Song 27: FRANCE
(6th in the grand final : 257 points)
Artist: Amir
Song: J’ai Cherché (I have been looking for)
Lyric: Amir Haddad, Johan Errami, Nazim Khaled
Music: Nazim Khaled, Silvio Lisbonne, Skydancers
Tag Archives: France
2016 EUROVISION – FINAL RESULT
26 – Germany = 11 points
25 – The Czech republic = 41 points
24 – United Kingdom = 62 points
23 – Croatia = 73 points
22 – Spain = 77 points
21 – Cyprus = 96 points
20 – Georgia = 104 points
19 – Hungary = 108 points
18 – Serbia = 115 points
17 – Azerbaijan = 117 points
16 – Italy = 124 points
15 – Latvia = 132 points
14 – Israel = 135 points
13 – Austria = 151 points
12 – Malta = 153 points
11 – The Netherlands = 153 points
10 – Belgium = 181 points
09 – Lithuania = 200 points
08 – Poland = 229 points
07 – Armenia = 249 points
06 – France = 257 points
05 – Sweden = 261 points
04 – Bulgaria = 307 points
03 – Russia = 491 points
02 – Australia = 511 points
01 – Ukraine = 543 points
France: Amir, the king of covers 2016
This year’s French representative Amir has been one busy man. Not only is he traveling throughout Europe and spreading the fun and positive message of his Eurovision Song Contest entry J’ai cherché, but he also gifted his fans with multiple covers of previous (and current) Eurovision entries!
Checking the four covers Amir offered us so far. Back in March, France 2 hinted to us as to whom would be representing France at this year’s Eurovision Song Contest in Stockholm. A few different hints were posted on twitter with various photos relating to Amir. Originally scheduled to be announced on 12 March on the Dicaire show, the news that Amir was the French artist actually ended up leaking before the show. Still, on 12 March, Amir presented his song J’ai cherché on the Dicaire Show. One interesting thing to note about the show was that, the host, Véronic Dicaire, who is originally from Canada (great connection to ROW!) happens to be a professional immitator, and during the show, she presented us with her own rendition of three classic Eurovision entries: 1965 France Gall – Poupée de cire poupée de son, 1977 Marie Myriam – L’oiseau et l’enfant and finally 1988 Céline Dion – Ne partez pas sans moi. You can watch Véronic’s renditions at the end of this report.
Following the show, on 17 March, and assuming that Amir still had L’oiseau et l’enfant stuck in his head, he decided to present us with his own rendition of the winning French entry on his twitter account:
I finally decided to give this cover a try…. #Impro #LoiseauEtLenfant #MarieMyriam #Eurovisionhttps://t.co/NaBziodDg2
— ᴀᴍɪʀ (@Amir_Off) March 17, 2016
A couple of weeks later, Amir was again showing off his amazing skills but this time by singing a song in connection to this year’s host country, Sweden. Here is Amir performing a beautiful acoustic version of Euphoria.
On 4 April, Amir gave us another one of his covers, this time it was time to connect with his Israel connection, as Amir and his family moved from France to Tel Aviv, Israel when he was eight. Check out Amir’s cover of last year’s Israel song Golden Boy.
Finally, Amir just kept on giving and giving and on 5 April, it was time to give tribute to this year’s Spain entry Say Yay! by Barei. Amir’s grand parents are from a Spanish part of Morocco which again brings a connection to Amir’s fourth cover:
So what do you think of Amir’s impressive list of covers? What do you think he should cover next? Let us know your thoughts in the comments or on Facebook!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmA7UvccFAk
Article by David Robichaud from Canada
France choose Amir to sing at the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest
France have decided that Amir will represent them at the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest in Sweden in May. The local broadcaster,France 2, revealed the news today after recent speculation.
Amir will sing J’ai cherché (I sought). The song is currently a hit in France. He will officially premier the song for Eurovision on The DiCaire Show on 12 March.
You can see the lyric video below.
