Wednesday, 15 November 2023

Eurovision 2024: The First Impression: France

 

First Thoughts:

And just like that, we do have a song for Eurovision 2024, a whole six months before the Contest.

The timing is bizarre with the only possible explanation being to present it live during the Junior Eurovision Contest, but I still do not think it makes much sense in terms of creating a hype.

'Mon Amour' is a typical ballad, slightly outdated that lacks the big moment or the call for action.

Slimane is a well-known artist in the French industry and has the potential to perform live, however I am not sure this is the song that could thrive in Eurovision.

The good news for France is that 'Mon Amour' is taking advantage of the Semi - Final 100% Televoting rule that will bring many televote magnets in the Final. That means that France in theory could do well with the Jurors and crack Top-10 with them. 

The sad news is that they will struggle heavily with the televoters. Outdated ballads are not the genre that drives the viewers crazy, and France traditionally struggles to get those televote points.

France is using one again all the cliches that have not worked in their favour lately apart from 'Voila'. The title, the lyrics mentioning Paris and I am sure the staging will be something between 'Voila' and 'Evidemment'.

The videoclip tries to recreate the 'Voila' staging and Slimane feels like a male version of La Zarra. 

The impression that I get from France is that they want to do it/ win their way. They want to win with a song in French that will re-produce all the French cliches that the average European has in mind. A song that you could recognize as the French entry even if you had your TV in mute. 

Trying to create a recipe for success is not problem, the problem is that France is using the wrong ingredients year after year and 2024 will be no different.

With all that in mind France feels like a 9th-15th type of song, but because it is France, and its pre-contest numbers and hype are always inflated ending up underperforming, 12th-18th would be early estimation.


It reminds me of...

Azerbaijan '22, Spain '21, Israel '19


Televoting Potential: 5/10

Jury Potential: 8.5/10

Staging Potential: 7.5/10

Momentum: 5/10

My Opinion: 6/10

Total: 32/50


What the fair winning chance % would be?

0.2% - 1%

Best case scenario:

Top-5

Worst case scenario:

17th-20th

Pre-Contest estimated points:

Js: 75-125 - TV: 20-50 - Total: 95-175


What do I see in my crystal ball?

Mid-table result, with a chance to crack Top-10 if many televote magnets in the mix for the Final. This is where France ends up most of the times and the red flags are already there.


Update: You can hear some thoughts about France in our Eurovision podcast 'Talk About Things'  co-hosted with the Eurovision experts @mat_rickard and  @Panos_Zannettos at

Talk About Things ESC2024 E01



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