Eurovision Season 2018: Une victoire très française?
It's here! It's finally bloody here! All this time waiting and the rehearsals are back on again, the Facebook groups are going wild and all of us Eurovision fans are regularly peeking at the odds to see if they hold the key to knowing our destination next May! I have so much I want to say in response to everything that has happened in Lisbon with the first round of semi final one rehearsals but I will wait to listen into the views from my beloved ESC Insight before commenting (after all, all I have personally is the YouTube clips that the official Eurovision channel posts to work from). I am usually excited when rehearsals come around but this year has become particularly exciting very quickly! Disappointing rehearsals from some of the favourites, fantastic rehearsals from some of my personal favourites and the odds fluctuating like a teacher controlling a rowdy group of Kindergarten students!
In all of the developments of the last few days however, there is one thing that I have eerily noted. France has slipped into the top of the odds. Not only that, at the time of writing, they are currently second in the betting. This was the same position that Salvador was in last year and was also not far off the position that Jamala was in the year before. Obviously, their rehearsal will change everything, but it is finally worth asking the question... are we on course for a French victory?
It's at this point that readers who don't know me will need some context. I have lived in Paris (on and off) for four years. I speak fluent French. I have a good understanding of French popular culture, French music, French food, French people (I am currently dating one and she is fantastic). I feel qualified to not only tell the French Eurovision story but also to comment on it, so here we go. When the French sent Amir in 2016, it marked the start of the newest revolution of the French and the way they viewed Eurovision. Gone are the joke acts, gone are the women belting out competent but boring ballads and in comes a perspective on the French that is fun, popular and is even willing to venture out into English for the good of sharing their song with the rest of Europe. This was an example for the big 5 to follow and for France to use as a foundation to increase the popularity of the contest in France and consequently to work towards a victory and the chance to bring the song contest (I hope) to Paris.
Then comes Destination Eurovision, the most competently organised national final outside of Melodifestivalen. They had an international jury, they had judges from all over the French music world, they had Amir being nothing short of lovable, they had a variety of songs. I'm not going to lie, the quality of the music wasn't outstanding but I will admit that for a first crack at the National Final, it wasn't bad. Then once the whole process was done and the dust had cleared, France was left with Madame Monsieur and 'Mercy'.
I chose not to do song reviews this year. This may have been down to a lack of time or to my thinking that many people do them already. If I had, 'Mercy' would have gotten a lot of stick from me and here's why. Firstly, I speak French, I understand the lyrics, I understand that they are designed to both tug at your heartstrings and remind Europe of a reality that connects the continent. In fairness, if I had only heard the song for the first time, I might have thought it wasn't bad. None of the French or non-French friends I have played it for have enjoyed it, but they weren't Eurovision fans so I can give the benefit of the doubt there. Then I watch their performance, two white people dressed in all black singing about the reality of refugees in the context of Mercy, a baby born during a sea crossing attempting to reach Europe. I don't feel a drop of care or emotion out of either of them. I don't believe that either of them care, I don't believe that either of them have done any work towards helping refugees in need and worst of all, I see 'Mercy' as them using a serious situation to manipulate people into voting for them. The idea that people will watch this performance on the night, vote for it because of the subject matter and then not do anything towards acting on this subject matter again is to me nothing short of disgraceful. To all people who enjoy listening to 'Mercy', I ask the same thing, if you found the song beautiful, if it tugged at your heartstrings, if it made you feel like something needs to be done, why haven't you done anything? And if you don't know what to do to help, comment on this post and I will get back to you.
To me, it says a lot that over the course of the promotion of this song that I have hardly read anything about them promoting the nature of the crisis and what people can do to help those in need. Meanwhile, they are in the press because Jean-Paul Gaultier will be designing the costumes they wear in Lisbon. Then there's the video, shot all over Europe with (mostly white) people wrapped in tinfoil and wearing life-jackets. The angle is clear, we are all human, we all feel this pain and we should feel sympathy for the plight of these people. The problem is, this crisis is about more than the voyage these refugees make, this is about being homeless in a foreign land, it's about being shunned by locals and seen to be taking the natural resources of this country without gratitude, it's feeling like you are disconnected from your country of origin and not accepted in the country you reside in. This issue isn't something you can address in 3 minutes and frankly, shame on Madame Monsieur for thinking they could do so and shame on France for overwhelmingly choosing it in their televote (though in fairness, I have a similar set of issues with the runner up Lisandro Cuxi's 'Eva').
