After last week’s slick series opener, France’s Destination Eurovision continued tonight with the second semi-final.
Semi 1 gave us some mild controversy when Amir’s jury points sent Louka to the final ahead of Noée. But this evening’s results brought perhaps an even bigger shock with firm fan favourite June The Girl failing to qualify. Even more surprisingly, “Same” finished second to last once the international and in-house jury rankings were combined.
The other non-qualifiers were Lucie, Sarah Caillibot, Sweem, and Jane Constance. Unlike the first show, where two acts received a dreaded nil points, only Lucie failed to receive any points.
That means that the four finalists are: Madame Monsieur (“Mercy”), Max Cinnamon (“Ailleurs”), Igit (“Lisboa Jérusalem”), and Nassi (“Rêve de gamin”).
DESTINATION EUROVISION: SEMI-FINAL 2
The pre-recorded show unfolded in a setting large enough to generate buzz and to induce adrenaline, but intimate enough to create a family feel: France is in this together.
Once again, the in-house judging panel consisted of Francophone luminaries Amir, Isabelle Boulay and Christophe Willem. Sitting opposite the stage and getting plenty of face time, they took their roles very seriously, with Amir mastering innuendo and delivering blows softly, Isabelle providing the sweetness, and Idol winner Christophe keeping it real. Their hilariously honest facial expressions (while at rest) were a highlight of the evening.
Sweden’s Christer Bjorkman and the heads of delegation from Italy and Belarus — Nicola Caligliore and Olga Salmakhe — awarded 12, 10, 8, 6, 4 and 2 points to their favourite six songs of the evening.
Ultimately, the international jury’s top four aligned with the combined result. However, the Francophone panel would have sent Sweem through ahead of Nassi
Belarus
International juror Olga gives her 12 points to @MadameMonsieur #DestinationEurovision #Eurovision #AllAboard pic.twitter.com/Lez1d5ud3j
— wiwibloggs (@wiwibloggs) January 20, 2018
Italy
International juror Nicola gives his 12 points to @IGITOFFICIAL #DestinationEurovision #Eurovision #AllAboard pic.twitter.com/Oq2JKwg7aC
— wiwibloggs (@wiwibloggs) January 20, 2018
Sweden
International juror Christer gives his 12 points to @NassiOfficiel #DestinationEurovision #Eurovision #AllAboard pic.twitter.com/anBmnEaI40
— wiwibloggs (@wiwibloggs) January 20, 2018
Destination Eurovision Semi-final 2 Results
Congratulations to @MadameMonsieur for winning the second semi-final of #DestinationEurovision. Massive congratulations as well to the rest of the qualified artists @CinnamonMax @NassiOfficiel and @IGITOFFICIAL #eurovision #AllAboard pic.twitter.com/kioMXDLvBE
— wiwibloggs (@wiwibloggs) January 20, 2018
What do you think of tonight’s results? Did your favourites make it through? Is France on to a good thing with Destination Eurovision? Let us know in the comments box below.
The number of viewers who watched the second semi-final of Destination Eurovision, has fallen by 402,000 viewers compared to last weekend’s first semi-final.
June the Autotune bye!
WHAT A NIGHT! Where to begin with? June the girl’s performance wasn’t what I expected. Though I like it, I don’t think it should qualify after last night. “Tu me manques” is a classic french love song in my mind, but I feel Sarah sang it without any emotion. I expected her to bring the house down with her performance. Lucie struggled vocally at times while dancing and Jane’s song was old fashioned and wouldn’t do well at Eurovision. However, I adored her peformance! She’s so talented! I was looking forward to Nassi’s performance and I was a little disappointed.… Read more »
Funny, I would have said the e-x-a-c-t same things.
Max was my favourite of the night so I am pleased he managed to qualify but I was a bit underwhelmed. This semi final was clearly not as good as the first one. If I was to rank the finalists this would be my ranking: 1. Lisandro Cuxi – Eva 2. Louka – Mamma Mia 3. Max Cinammon – Allieurs 4. Nassi – Reve de Gamin 5. Malo – Ciao 6. Madame Monsieur – Mercy 7. Emmy Liyanna – Ok ou Ko 8. Igit – Lisboa Jerusalem If It were my choice I would have had June the Girl and… Read more »
WOW! I agree Lisandro is the right choice but I would have Mercy and Ok ou ko in second and third.
