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France in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest

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France
France
Participating broadcasterFrance Télévisions
Participation summary
Appearances4
First appearance2004
Highest placement1st: 2020

The participation of France in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest first began in Lillehammer, Norway, at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2004. France Télévisions, a member organisation of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), are responsible for the selection process of their participation. The first representative to participate for the nation was Thomas Pontier with the song "Si on voulait bien", which finished in sixth place out of eighteen participating entries, achieving a score of seventy-eight points. France withdrew from competing in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest after 2004, and made their return to the contest in 2018, 14 years after. France won the contest for the first time in 2020, when Valentina won with the song "J'imagine".

History

France has sent one French entry to the Junior Eurovision Song Contest, competing in the 2004 contest with Thomas Pontier and "Si on voulait bien".[1][2][3] Despite coming sixth, France Télévisions decided to withdraw from the contest after 2004, saying there was no motivation to compete and that "too much Eurovision kills Eurovision".[4][5]

On 18 November 2015, it was revealed that the French broadcaster was interested in returning to the contest. However, France 2 announced on 24 June 2015 that they had no plans to return to the contest, however the broadcaster sent a delegation to Bulgaria in order to observe the 2015 edition.[6][7]

On 13 May 2016, executive supervisor Jon Ola Sand announced at a press conference, that the EBU were in contact with broadcasters from several countries including France, so that they would participate in the 2016 contest.[8] Edoardo Grassi, the Head of Delegation for France in the Eurovision Song Contest was one of the jury members at the Maltese national selection for the 2016 Junior Eurovision, and was introduced by the hosts of the show as being the Head of Delegation for France in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest.[9] The return however did not materialise. On 12 May 2018, it was announced that France would return to the contest in 2018.[10] France was represented by Angélina Nava, winner of the fourth season of The Voice Kids France.

On 8 October 2020, France 2 selected 11-year old Valentina to represent the country at the 2020 contest in Warsaw, Poland, with her song later announced to be called "J'imagine".[11] On 29 November 2020, Valentina became the first French entrant to win the contest, giving France their first victory as well as their first win in any Eurovision event since Eurovision Young Dancers 1989. On 9 December 2020, it was confirmed by the EBU that France would host the 2021 contest.[12]

National selection process

When France entered in 2004, they held a national final at France Televisions studios in Paris. Before the national final was broadcast, 7000 children auditioned for the broadcast, and an extra 1,000 were invited to the final. In the end, 11 candidates became the finalists, including Thomas. He won the competition with his cover of the rock ballad "Un Autre Monde".

After France returned to the contest, the broadcaster used an internal selection process to select their participant.

Participation

Table key
1
 Winner
2
 Second place
Year Artist Song Language Place Points
2004
 Thomas Pontier "Si on voulait bien" French 6 78
2018
 Angélina "Jamais sans toi" French, English 2 203
2019
 Carla "Bim bam toi" French 5 169
2020
 Valentina "J'imagine"[11] French 1 200

Commentators and spokespersons

The contests are broadcast online worldwide through the official Junior Eurovision Song Contest website junioreurovision.tv and YouTube. In 2015, the online broadcasts featured commentary in English by junioreurovision.tv editor Luke Fisher and 2011 Bulgarian Junior Eurovision Song Contest entrant Ivan Ivanov.[13] The French broadcaster, France Télévisions, sent their own commentators to the contest in order to provide commentary in the French language. Spokespersons were also chosen by the national broadcaster in order to announce the awarding points from France. The table below list the details of each commentator and spokesperson since 2004.

Year Commentator Channel Spokesperson Ref.
2004 Elsa Fayer and Bruno Berberes France 3 Gabrielle
2005–2017 No broadcast Did not participate
2018 Stéphane Bern and Madame Monsieur France 2 Lubava Marchuk and Daniil Rotenko
[14][15]
2019 Stéphane Bern and Sandy Héribert France 2 Karolina
[16][17]
2020 Stéphane Bern and Carla Lazzari France 2 Nathan Laface
[18]

Hostings

Year Location Venue Presenters
2021 TBA[19]

See also

References

  1. ^ Philips, Roel (7 September 2004). "French Junior final on 20th September". esctoday.com. ESCToday. Retrieved 27 August 2014.
  2. ^ Philips, Roel (21 September 2004). "France selects Thomas during soundmix show". esctoday.com. ESCToday. Retrieved 27 August 2014.
  3. ^ Philips, Roel (7 October 2004). "Junior: Thomas to sing Si on voulait bien". esctoday.com. ESCToday. Retrieved 27 August 2014.
  4. ^ Philips, Roel (8 June 2005). "France not eager to participate in Hasselt". esctoday.com. ESCToday. Retrieved 27 August 2014.
  5. ^ Philips, Roel (15 June 2005). "France officially withdraws from Junior contest". esctoday.com. ESCToday. Retrieved 27 August 2014.
  6. ^ Granger, Anthony (24 June 2015). "France: No Return To Junior Eurovision In 2015". eurovoix.com.
  7. ^ Granger, Anthony (18 November 2015). "France: Is Looking At Returning To Junior Eurovision". eurovoix.com. Eurovoix. Retrieved 18 November 2015.
  8. ^ Granger, Anthony (13 May 2016). "JESC'16 big change to the contest announced". eurovoix.com. Eurovoix. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
  9. ^ Granger, Anthony (18 July 2016). "France return to Junior Eurovision?". eurovoix.com. Eurovoix. Retrieved 18 July 2016.
  10. ^ Granger, Anthony (12 May 2018). "France: Returns to the Junior Eurovision Song Contest". eurovoix.com. Eurovoix. Retrieved 12 May 2018.
  11. ^ a b Bonnefoy, Nawal (9 October 2020). "Valentina des Kids United représentera la France à l'Eurovision Junior 2020" [Valentina from Kids United will represent France in Junior Eurovision 2020]. BFM TV (in French). Retrieved 10 October 2020.
  12. ^ Farren, Neil (9 December 2020). "France to Host Junior Eurovision 2021". Eurovoix. Retrieved 9 December 2020.
  13. ^ Fisher, Luke James (21 November 2015). "Tonight: Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2015!". Junior Eurovision Song Contest – Bulgaria 2015. Retrieved 21 November 2015.
  14. ^ Granger, Anthony (9 October 2018). "France: Madame Monsieur to Commentate on Junior Eurovision". Eurovoix. Retrieved 28 October 2020.
  15. ^ Granger, Anthony (24 November 2018). "Junior Eurovision'18: Schoolchildren Revealed as Spokespersons For Nine Nations". Eurovoix. Retrieved 28 October 2020.
  16. ^ Herbert, Emily (27 September 2019). "France: Stéphane Bern and Sandy Héribert Confirmed as Junior Eurovision 2019 Commentators". eurovoix.com. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
  17. ^ Filippidou, Ifigeneia (24 November 2019). "These are the Junior Eurovision 2019 spokespersons". esc-plus.com. Retrieved 26 November 2019.
  18. ^ Herbert, Emily (29 October 2020). "France: Stéphane Bern and Carla To Commentate On Junior Eurovision 2020". Eurovoix. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
  19. ^ "France to host Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2021". junioreurovision.tv. 9 December 2020.
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