Last week, French media reported that broadcaster France 2 had scrapped its national final Destination Eurovision and would instead internally select its act for Eurovision 2020. But it has turned out to not quite be that clear cut.

French newspaper 20 Minutes reports that confusion arose around the term “internal selection”. While this has a clear meaning in the Eurovision bubble — when a broadcaster selects the act without using some sort of public vote — that’s not exactly what the broadcaster meant.

The newspaper reports that France 2 has not yet decided how it will select the French act for Rotterdam. The broadcaster is said to be considering several different avenues for choosing Billal Hassani’s successor.

How will France select their act for Eurovision 2020?

One possible method would be a cut-down national final, with three or four shortlisted songs. The public would be able to vote for their favourite during a prime time grand final show. This is similar to the format used in 2014, when Twin Twin and two other candidates faced the public vote.

Another possibility, though, is a classic internal selection. France last used this format from 2015 to 2017. That era included Amir being selected with his song “J’ai cherché”, which gave France a sixth-place finish in the Stockholm grand final.

And because the broadcaster says they haven’t decided on a format yet, this suggests it is possible that Destination Eurovision could theoretically return for a third year. However, given that the 2019 acts were revealed in early December 2018, it seems too late for France 2 to organise a national final on the same scale.

The broadcaster has, however, already put out a call for songs. The big change for 2020 is that France will accept entries from foreign songwriters as well as French creatives. 20 Minutes notes that only one previous French Eurovision entry has been co-written by a foreign songwriter. In 2004, Jonathan Cerrada’s song “À chaque pas” was co-written by the Welsh songwriter Steve Balsamo.

Destination Eurovision ran for two years, from 2018 to 2019. The first year was won by duo Madame Monsieur whose ballad “Mercy” placed 13th in Lisbon. The following year, Bilal Hassani won with his empowerment anthem “Roi”. It placed 16th in Tel Aviv.

What do you think? How should France choose its act for Eurovision 2020? Would a small national final work? Tell us your thoughts below!

Read more France Eurovision news here

16 Comments
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Poulet
Poulet
4 years ago

Ca me fait bien rigoler de lire les suggestions des gens sur ce site: Angèle, Aya, Vianney, … Ils finiraient tous derniers! Et oui, les plus gros noms actuels de notre chanson française sont incapables de chanter juste et d’assurer quoi que ce soit de plus ou moins correct en live. L’état de notre chanson française est catastrophique, et après on se demande pourquoi on gagne jamais.

Missing 411
Missing 411
4 years ago
Reply to  Poulet

mon kiki

Joe
Joe
4 years ago

Speaking of national finals: because of the tragic earthquake in Albania, it’s starting to look like FiK may be (understandably) moved to January. FiKMas may not be a thing this year.

BadWoolfGirl
BadWoolfGirl
4 years ago
Reply to  Joe

I was just about to post about the possible reschedule of the Albanian national finals because I found out about it through the euroviox site. I was confused why they would shift it until it was revealed that It was due to the recent earthquake in Albania. I Actually first heard about the earthquake when I was researching earthquakes of 2019. I wouldn’t blame them for shifting it in order to deal with the aftermath of the quake. Hope that it isn’t severe enough that that it would compromise Albania’s ability to participate.

Gigii
Gigii
4 years ago
Reply to  BadWoolfGirl

More then 50 people died in the earthquake and more then 600 injured… how come they didnt report that in your country

BadWoolfGirl
BadWoolfGirl
4 years ago
Reply to  Gigii

I am ashamed to admit that I found out about the earthquake in Albania from Wikipedia.

Lise Mortier
Lise Mortier
4 years ago

France Télévisions announced that they don’t want the same difference in votes between jury and andience. Sounds like they hoped they had sent Seemone last year. They said they will shortlist to 3 or 4 songs only this year and let the public decide based on those.

Alybloggs
Alybloggs
4 years ago

Well if they don’t want to have a national final, I can understand that. They may not be rich (who knows) but they may shine bright for their selection process for next year.

Motzkie
Motzkie
4 years ago

2014 was not a primetime show. It was on Sunday afternoon.

Sabrina
Sabrina
4 years ago

Well, it would be better than nothing. Downsizing wouldn’t be a bad choice for DE. But it’s not encouraging that France went from one of the countries who were more carefully planning their Eurovision efforts to a country that still is trying to figure out what to do when most broadcasters already announced their plans.

tvescfan
tvescfan
4 years ago

A chaque pas was the French entry in 2004 (and not in 2001, it was Je n’ai que mon âme that year). 😉

Lise Mortier
Lise Mortier
4 years ago

Crossing fingers that Destination Eurovision comes back with the same format as 2017 and 2018. But with all social media and YouTube of the channel being erased, there’s not much hope!

Joe
Joe
4 years ago

How is it too late to announce the acts? You say they announced in early December for last year and it’s only the second.

BadWoolfGirl
BadWoolfGirl
4 years ago
Reply to  Joe

Does this mean France is planning to internally select the artist, and then have a televised selection to choose the song, just like Finland last year? There’s a lot we don’t know.

Nicky91
Nicky91
4 years ago
Reply to  BadWoolfGirl

maybe this, that they disliked public choosing Bilal (i mean i can agree if that is the case) so a according to them more quality artist, but letting public then choose the song

FanESC
FanESC
4 years ago
Reply to  Joe

Actually, they didn’t open submissions last week, they never did, they directly asked for songs to record companies but never said like “you can send your songs to France 2”. Steven Clerima, our head of delegation, said in september that he was surprised that they received songs from lots of 15 years old artists that are too old for JESC but too young for adult ESC.