During his first rehearsal at Eurovision 2016 France’s Amir sought to deliver an out-of-this-world performance. To that end he stood on stage alone amid a starry galaxy — both on the floor and the wall — that was filled with swiftly moving planets and rays of silver and purple light. Rather than transporting us to another universe, it seemed take us to Junior Eurovision, where the intergalactic space scene is among the most overdone tropes. This felt rather cliché and totally beneath Amir’s lovely vocals and killer song. 

Very little happens in the performance. Amir stands on his own — backing vocalists hidden — and does his best to work the camera, which pans in and out on his face. There’s nothing wrong with him. He’s a confident performer with major charisma. The problem is everything around him. The stage swallows him and that makes him look incredibly lost and small. I’d almost like producers to push his backing vocalists onto the stage so there is more motion and life.

I hope and I pray that France presses reboot on this LED — Amir deserves better!

France: First rehearsal at Eurovision 2016

France: First press conference 2016

Amir’s “J’ai cherché”: Reviews and Reactions

France: Interview with Amir in Stockholm

Read all of our Eurovision rehearsal reviews

Photo: Eurovision.tv (EBU)

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Fidaus
Fidaus
7 years ago

it simple and not complicated. .i would say it à happy ending song…*à passion*..even ESC 2014 Austria also alone at stage. Go for it Amir. Future winner ESC 2016

Babychops London Town
Babychops London Town
7 years ago

Amir, douze points

Denis
Denis
7 years ago

The Swedish panel Put Frans at 3rd place. They put Amir first and Dami Im second. Though Björkman said they underestimated Russia and I think he is right.
Frans will do well. That’s what most expect of him, and he won’t disappoint. The chances of him dong well are better and bigger than the chances of not doing well
Amir will win though and I don’t mind that. He should win.

Ms
Ms
7 years ago

All that I know is that the effects will only be seen on tv and not on stage , sorry for the spectators at the globen.
I know the French head of delegation talked with SVT of some things that they weren’t happy.
I think that the second rehearsal will be better but we will still not see the special effects on screen.We will see them 1m30 on May 10th and fully on May 14th.

Did027
Did027
7 years ago

@loo.
Ou as tu eu l’info sur le fait q’Amir n’ai pas performe avec les moyens techniques prévus , durant sa première répétition ? En tout cas j’espère qu’il va y avoir des changements car ce serai dommage de tout gâcher à cause d’effets trop peu présents !!!
De nombreux fans ont été déçus après sa performance , non pas de lui ni de sa voix mais des effets scéniques

Did027
Did027
7 years ago

@loo.
Ou as tu eu l’info sur le fait q’Amir n’ai pas performe avec les moyens techniques prévus , durant sa première répétition ? En tout cas j’espère qu’il va y avoir des changements car ce serai dommage de tout gâcher à cause d’effets trop peu présents.
De nombreux fans ont été déçus après sa performance , non pas de lui ni de sa voix mais des effets scéniques

Charles
Charles
7 years ago

@fikri: I love the way you pay attention to my words as a way to tell yourself Sergey will not only win this whole thing but most likely go to bed with you 🙂 So good luck with that and being busy in such a substantial way. 🙂 And by the way: speak for yourself and don’t hide behind anybody. 🙂 @EugeneESCUK: Your “usually” at the end says everything to me. I may repeat myself over and over again … but the crap that a lot of people tend to support in Eurovision repeats itself over and over again too.… Read more »

nikki
nikki
7 years ago

@loo Where did you read that?

Loo
Loo
7 years ago

@bella We’re expecting a good result 🙂 I have no doubts really. He will do really well.

bella
bella
7 years ago

Amir has much better song from Sergey.Along with Frans the best.Loo what people think about Frans right now in Sweden? What result they expect?

Whappy
Whappy
7 years ago

I don’t understand the negativity in this article to be honest 🙂 I think he did fine. A nice performance, well sung. And best of all – for France: No visual car crash this year 🙂 They have often had quality songs, like this year. But often presented with too many silly unecessary gimnicks on stage. This is a classic, pure, simple, and honest performance. Relying on the important thing: The song itself 🙂 A great pop song that many people think might win. Bonne chance Amir et la France!

Loo
Loo
7 years ago

Amir have just comfirmed that the technical effect wasnt’t shown on yesterdays rehearsal 😉

Irina
7 years ago

Russian song begins to listen on radio and tv in Scandinavian countries and in BBC from today. It is fine new. Sergey has written about it in your instagram.

Denis
Denis
7 years ago

That’s not what I said Bella. Read between the lines I said that the song who’s the most talked about entry of the year usually wins. This year Amir is that entry, He’s everywhere! Hype or phenomenon, whatever you call it. And yes being on Spotify, Itunes and radio is part of that being everywhere but that in self isn’t a factor for win. But it does however mean that those songs have a more bright future ahead and than Sergey who didn’t even got a hit in Russia despite being mega-star there. These songs can become this year’s biggest… Read more »

ESCArgy
ESCArgy
7 years ago

@EugeneESCUK

Don’t waste your time, just ignore Charles. As fikri said, he thinks that his own opinion is correct and whenever somebody disagrees with him, he says that their taste is crap. For example, some days ago I just said that I don’t like “Slow Down” and he attacked me by saying that I’m uneducated and that I have awful taste.

