France in the Eurovision Song Contest 2010

France will select its entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2010 through an internal selection by French broadcaster France Télévisions. On 19 February it was revealed that France 2 had selected Congolese singer and dancer Jessy Matador to represent France at Eurovision, with the hope of creating a summer hit and to promote the 2010 FIFA World Cup in France.[1][2] Matador's song will be "Allez Ola Olé", as announced on 24 February.[3]

Eurovision Song Contest 2010
Country France
National selection
Selection processInternal Selection
Selection date(s)Artist: 19 February 2010
Song: 20 March 2010
Selected entrantJessy Matador
Selected song"Allez Ola Olé"
Finals performance
Final result12th, 82 points
France in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄2009 • 2010 • 2011►

Before Eurovision

Internal selection

France 3 announced on 29 November 2009 that the French entry for the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest would be selected internally. It had been speculated that Natasha St-Pier was selected as the French entrant for the 2010 contest but was denied by the French Head of Delegation for the Eurovision Song Contest Bruno Berberes who previously stated that the French broadcaster had secured a big name.[4][5][6]

On 19 February 2010, France 2 entertainment director Nicolas Pernikoff announced that the French entrant for the Eurovision Song Contest 2010 would be the Congolese singer and dancer Jessy Matador.[1][2] Information that Matador would represent France at the Eurovision Song Contest 2010 was leaked by journalist Gaëlle Placek on 17 February 2010 during the Europe 1 talk show programme Le Grand Direct.[1] The broadcaster considered two artists, Le Roi Soleil singer Emmanuel Moire and Matador, before finalising their decision internally after they hoped to create a song for Matador to promote the 2010 FIFA World Cup.[7] His song "Allez Ola Olé" was written by Hugues Ducamin and Jacques Ballue with a reference to the 1998 FIFA World Cup album Music of the World Cup: Allez! Ola! Ole!.[3] The entry was presented to the public on the website chartsinfrance.net on 20 March 2010.[8][9]

Controversy

The selection of Matador as the French entrant provoked anger and disappointment from French Eurovision fans, claiming that France 3 sacrifices Eurovision for promotion of other events "which should not be allowed from a public channel", and that the French broadcaster are not willing to win Eurovision.[10] France 3 responded with positivity and support for Matador, his stage presentation and song "to glow on Eurovision stage".[11][12] "Allez Ola Olé" later received positive feedback from the fan community, believing it will be singled out for its festive and upbeat nature in a year when ballads dominate the contest.[9]

At Eurovision
Jessy Matador during the Eurovision Song Contest 2010.

As a member of the "Big Four" countries, France automatically qualifies to the final on 29 May. France will perform in 18th position.

As will all automatic finalists, France was given one semi-final in which they were obligated to broadcast and vote in. This was initially decided to be the second semi-final on 27 May.[13][14] However France 3 was given permission by the EBU to change its voting rights to the first semi-final on 25 May after scheduling problems prevented live broadcast of the second semi-final. At the same time, France 3 would commit itself to more intense promotion of the contest, including the commitment to broadcast both semi-finals (the first one live, the second one in a taped format).[15][16]

Split results
  • In the Final France came 12th with 82 points: the public awarded France 8th place with 151 points and the jury awarded 22nd place with 34 points.

Points awarded by France[17]
Points awarded to France (Final)
12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points
5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point

See also

References
  1. Hondal, Victor (19 February 2010). "France sends Jessy Matador to Oslo". ESCToday. Retrieved 19 February 2010.
  2. Schacht, Andreas (19 February 2010). "Jessy Matador to represent France?". European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 19 February 2010.
  3. Dufaut, Dominique (24 February 2010). "Jessy will sing Allez! Ola! Olé!". ESCToday. Retrieved 24 February 2010.
  4. Dufaut, Dominique (20 November 2009). "France: Bruno Berberes, HoD for the 9th time". ESCToday. Retrieved 29 November 2009.
  5. Dufaut, Dominique (29 November 2009). "France: "We can't give less than Patricia Kaas"". ESCToday. Retrieved 29 November 2009.
  6. Coroneri, Alenka (29 November 2009). "Big name for Eurovision 2010 says Berberes". Oikotimes. Archived from the original on 3 January 2010. Retrieved 29 November 2009.
  7. Hondal, Victor (19 February 2010). "It will be Emmanuel Moire or Jessy Matador". ESCToday. Retrieved 19 February 2010.
  8. Hondal, Victor (19 March 2010). "Snippet of Allez ola available online". ESCToday. Retrieved 1 April 2010.
  9. Dufaut, Dominique (20 March 2010). "France: Song released in full". ESCToday. Retrieved 1 April 2010.
  10. Dufaut, Dominique (24 February 2010). "French eurofans are angry". ESCToday. Retrieved 24 February 2010.
  11. Dufaut, Dominique (25 February 2010). "We believe in his talent". ESCToday. Retrieved 1 April 2010.
  12. Dufaut, Dominique (16 March 2010). "French song "to glow on Eurovision stage"". ESCToday. Retrieved 1 April 2010.
  13. Bakkar, Sieste (7 February 2009). "Results of the Semi-Final Allocation Draw". EBU. Retrieved 7 February 2010.
  14. Klier, Marcus (7 February 2009). "Semi final allocation for Oslo determined". ESCToday. Retrieved 7 February 2010.
  15. Bakker, Sietse (31 March 2010). "France requests to vote in first Semi-Final". European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 31 March 2010.
  16. Hondal, Victor (31 March 2010). "France to broadcast and vote in the first semifinal". ESCToday. Retrieved 31 March 2010.
  17. Eurovision Song Contest 2008
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