France 2, the French national broadcaster, has confirmed that France will compete at the 2021 Eurovision Song Contest in Rotterdam next year, following Tom Leeb’s reveal that he will not represent France at ESC 2021. The French broadcaster is set to select its Eurovision 2021 act and entry via a national final.
The French Head of Delegation and France 2 Head of Entertaiment, Ms. Alexandra Redde- Amiel, has told French newspaper Le Parisien that France will be selecting its Eurovision representative and entry via a national final which will be held at a venue in regional city in France.
France 2 will open the submission window for artists wishing to compete in the French national final on 29 June 2020.
Ms. Alexandra Redde-Amiel says:
We need to get Eurovision back on the table as quickly as possible. Two years without Eurovision is a very long time! We therefore decided to launch a public selection and a call for candidates as of June 29. We will select the candidate during a major broadcast in a large hall in the region three or four months before the competition in Rotterdam.
There will be a jury, but the public will have the power. But it will not be a Eurovision bis Destination.
We realized with the cancellation of the competition that we really needed to unity the community. Eurovision must be an all year round live driven event.
Regarding Tom Leeb not doing Eurovision next year Alexandra adds:
By mutual agreement, we decided not to continue our journey together next year. Tom has a very busy schedule and we want to bring the Eurovision brand back to life.
Thus France joins Cyprus in the list of countries who will opt for another artist for Eurovision 2021 after the untimely cancellation of the 2020 Eurovision Song Contest due to COVID 19.
Tom Leeb was set to represent France at the 2020 Eurovision Song Contest in Rotterdam with his entry ‘ The Best In Me’.
France in Eurovision
France debuted at the Eurovision Song Contest in the very first contest in 1956 and is one of the founder members of the competition. The French nation has won the event 5 times: 1958, 1960, 1962, 1969, 1977. France has hosted the Eurovision the contest on 3 occasions : Cannes (1959,1961) and Paris (1978).
Source: Le Parisien
Cover Photo Credit: Le Parisien/ Fredric Dugit
