The French Eurovision entries that include another language

Article by Melanie Dillman

France has participated 66 times in the Eurovision Song Contest since first competing in 1956.

The nation has won the Contest five times, with all entries in French.

However, despite a reputation for sending songs in their language, one in five entries (21%) have been sung in a mix of French and another language.

Let’s look at the 14 times France didn’t sing only in French.

French and English entries

French participants have performed songs containing both French and English on seven occasions.

2001 - Natasha St-Pier- Je nai que mon âme 

4th place

2007 - Les Fatals Picards - L'amour à La Française 

22nd place

2012 - Anggun - Echo (You And I) 

22nd place

2016 - Amir - J'ai cherché 

6th place

2017 - Alma – Requiem 

12th place

2019 - Bilal Hassani - Roi  

16th place

2020 – Tom Leeb - Mon Alliée (The Best In Me) 

Contest cancelled

This approach has had mixed results with two Top 10s, two midfield positions and two in the 20s.

French and another language

There have been two occasions where a participant has sung in both French and another language. In 2004, French and Spanish, 1992 French and Antillean Creole.

1992 - Kali - Monté la riviè 

8th place

2004 - Jonatan Cerrada - A Chaque Pas 

15th place

French and regional language

There have been four entries sung in regional languages of France, 1996 and 2022 were performed in Breton and 1993 and 2011, Corsican.

1993 - Patrick Fiori - Mama Corsica 

4th place

1996 - Dan ar Braz (et l'héritage des Celtes) - Diwanit Bugale 

19th place

2011 - Amaury Vassili – Sognu 

 15th place

2022 - Alvan & Ahez - Fulenn 

24th place

English

In 2008 songwriters Sébastien Tellier and Amandine de La Richardière caused quite a stir in France due to their entry being written entirely in English. It was edited prior to the contest to include some lyrics in French however the majority of the song is performed in English.  It is considered to be the only entry by France in the Eurovision Song Contest in English.

2008 - Sébastien Tellier – Divine 

19th place

Overall, there have been four Top Ten finishes out of 14 entries. This gives us hope that there may continue to be a variety of language entries from France in the future. 

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