French singer France Gall, who won the Eurovision Song Contest on behalf of Luxembourg back in 1965, will be celebrated by the latest generation of French speaking artists on the occasion of a special prime time TV show to be broadcast on major private channel TF1 before summer.

Earlier this year, French commercial TV channel TF1 broadcast a special show in honor of one of the most appreciated and successful singers and songwriters in France, Jean-Jacques Goldman. The show featured well known French speaking artists giving exclusive renditions of the man’s best hits. They included among many others the Canadian singer Natasha St-Pier whose 2001 Eurovision entry was composed by Goldman’s brother (Jill Kapler), the Canadian singer of Rwandan descents Corneille who penned the 2006 unfortunate French Eurovision entry for Virginie Pouchain, and the 2009 French Eurovision entrant Patricia Kaas for whom Goldman wrote some major hits in the past. The show proved so successful that TF1 decided to use the concept to pay tribute to another very popular French artist: France Gall.

Titled Ce soir, on chante France Gall, the show should be broadcast right before summer but is already much talked about. France Gall shot to fame at a very young age about a couple of years before her Eurovision win and remained an extremely successful artist until she decided to step out of the music business toward the end of the 1990’s, a few years after the sudden death of her husband and mentor Michel Berger. Fans and the general public have never stopped asking for her to comeback, and she is still today a very much appreciated artist whose songs remain incredibly modern and present in the people’s minds. The show will be an opportunity to rediscover some of her most memorable hits, penned by either Michel Berger or Serge Gainsbourg with whom France Gall won the Eurovision Song Contest held in Naples in 1965 with Poupée de cire, poupée de son.

The panel of artists to perform on that particular show is not known yet. However it is pretty sure that the very first winner of the French Star Academy, Jenifer, will be present as she very recently announced that she will release an album made of covers of France Gall’s best songs. The young singer, who is also one of four coaches of the popular TV talent show The Voice (in which the 2005 Belgian Eurovision entrant Nuno Resende is participating this year, see here) is working on this new tribute album to be named I love France, proving once more how popular France Gall is even among the younger generations.

France Gall’s songs are indeed very regularly covered by both French and international artists, including former Eurovision participants such as the 2006 Belgian entrant Kate Ryan, who adapt them in all kinds of music styles. For instance, her Eurovision entry Poupée de cire, poupée de son has been covered countless of times since 1965. Among the most memorable covers of this evergreen: the versions of the German punk-rock band Wizo (see here), of the Belgian eurodance singer Kim Kay (see here), of the Canadian indie rock band Arcade Fire (see here) or of the Swedish symphonic metal band Therion (see here) are worth a listen.

France Gall has been living in Africa for many years. She came back to France in 2012, marking the 20th anniversary of the death of her husband and mentor Michel Berger. She then announced being back in business, willing to prepare a show based on the songs of Michel Berger who made her famous. The show will hopefully be presented in 2014. In the meanwhile, fans will be eagerly waiting for the TF1 show to be broadcast before summer this year and will keep patient thanks to the recent release of a triple best-of album titled Best of Live.