Lisandro’s song is too similar to Mo-”Heal” from Norwegian 2014 NF, which is a clear sign of a flop.
June the Girl sounded awful live, doesn’t deserve anythin
Don’t understand why everyone is whining about June the Girl. The reason why she didn’t qualify is simple: she can’t sing… or at least, she couldn’t yesterday evening. I’d rather say that Sweem should have qualified; but it seems I’m the only one.
June the Girl had better vocals than Nassi and he qualified.
I’m pleased Nassi went through as he was the one standing out from the studio recordings. It is an interesting production and the song is good. He was a little breathy though and the choreography messy. Skip the dancers I’d say. He is a bit off beat with the lyrics like he’s struggling to have time to pronounce all the words. I think this is conscious and part of a style. Still think the song is a potential winner if he can nail the act and the live singing. and lol at Christer giving him the 12p – Christer my… Read more »
Madame Monsieur must go to eurovision! Best song here. If not, at least let Emmy go.
Max is ok, i don’t like Nassi, Igit is good but oldfashioned.
I did like Jane, Sarah and June the Girl. What a shame they didn’t qualify. At least the best song won this semifinal.
Madame Monsieur wouldn’t break the top 20 in Lisbon.
All those cute girls were eliminated, I guess it’s a good sign since their songs were weak.
Some, I repeat, some of their ‘songs’ were better than what got the high points.
Mercy was outstanding
France is going to the top 13 again.
Top 26
Depends on what happens next week.
Madame Monsieur or Emmy for me. France reallt stepped up this year! They shoyld be proud!
Serios? Nassi este singura sansa.
Si daca ar fi in stare sa cante live, tot nu cred ca ar avea un rezultat prea grozav… Dar vom vedea saptamana viitoare 🙂
Either of them would be a step down for everyone else.
French iTunes:
1. Madame Monsieur – 2 place
2. Igit – 20th place
3. Max Cinnamon – 23rd place
4. Sweem – 54th place
5. Nassi – 67th place
Many good songs, many bad live performances (Nassi was by far the worst last night), not a good production for a music show overall (June the Girl had serious broblems with her microphone last night).
For the final, I think OK ou KO can be the best and most modern choice for France. I like Mercy too, but it’s a risk, I’m afraid that this kind of song is more proper for the French audience than the international one.
MERCY MERYC MERCY MERCY MERCY Absolutely love it!! They need to go to Lisbon!
Disaster for France. Sorry France but if you send Madame Monsieur or Emmy you will be dead last.
What was in your head? Only Nassi is your only chance, and you and your bad taste can kiss Destination Eurovision Good Bye, because Edoardo Grassi will not allow you to decide again. Has anyone saw Grassi lately? Does he has any hair on his head?
Are you on drugs?
> if you send Madame Monsieur or Emmy you will be dead last
hahahaha those are the two best songs by far. There’s a reason they did so well. One ofhose two songs need to go to Lisbon to represent France. I prefer Mercy but I’ll be happy with either one.
Are U serious? Did U had a look to other national selections? Songs are really good looking to other countrys… Need to work on live performance, for shure…
Lissandro is overrated: good vocals but mediocre song. I don’t really get his appeal. I’m having this nagging feeling that the foreign jury is sabotaging this selection. I don’t why they are even needed, when in the past 2 years, France have been doing ok without their help. They should just go back to an internal selection: if it ain’t broken, don’t fix it
”foreign jury is sabotaging this selection”
Totally agree. Next is Germany. Foreign jury will not let them send what is good for them : VoXXclub.
Foreign jury will tell them to send something boring.
June the Girl relied on the autotune and failed.
Madame Monsieur and Emmy for me are so much overrated by eurovision fans and some members of juries . I think with them France wili be flop in final , prediction out of TOP 15 even TOP 20 in final. Nassi (song like male version of song from France 2017) and Louka , have good song, but both are weak (singing) in live pefromance . With them France in final in TOP 15 out of TOP 10, thanks to televote France only have chance with Malo, Lisandro, Igit with them TOP 10 in final for France (Malo and Igit more… Read more »
Lisandro has an average entry, in fact, his song is similar to Mo-”Heal” from Norwegian 2014 NF which flopped.
