Growing French enthusiasm for Eurovision as country gets behind Louane's 'Maman'

As one of the "Big Five", France automatically qualifies for the final of Eurovision in Basel on Saturday and yet it hasn't won the competition since 1977. Could this be the year? Hopes are resting on 28-year-old Louane – a former The Voice finalist with an epic ballad in tribute to her late mum, performed in a fake sandstorm.

Enthusiasm for Eurovision is growing in France. A poll published on Friday showed that 56 percent of people had a positive image of the competition and 40 percent planned on watching Saturday's final in the Swiss city of Basel.

Two-thirds said they like this year's entry Maman by Louane, and more than a third think it could win. Although they would do, wouldn't they?

The bookies have put the French entry in third place. So in theory there's everything to play for. And Louane – born Anne Edwige Maria Peichert – is certainly not afraid of a challenge.

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Premiering her song at the Stade de France during the Six Nations rugby tournament in March, she belted out the ballad while suspended 14 metres above the pitch, accompanied by strings and a full military band.

In Basel she gives an equally dramatic performance, alone on stage amid a sandstorm (actually made of cork shavings) – symbolising the sandpits of her childhood.

"It's the first time I've done that but I'm happy. I was able to finish the song correctly. I choked a bit at the end, but it's OK, it's cool," she told Le Parisien newspaper this week during rehearsals.

An 'epic' ballad

Louane rose to fame aged just 16, when she made it to the semi-final on The Voice.

She later won a César Award (the French equivalent of the Oscars) for most promising actress in the 2014 French-Belgian coming-of-age drama La Famille Bélier.

She lost both her parents when she was a teenager and the song Maman is a kind of open letter to both her late mother and her young daughter.

"I've changed a lot/I've grown up a lot/From you, I kept everything/That makes me who I am," she sings.

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Written quickly last summer at the end of a recording session for her latest album, she said she'd decided to go with something she'd never done before, while keeping the ballad style she's become famous for. 

"Ballads are in my genes but this is an 'epic ballad' and that's something I'd never done before," she told Eurovision. 

The song, a slow burner, builds to a dramatic crescendo. "Vocally it's difficult, the most difficult of all my repertoire," said Louane.

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Can she win?

France is competing against 25 other countries:  Norway, Luxembourg, Estonia, Israel, Lithuania, Spain, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, Austria, Iceland, Latvia, the Netherlands, Finland, Italy, Poland, Germany, Greece, Armenia, Switzerland, Malta, Portugal, Denmark, Sweden, San Marino and Albania. France will perform after Sweden, in the third-last spot.

Sweden's trio KAJ are the hot favourites with their witty song about the joys of a sauna, Bara Bada Bastu.

But the popular vote, in which any country around the world can take part, can mean last-minute surprises. 

France hasn't won since 1977, with Marie Myriam and her song L'Oiseau et l'Enfant. It was France's fifth win. But since then, the country has averaged 12th place.  

However, it has been performing a little better of late, coming fourth last year with Slimane's hymn to peace Mon Amour, and second in 2021 with Barbara Pravi's Piaf-inspired Voilà. 

Alas, 2022 will go down in history for all the wrong reasons – Alvan & Ahez finished second to last with a performance in their regional Breton language.

Louane is singing in French which, given the country's propensity to defend the national lingo, comes as little surprise.

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No song sung in French has won Eurovision since 1988, when Canadian Céline Dion represented... Switzerland.

However, this year five of the 26 entries are either in French (France, Switzerland, Luxembourg) or include French (the Netherlands and Israel).

What's more, in a competition usually very much dominated by English, this year half of the entries are in languages other than English. Italy and Ukraine have both won with non-English language songs in recent years.

France has not always had a nose for a good song. In 1983 the singer Corinne Hermès submitted Si la vie est cadeau to the selection committee. They turned it down, so the artist offered it to Luxembourg – which won the competition.