With any other country, I would become very frustrated and angry that a country was choosing to send this song. Then I remember that it was France that chose this song and it makes much more sense. You see, I have spoken with refugees living in tents under bridges in Paris. I have watched 'Samba', an excellent French film that depicts the brutal reality for immigrants to France. I have done my own research and found that the initial French reaction to the crisis was one that even the French government admitted was slow and insufficient. Additionally, there has been no public mandate to support refugees and their livelihood in France whatsoever. On the contrary, France came very close to electing leader of the far-right FN party Marine Le Pen last year. Yet, the French want to feel like they have an important role to play in the future of Europe. This is why the French public gave their mandate to EU-loving Emmanuel Macron at that election. They want to feel like they are working for the betterment of Europe alongside the Germans, especially given the current state of Brexit. France sees that it can make a bright future for Europe and wants to be part of it. Yet, it is a country that is unwilling to progress and move forward. It is a country where any kind of work to build anything takes a lot of time and a lot of complicated bureaucracy. It is a country where doing anything outside established French culture takes too much effort to bother. Macron is currently trying to change this, but I can only write in the context of April 30th 2018, twelve days before Madame Monsieur take the Lisbon stage in the hope of being France's first Eurovision winner since Marie Myriam in 1977.
I would desperately like to see Eurovision in Paris. I want to see Eurofans taking over the Champs des Mars taking photos. I want to see people streaming across the Marais with massive smiles and flags and I want to see Bercy Arena host a French-fuelled night of European fun. In fairness, if France were to win, this would be the most French song that they could win with. 'Mercy' is a song with all the classic French qualities: right intentions, intellect, class, smooth vocals and even the clever double meaning (notice that "merci" is the French word for "thank you") but where the heart, pain and raw emotions of the song are missing because it would be too much effort and pain for the performers to actually channel it. I would like to be proven wrong, I would like the French entry to leave the Lisbon stage with my jaw on the floor and a "WOW" expression on my face and as already said, I would love to be a part of Eurovision in Paris, but as things stand, I don't want it to be with this song. To all French Eurovision fans out there, you will win Eurovision in the next ten years. Your broadcaster has figured out how to play this game, the contest has built up a small but passionate following in France and now that the French entries do consistently well in the televote, there is a platform to build on for what can be achieved moving forward. In the UK, we would give anything for the BBC to be as organised and passionate as the French are. But I encourage you to consider everything I am saying here and then consider that maybe we shouldn't quite be getting so excited about the possibility of Paris 2019. The idea of a) the inevitable attempt of various countries to copy the successful neo-political themes of 'Mercy' and b) hearing Madame Monsieur play that song again to kick off what would otherwise be a fantastic Eurovision 2019, feels me with a pure sense of fear and dread.
Anyway, thanks for reading this far. Please leave your thoughts in the comments below. I will be writing very soon with my thoughts on rehearsals so far. There are a lot of them and I am very excited to share them!
In all of the developments of the last few days however, there is one thing that I have eerily noted. France has slipped into the top of the odds. Not only that, at the time of writing, they are currently second in the betting. This was the same position that Salvador was in last year and was also not far off the position that Jamala was in the year before. Obviously, their rehearsal will change everything, but it is finally worth asking the question... are we on course for a French victory?
It's at this point that readers who don't know me will need some context. I have lived in Paris (on and off) for four years. I speak fluent French. I have a good understanding of French popular culture, French music, French food, French people (I am currently dating one and she is fantastic). I feel qualified to not only tell the French Eurovision story but also to comment on it, so here we go. When the French sent Amir in 2016, it marked the start of the newest revolution of the French and the way they viewed Eurovision. Gone are the joke acts, gone are the women belting out competent but boring ballads and in comes a perspective on the French that is fun, popular and is even willing to venture out into English for the good of sharing their song with the rest of Europe. This was an example for the big 5 to follow and for France to use as a foundation to increase the popularity of the contest in France and consequently to work towards a victory and the chance to bring the song contest (I hope) to Paris.
Then comes Destination Eurovision, the most competently organised national final outside of Melodifestivalen. They had an international jury, they had judges from all over the French music world, they had Amir being nothing short of lovable, they had a variety of songs. I'm not going to lie, the quality of the music wasn't outstanding but I will admit that for a first crack at the National Final, it wasn't bad. Then once the whole process was done and the dust had cleared, France was left with Madame Monsieur and 'Mercy'.