Malo’ is good, but he may well be The Makemakes of this year if he gets the chance to go to the ESC.
June had such a good song. I don’t get why she didn’t lend the song to a singer who could actually sing it live rather than wasting the song by lip syncing.
i am really happy with results so glad mercy made the final i don’t know how igit made the final but i guess it is okay as a guilty pleasure but what made more happy then any thing else in the world was june the girl knocked out i mean she was awful
and overhyped and the biggest surprise of the night was max ciammon but still really strong final see you all next week : )
My favorites are Malo and Madame Monsieur.
I’ll also be happy if France picks Emmy or Igit.
I think Lissandro is still the favorite to win, but he would only be my 5th option.
Honestly, I wasn’t getting the hype for June the Girl. I think people just really loved her styling and branding more than her song on its own. I probably would’ve picked the same 4 finalists from this bunch even in the same order, but I think that SF1 was a little better (I’d have 5 from SF1 and 3 from SF2 in the final if I could). 1) Madame Monsieur – Great performance, cool catchy song. I like the Mercy -> Merci at the very end but I think most people won’t catch it. 1) Max – I liked this… Read more »
Igit – I don’t like that he seems to be copying Salvador especially in his quirky performing style. Song is memorable though and I loved the map of locations turning into the Eurovision heart .
BUT!!! Did nobody else notice that the point for Jerusalem was nowhere near where it should have been? (It was in SW Turkey near Izmir, far from the Levant). Also, Gibraltar may have just cost you any points from Spain and at best earned a point from the UK, bad location choice lol
“Merci at the very end but I think most people won’t catch it.”
bla-bla-bla Amar pelos dois is very beautiful song but I think most people won’t catch it. bla-bla-bla
“Mercy” awoke so many emotions in me that I cried during their performance. I think it’s a beautiful song. I also think it would stand out in Lisbon.
For me, it is easily my favorite.
Also to note, “Mercy” is doing easily the best of any of the acts on French iTunes so far. Lisandro only managed to come 5th or 6th, but right now Madame Monsieur are sitting quite comfortably on 2nd.
My top9 after having listened again the songs.
1) Nassi – 12 : (The best song of the SF)
2) Max – 10 (Charming feel good song)
3) Igit – 8 (Theatrical, not bad at all)
4) Sweem – 6 (Beautiful but too repetitive)
5) Madame – 4 (Overrated)
6) June – 2 (Now I can see why it failed)
7) Jane (Cute but too generic)
8) Sarah (Nothing special)
9) Lucie (Her voice was off so it bombed)
My top8 of the Final.
1) Nassi – 12
2) Max – 10
3) Igit – 8
4) Madame – 6
5) Malo – 4
6) Emmy – 2
7) Lisandro
8) Louka
As a French person I am happy (like a lot french) about June the Girl nonqualification. She was horrible live without forgetting the lipsync that she did.
Max and Igit surprised me.
– Madame Monsieur: I really love “Mercy”. The song had a very strong text , “I was born today and my name is Mercy I was stretched out and I’m alive I ‘m all those children that the sea has taken ” and at the end of the song, that moment when Mercy becomes “Merci”: Thank you! It was powerful! The melody is good too. And Madme Monsieur is in the same style than The Do, french group who had success in europe; good sign for me. Igit: He can create surprise and I prefer a thousand times his waltz… Read more »
I haven’t really followed the bubble this year, but June The Girl, firm fan favorite? I know it’s wiwi we’re talking about here, but seriously…
My girl June just pulled a Margaret Krajowe 2016. That’s ok. I think Lisandro is the best one to send to ESC. He has enough stage presence and vocals to carry the song with a simple staging. France should follow that formula that they had with Amir and Alma.
Now that June is out, sadly.
It looks like a three person race between Lisandro, Emmy and Nassi
I am rooting for Emmy to the final!
I’m hoping the audience will vote for Nassi but unfortunately, i dont think they will. It’ll probably be between Madame Monsieur and Lisandro. But Nassi is quite famous so i’ll keep my hopes up…it’s Frances only chance.
Just listened to all of them. Still think June was the best. Madame Monsieur was good, too. Thought there was a big drop off to the other songs.
Am in shock that June did not qualify. How did she only get 8 pts? I don’t get annoyed when my favourites don’t get through but I at least try to understand why!
