Joyeux Noël! Just like in 2018, France will continue their search for a Eurovision contender through the beloved Destination Eurovision. Today broadcaster France 2 gave us their Christmas present by revealing the format and dates for the show. Three of our bloggers have literally just booked their trips to Paris!
After getting great feedback — not only from French TV viewers, but also from international fans — France 2 decided to continue with Destination Eurovision. Through their official Twitter account the French broadcaster revealed the dates.
? #DestinationEurovision revient à partir du samedi 12/01 à 21h en direct sur France 2 !
? 1ère et 2ème demi-finale : 9 chansons, votes des téléspectateurs (50%) et du jury international (50%).
? Finale : 8 chansons finalistes., une seule l'emportera ! pic.twitter.com/jLH4ksZ7Oh— Eurovision France ?? (@EurovisionF2) December 24, 2018
The first semi final of the national selection will take place on 12 January when the first nine acts will compete for four spots in the final. The same procedure will take place for the second semifinal. Even if the broadcaster didn’t reveal any further dates, fans and media are expecting to see the show on consecutive Saturdays. That means we will have the French winner on 26 January, when 8 acts will fight to become the next French star at Eurovision.
Although there will be 18 acts overall again, you should prepare yourself for some drastic changes. A three-member jury will be back at Destination Eurovision, but they will only judge and not vote at all. Televoters and an international jury have the full power this time.
But that’s not all: All three shows will be live. No cutting, no editing, we’ll see the event in its full pureness. That’s a change from the 2018 edition where the semi-finals — which were decided by jury vote alone — were pre-recorded. Meaning that audience members learned who the four qualifiers were from each semi before the shows were broadcast. While audience members were asked to keep quiet, the news did get out and it was not difficult to learn who the qualifiers were.
Making the semi-finals live means the results will be a surprise to all and it also opens the potential for involving a televote and an international jury vote.
After all of France fell in love with Madame Monsieur in 2018, they quickly emerged as fan favourites. The jury at Eurovision respected their entry Mercy but the televoters didn’t feel it as much as fans hoped for. To improve their success and see what Europe thinks BEFORE Eurovision, France 2 decided to add an international jury vote this time.
Snippets of the participating songs have already been released. Within only a few hours singer Bilal received a lot of views on YouTube and has emerged as one of the big favourites next to Naestro – who has already worked with superstar Maître GIMS and young starlet Florina. You can still vote for your favourite in our current poll here.
Who is your favourite and who do you want to see at Eurovision 2019 representing the French colours? What do you think about the French national selection format? Let us know in the comments below.
I will put my money on Bilal or Lautner but neither of this is winning material
Breaking news. Maybe Conchita will go as Tom to Israël for France. OMG they better can cancel the show than. We have a winner than. But keep it secret. =D And better than that stupid refugee song.
I wanted Kendji to represent France! ):
Yellow vest costuming France 2019? 😛
Will you do an article on how a lot of the OT2018 (Spain) contestants are not interested on doing Eurovision?
Three of the contestants (Alba, Natalia and María) have even criticised the fact that the 2019 edition is going to be held in Israel when being interviewed.
On OT Spain: I suppose practically it will depend what is in their contracts. If the show does not oblige the winner to perform for Eurovision, then literally any of them can be sent – it doesn’t have to be the winner.
On Eurovision 2019: I’m guessing that Visas will be in play for Israel, and those can be problematic for some. (If you’re already a known activist it’s doubtful you’ll be let in the country anyhow. No doubt some musicians won’t even try, hence the comments in Spain.)
That is so stupid seriously. I am all against Israel’s actions towards its neighbours, too. But they won Eurovision so they DO deserve to host the contest just like any other country. I don’t know how would that be fair if they weren’t allowed to host a song contest they won just because of country’s political situation. People are watching Eurovision for its music and entertainment, no one cares about who is the host country. So if Maria, Alba or any other singers doesn’t want to represent their country in Eurovision just because of its host country, then that just… Read more »
Against Israel defending itself from its neighbours who want to wipe the country off the map? Jesus christ, what is it about people that they think Israel is the only country in the world that is in the wrong for defending itself in wars *facepalm*
I hope the shows will be broadcast here in Canada like this year’s were – TV5 Quebec aired them on the same day as in France but on a time delay
Omg they aired DE in Quebec? I wish I had known about it last year, I would have watched on tv! I hope they do that again this year then!
All cable systems in Canada should have TV5 Quebec, I have it here where I live (southern Ontario). This year’s DE was the first time a Eurovision national final was aired here
BATTISTA OR LAUTNER (both songs are out in full) are amazing contenders too <3
bilal and naestro? wtf two of the worst songs from amazing selection
Bilal has like over 600,000 subscribers on YouTube so that’s the main reason for the views.