Alma Destination Eurovision 2018 France

She flew the French flag with pride in 2017. And tomorrow night, Alma will be on set at Destination Eurovision 2018 to pass the baton over to her successor.

The “Requiem” songstress replaces her Eurovision predecessor Amir on the in-house jury. And she won’t be the only big name to drop by the studio on Saturday.

Destination Eurovision 2018: Our top three

Destination Eurovision 2018

Alma will take up her seat on the judging panel alongside series regulars Isabelle Boulay and Christophe Willem. And while Amir may have upset certain fans when his semi-final one points sent Louka to the final ahead of Noée, his absence is completely unrelated to his judging decisions.

Taking to Twitter, the “J’ai cherché” hitmaker explained that he had prior work commitments. He’s a busy man y’all!

However, unlike in weeks one and two, the Francophone panel will only provide guidance and critique. Their voting powers (50%) are being taken over by the public watching at home.

The international jury will continue to hold the remaining 50% of points. Their numbers will rise from three to ten, with delegation representatives from Bulgaria, Armenia, Switzerland, Russia, Israel, Finland and Iceland joining Sweden, Belarus and Italy.

Destination Eurovision 2018: Reviews and Reactions

Destination Eurovision 2018 duets

As with the semi-finals, the grand final is set to run for two and a half hours. In the semis, the contestants filled out the time with covers of well known hits. And they’ll do so once more in the final, albeit with a glamorous twist.

Similar to The X Factor, each of the eight contestants will duet with an established pop act. And producers have managed to draft in some impressive guests. Standout names include rapper Maître Gims, Eurovision 1993’s Patrick Fiori and singer Nolwenn Leroy.

  • Nassi and Gipsy Kings
  • Louka and Maître Gims
  • Madame Monsieur and Dadju
  • Max Cinnamon and Patrick Fiori
  • Emmy Liyana and Slimane
  • Lisandro Cuxi and Nolwenn Leroy
  • Igit and Alain Souchon
  • Malo’ and Cats on Tree

One of the stars, Slimane, already has his eyes on 2019. Speaking to 20 Minutes, the man credited with discovering Emmy confirmed that he would love to write a future Eurovision hit.

Alma Interview at Eurovision 2017

Are you excited for the Destination Eurovision final? Who is your favourite to win? And are you happy to see Alma return? Let us know in the comments below.

Follow all of our France Eurovision 2018 news.

Photo: Andres Putting (EBU)

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Jonas
Jonas
5 years ago

I hope Patrick Fiori sings Mama Corsica.

E.h uk 2018
E.h uk 2018
5 years ago

I think the best three songs for France to get the best results is Emmy, Madame Monsieur, or Lisandro, any one of these artists will give France a top 10 definitely. But my favourites from listening only once is Madame Monsieur and Lisandro.
And I think France is a big threat this year and I’m kind of worried for how good these songs are.
Good luck France From the Uk

AngieP
AngieP
5 years ago

Love to see Alma again! She’s great! I hope she sings “Requiem” tonight!

I like the idea of having duets with established artists. They do the same thing on “The voice” close to the final. You see another aspect of their music personality. It’s brilliant they got for ex. Gipsy kings and Patrick Fiori to sing in the final!

Obviously Louka will sing with Maître Gims and Emmy Liyana with Slimane. Looking forward to these two. And YES about Slimane in Eurovision! Totally with him!

Let’s enjoy the night and may the best one win!

Shona
Shona
5 years ago

Is there any live stream link?? And at what time this begins??

Juka
Juka
5 years ago

Rooting for Nassi and Malo. But i know the french racists wouldn’t send an “arab” even if he was amazing or the Israeli guy, nope. I read a few comments and i know how things work in french society. Ironically, they’ll choose the humanist song supporting immigrants,etc. Emmy is one of the best, cant wait to see her.

Juka
Juka
5 years ago
Reply to  Juka

French racists, xenophobes will have their way, as usual. Igit is quite classy and has a decent song, i hope he stands a chance.

Juka
Juka
5 years ago
Reply to  Juka

French racists, xenophobes will have their way, as usual. Igit is quite classy and has a decent song, i hope he stands a chance.

Mercy France for wanting to be last
Mercy France for wanting to be last
5 years ago
Reply to  Juka

If French were xenophobes, they wouldn’t want Mercy. They want the song Mercy, especially because they are not xenophobes, but somebody has to be last. Rank 26 needs to belong to somebody. Go France, save the Europe countries from being last. Send Mercy to take the glory of rank 26.

Jonas
Jonas
5 years ago

Amir is French-Israeli and France seem to have taken him to their hearts, so…perhaps there aren’t as many xenophobes as you think. Enough with tarring everyone with the same brush.

Juka
Juka
5 years ago

Why wouldnt they want Mercy? she’s a white girl. Why do you think everyone is so against Lisandro? smh

SEND mercy and be 20 at max. Amir does not have arab origin lmao israelis dont have bad reputation in france.

Jonas
Jonas
5 years ago
Reply to  Juka

It was you who mentioned Israelis to begin with, so you seem to be backtracking now. A mistake to engage with you. Bye!

Nora
Nora
5 years ago

It’s so cringy to see Lisandro touch his face when he sings the word “face”

Mark
Mark
5 years ago

At least it’s not Sanremo long

Nickc
Nickc
5 years ago

Get rid of the covers!!!!

