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Introduction
This year France is presenting again something fresh and easy for Eurovision, after the opera song “Sonniu” last year which only came 15th. The 20-years old singer Anggun is originally from Indonesia. She is also a UN ambassador for hunger in the world and she has achieved several prices, sang in movies like “Le transporteur II”. Surprisingly the French song has an English title and some parts will be sung in English as well, but this is not the first time in the ESC history. Even Natasha St. Pierre has sung on refrain in English and came 4th.
In the song “Echoes (You and I)” you can feel the easiness and free spirit of Anggun who also wrote the lyrics of the song. The song is a catchy up-tempo number with a danceable beat and a memorable chorus.
History
France is participating since the very first edition of the Eurovision Song Contest in 1956. This year in Baku it’s going to be the 56th participation; France has withdrawn in 1974 and 1982. Nevertheless there were five winning songs, six second places and seven third places, unfortunately the biggest successes can be found in the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s, and in recent years the outcome is getting less. France is famous for its chansons and ballads, but also French pop tunes have been presented lately like “Divine” by Sébastian Tellier (19th rank in 2008) and “Allez Olla Olé” by Jessy Matador (12th rank in 2010) which have been found in the international charts as well.
Even with big names like Patricia Kaas, Natasha St. Pierre or Patrick Fiori could not bring another victory for France. In 1977 Marie Myriam convinced the juries with “L'oiseau Et L'enfant”. As France belongs to the Big 5 countries, it is set automatically for the final like Germany, UK, Spain and Italy.
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