What would the Grand Prix d'Eurovision be without France? It is one of the classic Eurovision countries, like Italy used to be before they stopped participating in 1997. Especially France managed to add a certain glamour to the contest with lots of chansons that became classics later like "Et Bonjour A Toi L'Artiste" sung by Nicole Rieu (Stockholm 1975), modern ballads like "Femme Dans Ses Reves Aussi" by Roger Bens (Gothenburg 1985) and also more extravagant compositions from the oversea department like "Monte La Rivie" by Kali (Malmö 1992). France is automatically admitted to the final due to the fact that it is, like Spain, United Kingdom and Germany, one of the main financiers of the EBU.

This year will see a lot of male soloists in Istanbul and France will be no exception. Jonatan Cerrada will sing a ballad called "A Chaque Pas". The singer, born in Belgium, is only 19 years old and was chosen by the French TV-station France3. Last year he was the lucky winner of the "French Idols" show - their national version of Pop Idol. When only 8 years old, Jonatan had already appeared at the Opera Royal de Wallonie. His parents are Spanish and for that reason he will, besides the obvious French version, record his song not only in English but also in Spanish. France again has sent in a great ballad to the Song Contest - a ballad that is going to show what the French are best at in music!