Kris
Kris
5 years ago

The draw is out and the 4 favourites have been put one after the other:

3rd: Emmy Liyana
4th: Madame Monsieur
5th: Nassi
6th: Lisandro Cuxi

This might cancel their impact a bit except for probably Lisandro!As soon as the draw came out the odds of Lisandro winning increased and that of Madame Monsieur have dropped!Lisandro is now the predicted winner by bookmakers

RTW
RTW
5 years ago
Reply to  Kris

Where are you seeing this stuff?

Kris
Kris
5 years ago
Reply to  RTW

The odds are available on betfair exchange
The running order has been reported on by many sister websites

Mark
Mark
5 years ago
Reply to  Kris

Nassi is not a favourite to win.

Kris
Kris
5 years ago
Reply to  Mark

The song is a favourite amongst the voters….. he was leading most YouTube tops.

Colin
Colin
5 years ago
Reply to  Kris

Just judging by the running order, Malo’s chances are increased, as he closes the evening.

Judging by the previous jury results, it’s between Lisandro Cuxi and Madame Monsieur.

But now we have televote and that also raises the question on who is the biggest star in France?

Kris
Kris
5 years ago
Reply to  Colin

Yes the odds for both of them fell though but emmy had a bigger fall than Malo and he is now 3rd and emmy is Down to 4th.

Stephanie
5 years ago

I’m not absolutely certain the celebrity duets will have an impact on the voting, since people will mostly be tuning in to hear how well the Eurovision songs are performed compared to the semis. That being said, I still hope Madame Monsieur win the whole thing

pp
pp
5 years ago

We have 3 Nordic juries in voting, but we don’t have from ex Yugoslavia countries(Serbia,Croatia,Slovenia,Macedonia,Montengro), no one from Central Europe ( Austria, Hungary,Czec Republic)…

Mark
Mark
5 years ago
Reply to  pp

So?

EscAU
EscAU
5 years ago

It’s funny they have an international jury of 10 countries but they couldn’t choose one to be english speaking (uk, ireland, malta, australia), when they have songs with english lyrics, yet they have both russia and belarus

Nora
Nora
5 years ago
Reply to  EscAU

Jealous much?

Mark
Mark
5 years ago
Reply to  EscAU

Depends on who they could get.

Juka
Juka
5 years ago
Reply to  EscAU

Because UK and ireland are one of the few countries with worst results for the past few years…

Purple Mask
Purple Mask
5 years ago

You all (y’all?) gotta remember that this is for television, so the primary aim of the show is to get those viewing figures coming in. Hence the duets, and the long format. As for Amir’s busy schedule, I’m happy that he’s having a successful career, although I can just hear those producers moaning to managers over this. However, Alma is even more awesome in my opinion, so they shouldn’t really be complaining too loudly. 😀 Enjoy the show tomorrow. I have my own show earlier in the day, but I hope to be home by 7pm UK time to watch… Read more »

Purple Mask
Purple Mask
5 years ago
Reply to  Purple Mask

Oops. Correction: The show is TODAY now. It has passed midnight!

RTW
RTW
5 years ago

Why is Amir getting replaced but not Isabelle and Christophe? They already issued their opinion on the songs. I want to hear other musicians’ opinions. It’s not like they get to vote this time around anyway.

Amir fan
Amir fan
5 years ago

”And while Amir may have upset certain fans when his semi-final one points sent Louka to the final ahead of Noée, his absence is completely unrelated to his judging decisions.”

Really? What is the point of having jury if they are out because of their decisions? The ”he had prior work” is the eternal excuse. He probably received enough money to go and not make a drama like in Belarus or other countries.

Amie
Amie
5 years ago

Oh god no. Wheres is Amir going? I guess Nassi doesnt stand a chance anymore. F*ck it.

underground
underground
5 years ago
Reply to  Amie

french jurors doesn’t vote during the final

underground
underground
5 years ago

Gipsy king is the only one invited here that is international, it’s a very good thing for Nassi, 😉

Amie
Amie
5 years ago
Reply to  underground

really? can you elaborate please?

underground
underground
5 years ago
Reply to  Amie

It can have a good impact on the international jurors

underground
underground
5 years ago
Reply to  underground

and his place in the running orders is very good too.

Racal
Racal
5 years ago
Reply to  underground

The Gipsy Kings are from Montpellier, France.

esc shane
esc shane
5 years ago

Have a look at my spanish nf top 3? 🙂
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oaFJzoUA_I

Briekimchi
Briekimchi
5 years ago

Garou and Patrick Fiori in the same place at the same time…just need one more!

Janro
Janro
5 years ago

Having Maitre Gims on the show could generate a lot of votes for Louka… He is a massive name. He could yet steal this! :O

Alex
Alex
5 years ago
Reply to  Janro

even in a scenario in which he wins the televote (lol), there is no way the juries let this happen

Janro
Janro
5 years ago
Reply to  Alex

He got the final because of the jury… If he improves vocally he could still do well. I personally would prefer him to Madame Monsieur. I still think Lisandro will probably win though.

Mark
Mark
5 years ago
Reply to  Janro

Mamma Mia is a dog’s breakfast of a song

KESC
KESC
5 years ago

Merci or Ok ou Ko for the win, c’mon France.
And welcome Alma, our French beauty.

Alex
Alex
5 years ago

Before y’all start to complain about the duets, just remember that the show is not made for you but for french viewers (that are not used to national finals).
They need this for good ratings.

RTW
RTW
5 years ago

Alma <3