François
François
7 years ago

There was no need to write such an article. The title and the content are very personnal and you are going to influence a lot of people just because you prefer another one…
I really like this song and the performance is simple but real. Don’t see what you describe in this “article”.

ESCArgy
ESCArgy
7 years ago

@John Fow-tan

I watched the rehearsal and I still support my opinion. However, I see that you keep ignoring what I said about Loreen…hmmm… Maybe you don’t want to face reality, right?

bella
bella
7 years ago

Denis according to what you said about Amir and Frans presence in spotify, itunes and radios, they must fight for the win.

Tyler
Tyler
7 years ago

He’s clumsy on stage. It’s just a smile with a weak voice backed by a happy song. Poor man’s Mans.

He’s not giving the next step forward to this contest with this staging/performance.

And for those who are wondering it…that copy-paste Russian freak act is neither.

Scott
Scott
7 years ago

Overhyped and ultimately rather dull…this ain’t gonna trouble the Top 5, shame though, still searching since 1977 must be painful.

fikri
fikri
7 years ago

@eugeneuk: charles’ shtick is to act salty whenever his favourites get trashed by everyone. when people call him out for being aggresive, he’ll act holier-than-thou and ask them to watch their grammar, stop thinking with using their genitals, check the word “angry” in the dictionary, etc etc. he’s more predictable than cyprus-greece 12-points ecxhange. *yawns*

my advice: just ignore that troll. 🙂

chessguy99
7 years ago

Its a little underwhelming, especially after the great video. Lacks visual energy to match the energy of the song. Amir will have to do some heavy playing to the cameras. If he can grab the viewers through the camera, he could win. I understand he has considerable reality TV singing experience, so maybe we do have a winner here.

SLY
SLY
7 years ago

Another fanwank went down. Achhhh… 😀

Charles
Charles
7 years ago

@fikri: Give your genitals a rest dude .. the amount of time you waste on wet dreaming about Sergey while hating on everybody else is … disturbing …. I don’t think that even Ru Paul would waste time on that.

Charles
Charles
7 years ago

@EugeneESCUK: I stuck to my guns and my beliefs, though your understanding of the word “anger” puzzles me, don’t really see how you feel my anger just by reading words but whatever floats your boat … I never felt ashamed to love the music I believe in and I don’t hesitate to share my views on the crap that Eurovision has been give us like the lack of musical authenticity from Russia, for instance. And whoever can’t stand my words, I have only 2 hashtags to say #girlbye #aintnobodygottimeforthat LOL You enjoy gathering all the statistics and analysis that we… Read more »

Marc
Marc
7 years ago

Amir is charting in Russia, he’s already at 26 while Sergey’s peak is only 125… just saying
Amir has a decent song and charisma, staging could be better (its darkness doesn’t match well with his song) but the song is what matters the most.
BTW Frans charted in Russia as well hihi 🙂

SLY
SLY
7 years ago

And here comes a DARK HORSE…… 😉 Justs from Latvia!

MTD
MTD
7 years ago

The alternative Wiwi title for this post: Amir give us true space realness! Now, people fact check: last year, people didn’t went after the “lesser” technological show a.k.a Sweden, the juries went after it. Last year people went for true emotion-full songs instead – Italy and Russia. This year, Russia has the technology, while the emotion can be found in the Czech Republic (she is even as blond and nice as Polina); somewhat in Ukraine (but that’s darker, not as “happy” as the Czechs) and the good looking guys from Italy (wearing elegant suits) is Amir/France this year (I am… Read more »

David
7 years ago

Im going to believe miricales .In the end the country will win this year which you have never expected .It really hard to predict Russia or France.Im not sure about Russia like (Greece 2009).France is very catchy and cool.I prefer that simple performance than Russia which is really annoying me when im hearing every time . It’s really boring..Sergey is really good artist but the song is really old fashioned.

Loo
Loo
7 years ago

be*

Loo
Loo
7 years ago

@Denis

Yeah, at the end of the day you need bo the phenomenon to win. That’s Amir this year. Just like Loreen, Conchita and Måns. He came from nowhere and managed to become the frontrunner just within a few weeks. That’s impressive.

