suggest, has favoured France's entry; while Amina's song remains fresh and interesting, Carola's 'Fangad av en stormvind' sounds very much of its time.

Frustratingly, France has never come close to another victory, though it maintained an impressive run of top ten finishes in the early 1990s, before slumping to an undeserved 18th place for Dan Ar Braz's beautiful and unusual Breton-language 'Diwanit Bugale' in 1996. Subsequently, the country had to rely on its 'Big 4' status to avoid relegation, with poor results in 1998 (24th), 1999 (19th) and 2000 (23rd). More recently, France had a brief spell of doing well with Celine Dion-esque power ballads, finishing 4th in 2001 and 5th in 2002, though one senses that the country's dogged insistence on performing in French - beautiful language though it is - may not have helped its Eurovision prospects. The last three years have seen further disappointing results, with the pleasant but lightweight 'Monts et merveilles' finishing in 18th place in 2003, Jonatan Cerrada's 'A chaque pas' gaining a slightly better 15th in 2004, and Ortal's 'Chacun pense à soi' equalling the country's worst ever result by finishing 23rd in 2005. Fortunately, being in the 'Big 4' means that France joins the UK, Germany and Spain - all under-achievers in 2005 - in qualifying for the Final anyway.
Get 'The Eurovision Song Contest: The Offical History' at Amazon.co.uk

top of page 

This year's entry

Position in Semi Final draw: N/A
Position in Final draw: 19

What I said prior to the Semi Final:
"After an extensive talent search the French held its national final on 14 March, with Virginie Pouchain being chosen to sing 'Nous c'est vous', a pretty if rather repetitive song. However, the hazard with these reality shows (as recent Irish entries have shown) is that you often finish up getting a rather clunky combination of artist and song. This problem seems to have been apparent to all concerned following Virginie's performance of the song, and I commented in my original review "that fairly radical work will be needed if this is to avoid doing an Ortal". Now, France has decided to do a Belarus by ditching its original song entirely, with Corneille composing a new entry - 'Il était temps' (It was time) - more suited to Virginie's voice. Unusually, the EBU gave France an extension beyond the normal deadline, so even though all songs were supposed to have been submitted on 20 March we had to wait an extra week to hear what 'Il était temps' sounds like. Again, it's a pretty song, undoubtedly much better suited to Virginie than the previous one, though once again there isn't a lot to it other than the title being repeated lots of times - after three minutes, you're certainly left in no doubt about what the song is called."

top of page 

What I predicted...

My prediction for Semi Final: N/A
My prediction for Final: 20th to 22nd
See all my predictions for the 2006 Semi Final
See all my predictions for the 2006 Final

What I predicted prior to the Semi Final:
"It's hard to say anything bad about this song, as it really is very nice and pleasant. Unfortunately, pleasant isn't usually enough to win Eurovision, and I fear that the French song will get lost among its more memorable competitors. Virginie has a lovely voice, and the song is a grower, but I can't see even a strong performance lifting the French song out of the bottom few. Certainly, with odds as long as 250-1 on a French victory, anything better than a handful of points will be more than many expect."
Want an alternative prediction? See Simon Hylands' 'Je t'adore, Eurovision!' site

top of page 

What you thought...

View the final leader board

In the run up to the Contest, 1,721 visitors to this site awarded points to their favourite songs in the Soult.com Eurovision Jury Vote 2006, voting as a representative of their own country's 'jury'. The votes awarded by representatives of each country were totalled, with each of the 38 participating countries (plus the 'Rest of the World') then awarding points - 12, 10, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 - based on the overall voting preference of its representatives. The points awarded to the entry from France are shown in the tables below:

Points awarded to France overall:
AL	0	HR	0	GR	0	MK	0	PL	0	ES	0
AD	0	CY	0	IS	0	MT	0	PT	0	SE	0
AM	3	DK	0	IE	0	MD	4	RO	0	CH	7
BY	0	EE	0	IL	0	MC	12	RU	0	TR	0
BE	0	FI	0	LV	0	NL	0	CS	0	UA	0
BA	0	FR	X	LT	0	NO	0	SI	0	UK	0
BG	0	DE	0	WO	0	Last updated: 18 May 2006 Next scheduled update: None
Total points: 26, from 4/39 juries
Position: 24 out of 37

Points awarded to France in the Semi Final:
AL	0	HR	0	GR	0	MK	0	PL	0	ES	0
AD	0	CY	0	IS	0	MT	0	PT	0	SE	0
AM	0	DK	0	IE	0	MD	0	RO	0	CH	0
BY	0	EE	0	IL	0	MC	0	RU	0	TR	0
BE	0	FI	0	LV	0	NL	0	CS	0	UA	0
BA	0	FR	X	LT	0	NO	0	SI	0	UK	0
BG	0	DE	0	WO	0	Last updated: 18 May 2006 Next scheduled update: None
Total points: N/A, from N/A/39 juries
Position: N/A out of 23

Points awarded to France in the Final:
AL	0	HR	0	GR	0	MK	2	PL	0	ES	0
AD	0	CY	0	IS	0	MT	0	PT	0	SE	0
AM	3	DK	0	IE	0	MD	6	RO	0	CH	7
BY	0	EE	0	IL	0	MC	12	RU	0	TR	0
BE	0	FI	0	LV	0	NL	0	CS	0	UA	0
BA	0	FR	X	LT