All songs for the Eurovision Song Contest 2010 have been selected. During the weeks between the national final season and the actual Eurovision Song Contest, we will introduce all 39 entries in random order. Part twenty-five of the series is dedicated to the French entry.

Basic information

Performer:	Jessy Matador
Song:	Alllez olla olé
Language:	French
Music:	Hugues Ducamin, Jacques Ballue
Lyrics:	Hugues Ducamin, Jacques Ballue
Draw:	18th in the final

The song

The French song, whose title is officially spelled Alllez olla olé, is an up-tempo summer hit style pop song. The lyrics are dedicated to the upcoming football world cup and they mainly feature cheers usually heard in stadiums:

Danser collé serré pour un baiser salé Prends moi par le côté, fais-moi ton déhanché La la, ça va chauffer, je sens le truc monter Allez allez allez Allez olla olé Allez allez allez Olla olé C'est le son de l’année!

To dance closely stuck together for a salty kiss Take me by the hand, give me a good shaking La, la, it will get hot, I feel it coming up Come on, come on, come on Come on, do the wave, bravo Come on, come on, come on Do the wave, bravo It is the sound of the year

The performer

Jessy Matador, whose real name is Jessy Kimbangi, was born in the Democratic Republic of Congo. In 2001, he started his career as a dancer before joining the group Les cœurs brisés, whom he toured around the world with. A few years later, he co-founded the group La Sélésao. The debut single Décalé gwada was a summer hit in France in 2008 and reached number 14 in the single charts. The follow-up single Mini kawoulé was almost as successful the year after peaking at number 16.

Jessy Matador was chosen internally to represent France in the Eurovision Song Contest 2010 with the song Alllez olla olé. A professional video clip of the song is currently being produced.

The songwriters

The French entry was written by Hugues Ducamin and Jacques Ballue. Hugues Ducamin is known from the 1990s electronic music scene as he has mixed songs for acts like Arriba DJ & Co and Vogue. Jacques Ballue performs vocals and piano on various classical music compilations.

The national selection

For the third year in a row, singer and song were selected internally. As in previous years, no big announcement was made until one of the many speculations, that had been seeping through, were confirmed: Jessy Matador will represent France in Oslo with Alllez olla olé.

France in the Eurovision Song Contest

France was one of the most successful countries in the early days of the Eurovision Song Contest. The country took home the trophy five times to date, namely in 1958 (Dors, mon amour by Andre Claveau), 1960 (Tom Pillibi by Jacqueline Boyer), 1962 (Un premier amour by Isabelle Aubret), 1969 (Un jour, un enfant by Frida Boccara) and 1977 (L'oiseau et l'enfant by Marie Myriam). Another series of successful results came in the early 1990s, when the country would finish in the top ten every year from 1989 to 1995. Since the introduction of televoting and the abolition of the language restriction, France has not been too successful, but manged to finish fourth, fifth and eighth in 2001, 2002 and 2009 respectively.

Nous souhaitons bonne chance à la France et à Jessy Matador. Marquez un bon résult à Oslo!

Videos

The provisional preview video using material from Mini kawoulé:

Décalé gwada (2008):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zjx8qVGn4mA

Mini kawoulé (2009):

Tomorrow, we will take a look at the Slovene entry.

Previous parts of this series:

1. Ireland
2. Belarus
3. Albania
4. Denmark
5. Russia
6. Bulgaria
7. Switzerland
8. FYR Macedonia
9. Armenia
10. Spain
11. Poland
12. Croatia
13. Finland
14. Greece
15. Ukraine
16. Lithuania
17. Belgium
18. Norway
19. Portugal
20. Moldova
21. The Netherlands
22. The United Kingdom
23. Latvia
24. Serbia