TV5Monde will be broadcasting ‘Destination Eurovision’ internationally, as France searches for their Eurovision 2018 participant.
Destination Eurovision, the French selection process for the Eurovision Song Contest 2018, will be broadcast internationally, when the selection process begins next weekend. TV5Monde will air the contest across Europe including the United Kingdom, Germany and Belgium. This builds upon the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 being broadcast live last year from Kyiv, Ukraine on the network.
The contest will also be broadcast on TV5 Québec Canada, this is the first time that the channel has aired a Eurovision selection show. TV5 Québec Canada aired the Eurovision Song Contest on delay across Canada between 1999 and 2003. Between 2014 and 2015, OUTtv also aired the contest on delay.
Destination Eurovision will consist of three televised shows. The two semi-finals will be broadcast on January 13 and 20, each presenting nine songs. Four songs from each semi-final will then compete at the grand final on January 27. The show will be used to decide who will represent France at the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 in Lisbon, Portugal this upcoming May.
All three shows will be presented by Garou. In each semi-final, a jury made up of three Francophone and three international members will select four songs to advance to the final. The three Francophone jury members are Amir, who represented France at the Eurovision Song Contest 2016, Christophe Willem, and Isabelle Boulay. The three international jury members are Heads of Delegations from various countries: Christer Björkman (Sweden), Nicola Caligiore (Italy) and Olga Salamakha (Belarus).
In the final, the result will be decided by a jury of 10 international members (50%) and public voting (50%). Joining the Heads of Delegations from Sweden, Italy and Belarus will be the Heads of Delegation from Armenia, Bulgaria, Finland, Iceland, Israel, Russia, and Switzerland.
Some well-established names in the French music industry, including Zazie, Maître Gims, Grand Corps Malade, Vitaa and Dany Synthé, are behind some of the entries. The majority of the entries will be sung in French.
Source: TV5Monde, Eurovision.tv
France in the Eurovision Song Contest
France was one of seven countries to participate in the first Eurovision Song Contest in 1956. Since then they have participated in every contest aside from 1974 and 1982. Their withdrawal in 1974 was caused by the death of President Georges Pompidou, while 1982’s withdrawal was a result of TF1 declining to enter the contest. France has won the contest on five occasions, the most recent being in 1977 when Marie Myriam performed “L’oiseau et l’enfant”. France’s best result of the 2000s came in 2001 when Natasha St-Pier finished 4th in Copenhagen, Denmark. In the last two years, France’s fortunes at the contest have reversed. Amir finished sixth in 2016 with “J’ai cherché”. This was the first time since 2009 that they finished in the top 10. This year France was represented by Alma where her song “Requiem” finished twelfth.
