Two days after the French National final et si on gagnait, when Les Fatals Picards won the French ticket to the Eurovision Song Contest in Helsinki, the media and the fans themselves were very shy in their reactions on the show and the country�s representatives. 2,000,000 people watched the show, a strong number for a country trying hard to return Eurovision to the national event calendar!

Eurovision keeps a low place in the French media and the choice of the song has not aroused many reactions yet. The reactions of the big French newspapers and TV stations remained very shy. Even though the France 3 realized a modest record of audience last Tuesday with around 2 millions of viewers, the national final will be remembered as the beginning of a new approach to the Eurovision Song Contest in France.

The French public also stays, once again, reserved about the choice of the song. Eurovision Song Contest has lost the credibility in a country without a win in 30 years. After the new kind of selection format, the channel did unfortunately not convince the majority of the viewers. But we can note some better comments about the French event:

“France finally left its own vision of the Contest. The channel offered the candidates the chance to suggest different kinds of songs, whereas in the last years, we were all the time represented by typical French ballads. The success couldn’t be as strong as this year”

As for the fans, they expressed a real passion for the quality of the songs this year, and particularly for the victory of l’amour à la française. “France did the best choice after a great match between les Fatals and Medi-T. I salute France 3 for the show. France has won a credibility in Europe and into the esc world”.

The language of the song seems to be one the reasons for the victory of Les Fatals Picards. “It’s the first time that France tried to leave its own language in Eurovision. The lyrics are not in French, nor in English, but in “franglish”. They are ironical and can be understood by all Europe”.

THE LYRICS IN FULL

I remember, jolie demoiselle
The last summer, nous, la tour Eiffel
I remember comme tu étais belle
So beautiful with your sac Chanel

Sur les ponts de la Seine
Let's do it again, again, again, again
You gave me a rendezvous
What is it, what is it?

Je le chercher à toi, dans les rues
Je ne suis pas venir car tu ne l'es plus
Je le regarde partout, where are you?
My heart is bleeding, oh I miss you

L'amour à la française
Let's do it again, again, again, again
You gave me a rendezvous

Et je cours, je cours, je cours
I've lost l'amour, l'amour, l'amour
Je suis perdu, here without you
And I'm crazy, seul à Paris
Je, tu le manque, sans toi I can't
Et sous la pluie, I feel sorry
Champs-Élysées, alone, la nuit
Le Moulin Rouge, I feel guilty

Et le soleil est plus brûlant que les oiseaux
Et dans le ciel, I miss you so
A souvenir, a rendezvous
Des fleurs, des fleurs, des fleurs for you
Je, tu le manque, sans toi I can't
Et sous la pluie, I feel sorry
Je suis perdu, here without you
And I'm crazy, seul à Paris

I remember, jolie demoiselle
The last summer, comme tu étais belle
I remember, nous, la Tour Eiffel
So beautiful with your sac Chanel

L'amour à la française
C'est que je t'aime, je t'aime, je t'aime, je t'aime
I give you a rendezvous

Et je cours, je cours, je cours
I've lost l'amour, l'amour, l'amour
Je suis perdu, here without you
And I'm crazy, seul à Paris
Je, tu le manque, sans toi I can't
Sous la pluie, I feel sorry
Champs-Elysées, alone, la nuit
Le Moulin Rouge, I feel guilty

Et le soleil est plus brûlant que les oiseaux
Et dans le ciel, I miss you so
A souvenir, a rendezvous
Des fleurs, des fleurs, des fleurs for you
Je tu le manque, sans toi I can't
Et sous la pluie, I feel sorry
Je suis perdu, here without you

The esctoday.com interview with Les Fatals Picards:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tv4A2Tv-5e4

With special thanks to our new French editor, Yann Charpentier