Source: www.eurovision.tv; www.esccovers.com
ONE OF MY BEST DISCOVERIES
Article by Nathan Mountford (Australia)
This is my story of conquest to enjoy the music (by any means) of one of my favourite artists, who happened to represent France at Eurovision. From JB HiFi Narre Warren to Borders Chadstone, iTunes Australia, a music store in Paris and ebay twice. It may take time but I will find it, eventually!
I was 20 going on 21, young and still innocent! My other half was house sitting and I was there often. Back then most people owned Compact Discs and stored them in a display cabinet. I decided to fill in some time one day and listen to the house owner’s collection. He was older, white and lived in Indonesia for the most of any year.
I’ve always preferred female singers so it was no surprise that one CD stood out. It was SNOW ON THE SAHARA. The sound coming from the speakers was so unique. I fell in love with this husky, strong and masculine voice. One of the songs initially stuck in my mind – a cover of LIFE ON MARS by David Bowie. I went to various music stores as soon as I could to hunt down the CD. Eventually I purchased my very own copy. I was so happy, like a kid at Christmas. A ROSE IN THE WIND became my anthem and to this day is one of my favourite songs.
From then on, whenever I visited a music store, my sight was focused on the ‘A’ section. I would request help. “How do you spell that?” they would ask. One day I was in Borders (some of you may remember them) trolling through music. I found a CD in the soundtrack section with “featuring songs performed by” printed on the cover. How did I not know about this? The CD was the OPEN HEARTS original soundtrack. I played it in my car on the way home from work. I WANNA HURT YOU was good for me at the time. I found the movie at the video store (remember them) and rented it.
In Australia we don’t have many places to buy or even listen to foreign music. My next conquest was the album CHRYSALIS. I couldn’t find it anywhere and had to order it at JB. I waited and waited but it never came. I was so upset. Fortunately this was around the time that iTunes was taking off and luckily it was available to download. My favourite song from this album is BROKEN DREAM.
I was watching a movie one day called Transporter II and recognised a voice. I slow motioned the credits and sure enough it was the song SAVIOUR. By this time music videos started to become popular on YouTube so I started my quest to watch all of her music videos. I downloaded the videos IN YOUR MIND and SAVIOUR from the LUMINESCENCE album. I knew that one day I would visit Europe. In Paris I found an International version of the album and purchased it without hesitation. This album probably has the best mix of songs, which sound great in French and English. How many artists release albums in three languages?
ELEVATION released in 2007 has a more R’N’B sound. I have the English version and also the CRAZY music video.
One day at the supermarket I heard A ROSE IN THE WIND. I was so happy that other people could hear it and she was getting some airplay in Australia (even if only in the supermarket)! On YouTube I found a few live performances of her with my favourite Australian artist Tina Arena. Hopefully Tina will do Eurovision (either for Australia or possibly France)!
I was more on the ball now and watching the Internet for new album releases. I knew in advance that ECHOES was going to be released. I didn’t know the person I had been supporting all these years would take part in the competition I had been supporting all these years! ECHOS (YOU & I) was a surprise, I didn’t know what to expect and for the first time I didn’t really care. She really couldn’t do wrong in my eyes. The film clip is super hot. And although I too was disappointed when I watched the rehearsal video I think she did a great job on the night. This was my first CD ordered on ebay!
Since then I have downloaded a few other single releases on iTunes. FLY MY EAGLE is one of my most played. My other half doesn’t really like her sound so I secretly listen to her albums whenever I can. I hope one day I will get to see her live. Until then my next CD/DVD DESIGN OF A DECADE is on its way from Indonesia. And a new album is to be released in November (hopefully with an English version not soon after).
I grew up with a stereo that had a radio, record player, double cassette and compact disc player. You could only order music from a music store not from someone overseas through the Internet. Now you only need a phone and music is downloaded instantly! But sometimes you do have to wait. I think the wait makes me appreciate it even more. I like the tactility of a product and visual artwork of the album sleeve. But thankful I have many ways to access music by an Indonesian born artist who now lives in France and still sings in English.
I discovered Anggun by accident in 2001. One of my best discoveries.
VIENNA WAS MAGIC
Written by David Thielen (USA)
The first Eurovision I attended in person was Malmö and it was beyond anything I could have imagined. All of it was incredible but of the acts, Zlata had me in tears her song and presentation was so beautiful. And then Cezar, where I left the semi-final thinking OMG what was that, and not liking it at all. And then over the next couple of days it grew on me to the point that it was my second favorite in the final.