Pity that Sweem & June didn’t qualify to the Final though…
Sweem was ranked 4th in the francophone jurors alone, but June did poorly in both juries..
Sooo… even though I don’t really follow Destination Eurovision, I have my favourites. Sad that Same didn’t qualify but at least Nassi did! I really hope he’ll improve his vocals because Reve de Gamin is a real banger and as a song itself it’s a best of all of the 16! I can’t stop listening to it. I really rooting for Nassi now and also to Emmy and Louka (who also needs to improve his vocals ASAP!)
Why is everyone freaking out about Mercy? God, i hate it. I hope it will flop.
Please have mercy upon Mercy. Merci.
Madame Monsieur was one of my faves and totally deserved the final with their performance–potential winner!
Max was a bit of a surprise–French Sean Mendes?
Nassi was decent, but the song is very good.
IGIT was also a surprise–something unique and tres francais!
Cheering for MM or Emmy in the final!
MERCI MERCY! Madame Monsieur for the win.
So thankful for Italy for giving 12 points to Igit. I KNEW IT. My favorite ESC country always has a great taste.
Igit’s performance was captivating and kept me watching the whole time. The song is a lovely song too, even though I needed to read an English translation for it.`
Can’t wait to see who the public will vote for.
Who are your top 3 in the final, sir? 🙂
By the way, I’m looking forward to your review of the French finalists! 🙂
Igit and Madame Monsieur are my favourites and I hope one of them wins… Can imagine some good staging for Igit. Cant wait for next week.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkrEdwe_RP8&feature=youtu.be
My top 8 of Destination Eurovision 2018 Final. I would like ”Same” to be in the final but….
Simple. I’ts a cute song that works. And he’s very very likeable 🙂
Happy for Mercy and Ailleurs, but I cannot believe Rêve de Gamin qualified, it’s a trashy version of Tous Les Mêmes by Stromae. Looking forward to next week; if Emmy or Madame Monsieur win, it’s good news for France.
It has nothing to do with Tous les memes. There’s literally nothing trashy about it. And No, it’ll be bad news. France keeps sending boring, overrated songs like Madame Monsieur without a decent and entertaining staging/song. They’ll keep flopping.
I just listened to it again. Stromaes song is totally different lol the bullsh*t people will say so they can hate on someone. I do hope they’ll pick Mercy, it’ll be nice to see them at 11th place.
Watch your mouth! It’s my opinion, I’m welcome to it. You might feel passionately about that song, but insults undermine you.
My top 8 of the final: 1. Malo 2.Lisandro 3.Igit 4.Nassi 5.Emmy/Madame Monsieur 7.Max 8. Louka, I’m reaaaaally rooting for Malo, but Lisandro is probably gonna make it. He would be a very good choice though ^^
Merci is good but Ciao takes me to the other world.
I agree mercy is good but slightly overrated by eurofans, a little bit reminds of blackbird last year
Very happy for Madame Monsieur, it was the song I was looking forward to in this semi and it delivered. That being said, my two favorites for the overall win are the above mentioned and Emmy Liyana as they are the two that I connected to right away and I think either one of them would be a great pick for France to continue its forward momentum (I do have this feeling that Max and Lisandro are going to split the teen/tween demographic in the televote)
Emmy or Lissandro HAVE TO WIN. Otherwise, France will return to the right scoreboard again.
Amir was mad to give Mercy 2 points. The jurors in general were mad for not sending Sweem through and Lucie did not deserve nul points AT ALL
I enjoyed this semi. I know some others thought it was a step down from SF1, but I very much enjoyed SF2 for the diverse quality of the music. France has some really big stars, and it was good to see some of them showcased tonight. I felt sorry for Lucie getting nil points; she didn’t deserve that harsh outcome. All the acts had different strengths and weaknesses. My heart went to “Mercy” by Madame Monsieur – what a clever and beautiful song. This is my favourite of the whole French selection. My other qualifiers were Nassi, Max Cinnamon and… Read more »
same was just okay and i’m happy she didn’t qualify anyway all my family who only watch the esc final didn’t like june the girl
but MERCY is a winner omg france can win with it !!!!!!
Same should have qualified instead of Ailleurs. What a shame 🙁