Intoduction

For the first time since years France has organized a national selection! In a popular music show format called “Chansons d’Abord” which was running over weeks on French TV the candidates have been chosen. The show was hosted by no less than Natasha St. Pier, who has already sung for France in 2001 with “Je N'ai Que Mon âme” and came 4th in Copenhagen in that year. Natasha is also going to accompany the French commentator at this year’s ESC.

The show concept was working well, a lot of popular French singers appeared regularly like Serge Lama, Amoury, Anggun or Marie Myriam. The best part of the show was that every guest and the audience including the host Natasha were singing all the time, which was very entertaining though! There were three finalists with total different songs from chanson to pop. The voting window was open for several weeks so that the French could wisely choose their entry for the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest. The funny group Twin Twin made the race with “Moustache”.

Twin Twin is a trio which consist of Lorent Idir, François Djemel and Patrick Biyik. The name of the group comes from the fact that Lorent and François are twins. The group’s music style can be described as pop music with funk, electro and rap touch. They are going to express their effervescence creativity and craziness in their stage presentations, like they did in the show “Chanson d’Abord”.

The song “Moustache” is exactly such a song with this special mood. There is a strong beat and a catchy reprise of the chorus in a rap style. The group stands for: crazy, funny and catchy. There has been a similar appearance in 2008 with “Baila El Chiki Chiki” by Rodolfo Chikilicuatre from Spain who came 16th. “Moustache” is about a man who has everything but dreams of having a moustache; this should be a criticism of the consumer society. This song from Twin Twin is much more powerful and hopefully it’s going to thrill the audience in the B & W Hallerene in Copenhagen and the TV spectators. A very untypical song from France at Eurovision this might end up on the top or bottom of the scoreboard.

History

Participations: 58

Debut: 1956

Biggest success: 5x 1st place “Dors Mon Amour” by André Claveau in 1958, “Tom Pillibi” by Jacquline Boyer in 1960, “Un Premier Amour” by Isabelle Aubret in 1962, “Un Jour, Un Enfant” by Frida Boccara in 1969, “L'oiseau Et L'enfant” by Marie Myriam in 1977, 6x 2nd place “Le Temps Perdu” by Mathé Altéry in 1956, “Il Est Là” by Dany Dauberson in 1956, “La Belle Amour” by Paule Desjardins in 1957, “Un, Deux, Trois” by Catherine Ferry in 1976, “White And Black Blues” by Joelle Ursull in 1990, “C'est Le Dernier Qui A Parlé Qui A Raison” by Amina in 1991, 7x 3rd place “Oui, Oui, Oui, Oui” by Jean Philippe in 1959, “N'avoue Jamais” by Guy Mardel in 1965, “Il Doit Faire Beau Là-bas” by Noëlle Cordier in 1967, “La Source” by Isabelle Aubret in 1968, “Il Y Aura Toujours Des Violons” by Joël Prévost in 1978, “Je Suis L'enfant-soleil” by Anne-Marie David in 1979, “Humanahum” by Jean Gabilou in 1981, 7x 4th place, 2x 5th place, 2x 7th place, 5x 8th place, 3x 10th place

France is participating since the very first edition of the Eurovision Song Contest in 1956. This year in Copenhagen going to be the 59th participation; France has withdrawn in 1974 and 1982. Nevertheless there were five winning songs, six second places and seven third places, unfortunately the biggest successes can be found in the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s, and in recent years the outcome is getting less. France is famous for its chansons and ballads, but also French pop tunes have been presented lately like “Divine” by Sébastian Tellier (19th rank in 2008) and “Allez Olla Olé” by Jessy Matador (12th rank in 2010) which have been found in the international charts as well. This year there is no exception; “Moustache” is a pop-rap song from a special kind.

Even with big names like Patricia Kaas, Natasha St. Pierre or Patrick Fiori could not bring another victory for France. In 1977 Marie Myriam convinced the juries with “L'oiseau Et L'enfant”, this was the last big victory in Eurovision, and that’s more than 30 years ago! As France belongs to the Big 5 countries, it is set automatically for the final like Germany, UK, Spain and Italy.