And then came Copenhagen. There were a lot of songs I thought were brilliant. But none reached me like Zlata and Cezar. I figured part of that was the first time. And part was that while there were about 10 that I wanted to see win (including Moldova who came in last in their semi), none were as special. And so maybe it was the acts. I did have a wonderful time there and a lot of the music was everything I expected, but no beyond wonderful moments.
So for Vienna I expected once again for it to be like Copenhagen, wonderful but nothing that was beyond anything before. And then…
Monika’s entry from Poland – my god. One of the most uplifting beautiful songs/story I have ever seen. The song by itself is beautiful. The way it was staged was brilliant. One of the most emotional songs ever.
Il Volo’s entry from Italy – possibly the most amazing act at Eurovision ever. And what made it better is I went in thinking their entry was good, but not the best there. Then they came out as the last act, and pulled me in, more and more and more. And by the end they blew me away, far beyond any of my favorites up to that point.
And the list goes on. Russia, France, Sweden all had songs that most years would (or at least should – what were the voters thinking with France) have easily won. Serbia when they broke it open half way through had me jumping and shouting and basically going nuts. I’d say over 30 of the entries were world class.
So there will never be another entry like Zlata or Cezar. But there will also never be another entry like Monika or Il Volo. And that means next year in Sweden I can again expect what I found in both 2013 & 2015 – something absolutely magical.
RATING OF THE PRESS P R FOR EACH COUNTRY – PART 5
AUSTRALIA
Together with Israel probably the worst P R team for me to deal with. I know it is their first actual entry but you would think they would want to promote their entry. Yes, I think Australian fans probably will disagree, they got t-shirts and stuff, but for press people from other countries, this was one of the worst to deal with.
0 out of 10
AUSTRIA
Austria, like Switzerland and Netherlands always rank high and this year no exception. The promo CD was put in all pigeonholes almost from day one.
10 out of 10
FRANCE
It is no secret that France is at the bottom of my list of European countries and always difficult to deal with given the language. But this year, the P R team of France was just out of this world. I want to give it 12 out of 10, but of course that is not possible. Never before the French P R was even in the top 10, let alone being in number 1 position. Such a pity this song did not score better on the final night.
10 out of 10
GERMANY
Some years their P R are good, some years bad. This year all we got was a little booklet on Ann Sophie, and to get the CD single, you had to buy it from a shop.
2 out of 10
ITALY
Since their return in 2011 Italy has been a problem for me. And this year was no exception. Most fans had to go out and buy the CD from a shop.
0 out of 10
SPAIN
Like last year, Spain has improved so much in their P R and now rank among the top countries.
9.5 out of 10
UNITED KINGDOM
They have a new head of press and he is a great improvement and we were allowed 5 minutes personal time with the duo to hand the gift bags and I think we were 8 or so of our team there. They did not give promo items but as the single is commercially released, we were able to buy it.
7 out of 10
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OGAE Rest of the world voting – first result
OGAE Rest of the world will send one inclusive vote to OGAE International to be published first on the OGAE website but because we have several individual countries inside R O W, we have allowed them to vote as a country as well and we will publish such votes if we receive a voting picture from such a country. We got the first such voting picture, from our members in COSTA RICA and here is how these members have voted.
EUROVISION 60th CELEBRATION – SONG 46 of 60
It is now the turn of FRANCE, normally a country who’s euro entries I do not like. But their 1993 entry was a Major surprise, MAMA CORSICA by PATRICK FIORI. It is one of the best songs and among my top 10 of all time. The Afrikaans cover by STEVEN STERLING is called MAMA AFRIKA and it is the second best cover ever.
EUROVISION 60th CELEBRATION – SONG 26 of 60
Time for an old favourite now, the 1976 entry from FRANCE – UN, DEUZ, TROIS originally sung by Catherine Ferry. In South Africa the song was both covered in English and Afrikaans. We are using the Afrikaans cover by GLENYS LYNNE.
