France opened the ball for the Eurovision 2024 season. Certainly, Belgium, Cyprus and Greece had already made their representatives official – respectively Mustii, Silia Kapsis and Marina Sattis – but she went even further by revealing her song outright. As it happens My love by Slimane, presented for the first time on Wednesday evening in the France 2 news. The final of the competition is still far away since it will be held on May 11 in Malmö (Sweden) but it is not too early to say that the candidacy Frenchwoman is ambitious and attractive. Here’s why, according to 20 minutesthe choice of Slimane to represent France is an excellent idea.
Because he wants
“Slimane has been dreaming of Eurovision for a long time, he has been talking to me about Eurovision since 2010”, tells 20 minutes Bruno Berberes, currently casting director of “The Voice” and who, that year, was head of the French delegation for the competition. Jessy Matador had been chosen to represent France and one of Slimane’s friends was among the singers, which had piqued his interest. The months to come, for Slimane, already promised to be busy, with numerous concert dates to secure and a coaching role to play in “The Voice Kids”. So, if he agreed to add Eurovision to his agenda, it is because he is not going backwards. His decision was carefully considered. “Since I was little, I have wanted to be heard, to be listened to and the Eurovision stage, with 200 million viewers, is one of the most iconic. It’s a fantasy as a singer,” he told the 20 hours from France 2. Joined by 20 minutes at the same time, he claimed to have written My love “like a cry from the heart”: “Once we finished it, I told myself that I had to sing it at Eurovision, that as many people as possible heard it, that with it , I manage to speak to people’s hearts. »
Because he has nothing to prove
With four studio albums, released between 2016 and 2022, all ranked number 1 in France and a string of hits certified gold, diamond or platinum, Slimane is a must-have in current French song. His success cannot be denied, he has no career to relaunch. “I’m not doing Eurovision to hope that people will know me better,” he said in the second channel news. I do it to represent my country, to sing this song, love. It is an honor. » We would even venture to say that the singer has nothing to lose but everything to gain, which, in terms of pressure management, is a huge advantage.
He finds himself in a situation similar to that of the Italian Marco Mengoni who finished 4th in Eurovision in May: a superstar on the other side of the Alps, he knew that after the competition, whatever happened, the release of his new album and a stadium tour awaited him. For Slimane, it’s the same thing, regardless of his ranking in Malmö, the rest of his Zénith tour will be on his program from the end of May. He can count on his community of fans and the affection of the French public. Asked on Wednesday at the microphone of France Inter about a possible disappointment, he responded philosophically: “If the story is beautiful, so much the better, if it is a little less beautiful, it will be part of my story and I would perhaps make it be a song. »
Because he is a talented author and performer
We should probably have started the article with this elementary point because Eurovision is above all a musical competition. We have the assurance that Slimane will deliver an intense and embodied performance on the competition stage, as he has already shown in his live interpretation of My love revealed Wednesday. “At Eurovision, there is a part of sensitivity and emotion that the viewer must feel. Slimane manages to convey this both in interpretation and in writing,” underlined the head of delegation Alexandra Redde-Amiel on Tuesday in front of around ten media. “He has this humanity that we really need,” notes Bruno Berberes. He has this voice, this timbre, this softness… Slimane has something in common with other artists who performed well at Eurovision, including the Portuguese Salvador Sobral, the Dutch Duncan Laurence or the Swedish Loreen [vainqueurs en 2017, 2019 et 2023] : he has this truth. He’s not here to cheat or posturing. »
Because his song is very well received
The long-distance race towards Eurovision has only just begun and there is still a long way to go until the grand final. We will therefore be careful not to make any predictions, especially since we don’t know any of the more than thirty other songs in the running. However, it is clear that the first returns on My love are overall very positive. Under the video of the YouTube channel “Eurovision France”, we can thus read “I got goosebumps while listening to it”, coming from an Armenian Internet user. A Greek writes: “I watched his performance at least five times. It’s a very strong song and it will have a great result” and a Czech already guarantees that he will vote for this song in May. Three examples among hundreds of others. As for the media specializing in Eurovision, the first reactions are also encouraging. To name just one, that of William Lee Adams of Wiwibloggs, a leading English-speaking site: “It’s going to be a hit with the juries because it’s melodic, beautiful, there’s seriousness and Slimane knows how to perform. For [séduire] the public, the scenography will be crucial but France has shown us that it has ambition. »
Because France is opting for a unique strategy
The French delegation did not even wait for Junior Eurovision, which it is organizing in Nice on November 26, to pass to deliver its Eurovision 2024 candidacy. A song reveal on November 8 is extremely early in the competition schedule, and the announcement took many fans by surprise. But strategically, there was a move to play. From a practical point of view, formalizing Slimane’s participation well in advance was the best way to limit the risk of leaks and therefore maintain control over communication.
By choosing a star, France Télévisions was also sure of immediately capturing the attention of the media. “We are quite moved to support such an important artist, we know that he is in the hearts of the French,” confided Alexandra Redde-Amiel on Tuesday. We want to take him as far as possible and make France proud of everything he is and what we love about him. It’s a big job and we decided to announce it now to get into preparation as quickly as possible. » From 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, My love was available on streaming platforms and began radio rotations. One of the objectives is to give the title a maximum chance of becoming a success in France so that the French public is even more emotionally involved during the final of the competition. This strategy, unprecedented for a French candidacy, is judicious on paper. We had to give it a try. In six months, we will discover the results.