France in the Eurovision Song Contest

France in the
Eurovision Song Contest
Eurovision Song Contest
Participating broadcasterFrance Télévisions (2001–present)
Formerly
  • Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française (RTF; 1956–1964)
  • Office de Radiodiffusion Télévision Française (ORTF; 1965–1974)
  • Télévision Française 1 (TF1; 1975–1981)
  • Antenne 2 (1983–1992)
  • France Télévision (1993–2000)
Participation summary
Appearances67
First appearance1956
Highest placement1st: 1958, 1960, 1962, 1969, 1977
Host1959, 1961, 1978
External links
France 2 page
France's page at Eurovision.tv
For the most recent participation see
France in the Eurovision Song Contest 2025

France has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 67 times since its debut in 1956. France Télévisions is the French broadcaster. France had missed only two contests: 1974, and 1982.

France's five victories was achieved with the following songs:

  • André Claveau — Dons, mon amour
  • Jacqueline Boyer — Tom Pillibi
  • Isabelle Aubret — Un premier amour
  • Frida Boccara — Un jour, un enfant
  • Marie Myriam — L'Oiseau et l'Enfant

Participation overview

Table key
1 First place
2 Second place
3 Third place
Last place
X Entry selected but did not compete
Upcoming event
Year Artist Song Language Final Points Semi Points
1956 Mathé Altéry "Le Temps perdu" French [a] [a] No semi-finals
Dany Dauberson "Il est là" French
1957 Paule Desjardins "La Belle Amour" French 2 17
1958 André Claveau "Dors mon amour" French 1 27
1959 Jean Philippe "Oui oui oui oui" French 3 15
1960 Jacqueline Boyer "Tom Pillibi" French 1 32
1961 Jean-Paul Mauric "Printemps (avril carillonne)" French 4 13
1962 Isabelle Aubret "Un premier amour" French 1 26
1963 Alain Barrière "Elle était si jolie" French 5 25
1964 Rachel "Le Chant de Mallory" French 4 14
1965 Guy Mardel "N'avoue jamais" French 3 22
1966 Dominique Walter "Chez nous" French 16 1
1967 Noëlle Cordier "Il doit faire beau là-bas" French 3 20
1968 Isabelle Aubret "La Source" French 3 20
1969 Frida Boccara "Un jour, un enfant" French 1 18
1970 Guy Bonnet "Marie-Blanche" French 4 8
1971 Serge Lama "Un jardin sur la terre" French 10 82
1972 Betty Mars "Comé-comédie" French 11 81
1973 Martine Clémenceau "Sans toi" French 15 65
1974 Dani "La Vie à vingt-cinq ans" French Withdrawn X
1975 Nicole "Et bonjour à toi l'artiste" French 4 91
1976 Catherine Ferry "Un, deux, trois" French 2 147
1977 Marie Myriam "L'Oiseau et l'Enfant" French 1 136
1978 Joël Prévost "Il y aura toujours des violons" French 3 119
1979 Anne-Marie David "Je suis l'enfant soleil" French 3 106
1980 Profil "Hé, hé m'sieurs dames" French 11 45
1981 Jean Gabilou "Humanahum" French 3 125
1983 Guy Bonnet "Vivre" French 8 56
1984 Annick Thoumazeau "Autant d'amoureux que d'étoiles" French 8 61
1985 Roger Bens "Femme dans ses rêves aussi" French 10 56
1986 Cocktail Chic "Européennes" French 17 13
1987 Christine Minier "Les mots d'amour n'ont pas de dimanche" French 14 44
1988 Gérard Lenorman "Chanteur de charme" French 10 64
1989 Nathalie Pâque "J'ai volé la vie" French 8 60
1990 Joëlle Ursull "White and Black Blues" French 2 132
1991 Amina "C'est le dernier qui a parlé qui a raison" French 2 146
1992 Kali "Monté la riviè" French, Antillean Creole 8 73
1993 Patrick Fiori "Mama Corsica" French, Corsican 4 121 Kvalifikacija za Millstreet
1994 Nina Morato "Je suis un vrai garçon" French 7 74 No semi-finals
1995 Nathalie Santamaria "Il me donne rendez-vous" French 4 94
1996 Dan Ar Braz and l'Héritage des Celtes "Diwanit bugale" Breton 19 18 11 55
1997 Fanny "Sentiments songes" French 7 95 No semi-finals
1998 Marie Line "Où aller" French 24 3
1999 Nayah "Je veux donner ma voix" French 19 14
2000 Sofia Mestari "On aura le ciel" French 23 5
2001 Natasha St-Pier "Je n'ai que mon âme" French, English 4 142
2002 Sandrine François "Il faut du temps" French 5 104
2003 Louisa Baïleche "Monts et merveilles" French 18 19
2004 Jonatan Cerrada "À chaque pas" French, Spanish 15 40 Member of the "Big Four"
2005 Ortal "Chacun pense à soi" French 23 11
2006 Virginie Pouchain "Il était temps" French 22 5
2007 Les Fatals Picards "L'Amour à la française" French, English ("Franglais") 22 19
2008 Sébastien Tellier "Divine" English, French 19 47
2009 Patricia Kaas "Et s'il fallait le faire" French 8 107
2010 Jessy Matador "Allez Ola Olé" French 12 82
2011 Amaury Vassili "Sognu" Corsican 15 82 Member of the "Big Five"
2012 Anggun "Echo (You and I)" French, English 22 21
2013 Amandine Bourgeois "L'Enfer et moi" French 23 14
2014 Twin Twin "Moustache" French 26 ◁ 2
2015 Lisa Angell "N'oubliez pas" French 25 4
2016 Amir "J'ai cherché" French, English 6 257
2017 Alma "Requiem" French, English 12 135
2018 Madame Monsieur "Mercy" French 13 173
2019 Bilal Hassani "Roi" French, English 16 105
2020 Tom Leeb "Mon alliée (The Best in Me)" French, English Contest cancelled[b] X
2021 Barbara Pravi "Voilà" French 2 499
2022 Alvan and Ahez "Fulenn" Breton 24 17
2023 La Zarra "Évidemment" French 16 104
2024 Slimane "Mon amour" French 4 445
2025 Louane "Maman" French 7 230
2026 Confirmed intention to participate [1]

Hostings

France has hosted the contest three times, two times in Cannes (1959, 1961) and one time in Paris (1978).

Even though France won in 1962 and 1969, France didn't host the following years. France didn't host 1963 due to financial issues, and in 1970 due to the previous year being a four-way tie.

Year Location Venue Presenters
1959 Cannes Palais des Festivals Jacqueline Joubert
1961
1978 Paris Palais des Congrès Denise Fabre and Léon Zitrone

Notes

  1. 1.0 1.1 The 1956 contest had secret voting and, apart from the winner, no results were released.
  2. The 2020 contest was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

References

  1. Redde-Amiel, Alexandra [@sudradio] (2025-03-21). "En Route Pour l'Eurovision 2025 @AlexRedde : "On a l'ambition de revenir à une sélection nationale"" [On the Road to Eurovision 2025 @AlexRedde: "We have the ambition to return to a national selection" [in 2026]] (Tweet) (in French). Retrieved 2025-05-19 – via Twitter.