I chose not to do song reviews this year. This may have been down to a lack of time or to my thinking that many people do them already. If I had, 'Mercy' would have gotten a lot of stick from me and here's why. Firstly, I speak French, I understand the lyrics, I understand that they are designed to both tug at your heartstrings and remind Europe of a reality that connects the continent. In fairness, if I had only heard the song for the first time, I might have thought it wasn't bad. None of the French or non-French friends I have played it for have enjoyed it, but they weren't Eurovision fans so I can give the benefit of the doubt there. Then I watch their performance, two white people dressed in all black singing about the reality of refugees in the context of Mercy, a baby born during a sea crossing attempting to reach Europe. I don't feel a drop of care or emotion out of either of them. I don't believe that either of them care, I don't believe that either of them have done any work towards helping refugees in need and worst of all, I see 'Mercy' as them using a serious situation to manipulate people into voting for them. The idea that people will watch this performance on the night, vote for it because of the subject matter and then not do anything towards acting on this subject matter again is to me nothing short of disgraceful. To all people who enjoy listening to 'Mercy', I ask the same thing, if you found the song beautiful, if it tugged at your heartstrings, if it made you feel like something needs to be done, why haven't you done anything? And if you don't know what to do to help, comment on this post and I will get back to you.
To me, it says a lot that over the course of the promotion of this song that I have hardly read anything about them promoting the nature of the crisis and what people can do to help those in need. Meanwhile, they are in the press because Jean-Paul Gaultier will be designing the costumes they wear in Lisbon. Then there's the video, shot all over Europe with (mostly white) people wrapped in tinfoil and wearing life-jackets. The angle is clear, we are all human, we all feel this pain and we should feel sympathy for the plight of these people. The problem is, this crisis is about more than the voyage these refugees make, this is about being homeless in a foreign land, it's about being shunned by locals and seen to be taking the natural resources of this country without gratitude, it's feeling like you are disconnected from your country of origin and not accepted in the country you reside in. This issue isn't something you can address in 3 minutes and frankly, shame on Madame Monsieur for thinking they could do so and shame on France for overwhelmingly choosing it in their televote (though in fairness, I have a similar set of issues with the runner up Lisandro Cuxi's 'Eva').
With any other country, I would become very frustrated and angry that a country was choosing to send this song. Then I remember that it was France that chose this song and it makes much more sense. You see, I have spoken with refugees living in tents under bridges in Paris. I have watched 'Samba', an excellent French film that depicts the brutal reality for immigrants to France. I have done my own research and found that the initial French reaction to the crisis was one that even the French government admitted was slow and insufficient. Additionally, there has been no public mandate to support refugees and their livelihood in France whatsoever. On the contrary, France came very close to electing leader of the far-right FN party Marine Le Pen last year. Yet, the French want to feel like they have an important role to play in the future of Europe. This is why the French public gave their mandate to EU-loving Emmanuel Macron at that election. They want to feel like they are working for the betterment of Europe alongside the Germans, especially given the current state of Brexit. France sees that it can make a bright future for Europe and wants to be part of it. Yet, it is a country that is unwilling to progress and move forward. It is a country where any kind of work to build anything takes a lot of time and a lot of complicated bureaucracy. It is a country where doing anything outside established French culture takes too much effort to bother. Macron is currently trying to change this, but I can only write in the context of April 30th 2018, twelve days before Madame Monsieur take the Lisbon stage in the hope of being France's first Eurovision winner since Marie Myriam in 1977.
I would desperately like to see Eurovision in Paris. I want to see Eurofans taking over the Champs des Mars taking photos. I want to see people streaming across the Marais with massive smiles and flags and I want to see Bercy Arena host a French-fuelled night of European fun. In fairness, if France were to win, this would be the most French song that they could win with. 'Mercy' is a song with all the classic French qualities: right intentions, intellect, class, smooth vocals and even the clever double meaning (notice that "merci" is the French word for "thank you") but where the heart, pain and raw emotions of the song are missing because it would be too much effort and pain for the performers to actually channel it. I would like to be proven wrong, I would like the French entry to leave the Lisbon stage with my jaw on the floor and a "WOW" expression on my face and as already said, I would love to be a part of Eurovision in Paris, but as things stand, I don't want it to be with this song. To all French Eurovision fans out there, you will win Eurovision in the next ten years. Your broadcaster has figured out how to play this game, the contest has built up a small but passionate following in France and now that the French entries do consistently well in the televote, there is a platform to build on for what can be achieved moving forward. In the UK, we would give anything for the BBC to be as organised and passionate as the French are. But I encourage you to consider everything I am saying here and then consider that maybe we shouldn't quite be getting so excited about the possibility of Paris 2019. The idea of a) the inevitable attempt of various countries to copy the successful neo-political themes of 'Mercy' and b) hearing Madame Monsieur play that song again to kick off what would otherwise be a fantastic Eurovision 2019, feels me with a pure sense of fear and dread.
Anyway, thanks for reading this far. Please leave your thoughts in the comments below. I will be writing very soon with my thoughts on rehearsals so far. There are a lot of them and I am very excited to share them!
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