K
K
7 years ago

I actually really like the staging (and I’ve always loved the song). Some people who don’t know about singing shouldn’t comment on the singing technique or saying this song is easy to sing. I tell you, this is harder to sing than Russia’s. The “you” in the beginning and middle of the chorus is immediately 5 notes higher than the lines before and after it. It’s not easy to pull, especially with a very tight-packed chorus like this song has. Amir still does have to improve his head voice to sing the increasing notes on the end of the bridge… Read more »

Denis
Denis
7 years ago

Agree. The most talked about entry usually wins.Never thought about it but it’s like that. in 2012 Loreen was everywhere and won. 2013 Emmelie was talked about. Conchita didn’t need any introduction and Måns created headlines since he won only to trump all. Amir with both OGAE wins and several poll wins plus the fact that he’s on both Spotify and Itunes International lists speaks a lot. I even heard him on Swedish radio the other day. And I heard Frans on both Bosnian, Croatian and even U.K radio:) Sergey couldn’t even manage to get a hit in his own… Read more »

Briekimchi
Briekimchi
7 years ago

I like the idea of it just being Amir on the stage and with the right camera angles, I think he could work it well.
I would have liked to have seen better used of the LED backdrop. I think something involving the lyrics of the song would have worked well.

Loo
Loo
7 years ago

Wiwibloggs complained about the stars and planets, but I don’t think the fans were showed the the real and final effect of it today. We will all be surprised.

Loo
Loo
7 years ago

@mathESC

Well said! Yes, I’ve heard the same things as you about the performance and think it will look amazing on TV.

mathESC
mathESC
7 years ago

Good evening to all of you! I’m French and I would like to add a comment about first French rehearsal. Well, I can understand the fact that people are disappointed. Well, sincerely, at the beginning, just reading the comments and descriptions of the stage on Twitter, I was just… “What ?! Where is the beautiful and impressive stage ?” But after seeing the photos and videos about Amir’s performance, I say “Ok, this is a bit disappointing about the fact that he doesn’t use any modern technology” but his stage is SO BEAUTIFUL and bring so much to the message… Read more »

silvester
silvester
7 years ago

Russia will not win. The same with France. Ukraine will win. Or Serbia, eventually.

Loo
Loo
7 years ago

France is the one to beat now. It’s the entry everyone’s discussing and talking about in general. The most talked about entry usually wins…

Allen
Allen
7 years ago

@fikri lol, you’re the unique living an illusion.

J’ai Cherche ia million times better than the russian entry which is a bad attempt of sounding like a winnwr song.

you think that his overproduced staging is what juries are expecting this year, Last year Mans was all the meaning of elegance regarding to his staging, This Year Russia doesnt even have a history on the staging, Mans had.

Amir definitely will place higher than Russia with juries as well it should with televote as isnt a high showy pretencious act as the russian one.

John Fow-tan
John Fow-tan
7 years ago

@fikri Russia put lots of effort to knock their own chances. No need for others to help them.

John Fow-tan
John Fow-tan
7 years ago

@ESCArgy Next time it’s you to get informed. What i was saying to you counts very much in ESC context. To reach the performance your song gey air-played on major radios in Europe is huge. And it counts.

I was asking you to tell me if you’ve seen the rehearsal or your opinion is based just on some commentators’ opinions. Your answer might be yes or no. Did you see it?

That staging is far from “making the song childish and forgettable”. Very far. But you know all. Pf.

Allen
Allen
7 years ago

What were Wiwibloggs commentators expecting from Amir im asking…

An Effectist show like Russia has bring to the stage?

Its obvious that Amir seems to appear too small on Tv, but The background is absolutely beautiful, He needs more company on the platform i agree with thwt statement, But in overall is a good performance, how can you criticize him that way with just his 1st appearance on the stage.

is probably because you saw all the other artist on scene with all the improvements and ect…

fikri
fikri
7 years ago

lol@some people trying to convince everyone (and themselves, really) that france has a shot to beat russia. the delusion is real, y’all. 😛

silvester
silvester
7 years ago

Amir is so sweet. I love him.

ESCArgy
ESCArgy
7 years ago

@John Fow-tan

The staging is not bad but it actually helps in making the song childish and forgettable.

ESCArgy
ESCArgy
7 years ago

@John Fow-tan

I don’t care if it is in the radio. It will soon get forgotten, because it’s nothing special. As I said before, songs like this cannot be compared to masterpieces like “Euphoria”, honestly it seems ridiculous even comparing them! So next time get informed better and learn that this will NEVER be like “Euphoria”, even if it wins.

Alexanderized
Alexanderized
7 years ago

@nikki Nobody said that one ought to vote merely for the staging, but it’s stupid to deny that staging is an integral part of every ESC performance—it can support the song and it can dim it out. It’s not just about the song.

John Fow-tan
John Fow-tan
7 years ago

@ESCArgy Oh, and by the way, did you see the entire staging to say “especially with such staging”. You seem having see it.

John Fow-tan
John Fow-tan
7 years ago

@ESCArgy For your info: Amir’s song is on air on many radio throughout Europe. This is the first time when after many years a song is air-played in many European countries, without ESC have taken place. Spain, Belgium, Switzerland, Slovakia, Poland, Netherlands and Russia – Europe Plus with all its antenas in ex-satellite Soviet countries. Something more stupid than saying “song that has no future” you couldn’t write.