Tonight the first semi-final of France’s Destination Eurovision will take place.
There the nine competing acts will perform their entries and face the vote from both an international jury and the public televote.
As Tweeted by the official Eurovision France account, you can watch the show live via the following links.
Vivez #DestinationEurovision partout dans le monde ! Regardez les deux demi-finales et la finale en direct sur / Watch #DestinationEurovision live worldwide on:
➡️ France 2
➡️ https://t.co/hbLxAm5gkm
➡️ Facebook Live sur la page Eurovision France
➡️ TV5 Monde ! pic.twitter.com/nTuk1NjHQp— Eurovision France 🇫🇷 (@EurovisionF2) January 12, 2019
Ahead of the show, what do you think? Earlier we asked wiwibloggs readers who they wanted to qualify from the first semi.
While nine acts will perform tonight, only four can qualify for the grand final. The poll results were clear. Your favourite act is The Voice Kids alum and popular YouTuber Bilal Hassani, with his self-empowerment anthem “Roi”. Y’all declared Bilal to be your king, with 33.7% of the vote.
In second place, y’all were loving upcoming singer Florina and her song “In the Shadow”. The song features French versus and a big English chorus. “In the Shadow” had 19.77% of the vote.
And in third place was Aysat. She has the edgy track “Comme une grande” which earned 10.24% of the vote. Following closely in fourth place was Chimène Badi with “Là-haut”, on 9.69% of the vote.
So based on the poll results, these four acts are the ones you’d like to see qualify for the French grand final in two weeks time. At the other end, y’all weren’t feeling the love for Silvàn Areg and Mazy, who only managed to get 2.39% and 2.16% of the vote, respectively.
But anything can change at the live semi-final tonight. It’s the first time we’ll hear all the songs performed live — and in some cases, the first time we’ll hear the full version of the song. As last year’s semi-final showed, a song that slays in the studio version can fall flat on stage — and vice versa.
Who should qualify from the first semi-final of Destination Eurovision?
- Bilal Hassani – “Roi” 33.7% (2,814 votes)
- Florina – “In the Shadow” 19.77% (1,651 votes)
- Aysat – “Comme une grande” 10.24% (855 votes)
- Chimène Badi – “Là-haut” 9.69% (809 votes)
- Battista Acquaviva – “Passio” 8.09% (676 votes)
- Naestro – “Le brasier” 7.27% (607 votes)
- Lautner – “J’ai pas le temps” 6.69% (559 votes)
- Silvàn Areg – “Le petit Nicholas” 2.39% (200 votes)
- Mazy – “Oulala” 2.16% (180 votes)
What do you think? Will Bilal Hassani, Florina, Aysat and Chimène Badi quality for the grand final? Who would you like to see represent France in Tel Aviv? Share your thoughts below!
I see a superstar in Bilal
I just know France will pick Bilal, he won the semi-final by a landslide and there’s no over act that’s going to beat him because of his fanbase. IMO, Seemone is the only good song still in the running.
I hope France don’t make a huge mistake and pick Bilal, otherwise France will be disappointed come May 18th
This really felt like a slog. If this is the best France has to offer this year, I fear it’s not going to end well. I hope next weeks is better. It was nice enough, but nothing that excited me in particular.
The results are in:
1. Bilal Hassani
2. Chimène Badi
3. Silvàn Areg
4. Aysat
5. Lautner
6. Mazy
7. Battista Acquaviva
8. Florina
9. Naestro
Congrats to Bilal, Chimène, Silvàn and Aysat on making the final.
Compared to this poll:
Naestro -3
Florina -6
Chimène Badi +2
Battista Acquaviva -2
Silvàn Areg +5
Bilal Hassani =
Aysat -1
Lautner +2
Mazy +3
Compared to my prediction:
Naestro -5
Florina -1
Chimène Badi +2
Battista Acquaviva +1
Silvàn Areg +6
Bilal Hassani =
Aysat -2
Lautner =
Mazy =
I would choose (in order of perf.): Florina (great song, but some voice working pls), Silvan (great show, but some song working pls), Chimene (great voice and visuals, but some song working pls) and Bilal (great song, dancing and attitude, but some voice working pls).
Yay, 3 out of 4 😀 Happy for Chimene and Bilal <3
Sorry for Florina, but it was too weak overall 🙁
It will be hard to pick 4, because there are solid acts that don’t have much room to improve and other that were shaky but still have potential to explore. My sure qualifiers would be Chimène (best vocals of the night and very effective staging), Silvàn (the most creative staging and a very entertaining performance) and Bilal (solid performance with much room to improvement).
BIBLEttista deserves a second chance.
That was a hot mess…no longer my #1
The song is still my fave by far, idk why she did herself wrong. I feel like she had problems keeping the mic at a constant distance from her mouth.
At the same time I wish she had a second chance, i can’t blame the juries and the televoters if they don’t allow it. It was my original favorite, but it was awkward tonight.
Most comments on Twitter are about Bilal, but mostly from his fans. My guess is that he’s gonna win this whole thing, even tho I still think his song and performance were boring.
My personal 4 qualifiers (in order):
Bilal Hassani, Chimène Badi, Silvàn Areg, Naestro.
Who France will choose: I haven’t the faintest idea. 🙂
Yey! Three out of my four picks qualified! 🙂
Mazy: This was okay, but I was expecting the choreography to be a bit more sexy. Just me? As a side note, it is interesting that the experts were debating the meaning of the “oulala” in French and of the lyrics. It is true that some British people tend to stereotype French things with “oulala”, so the song can be misinterpreted. All very interesting, but I think this one might be forgotten quickly,
My top 9 of tonight:
1. Bilal (amazing voice… winner alert)
2. Florina (it wasn’t as bad as some think)
3. Chimene
4. Naestro
5. Lautner
6. Aysat
7. Mazy
8. Silvan
9. Battista (very weird live)
It was very hard to rank the entries, some overwhelmed my expectations and some underwhelmed. The sound was off the whole evening and the artists couldn’t do their best.
GOOD LUCK TO EVERYONE!??
Can I have Battista’s dancers somewhere permanently? The song is thank u, next but the dancers are thank u, more!
Lautner: Yet more sound issues. Not their fault. They really lightened up during their performance; that was nice to see. 🙂 The song is one of my favourites; it has this clever Chorus that matches the meaning of the lyrics. The staging was a bit predictable, but it was well choreographed.
They’re cute and nice, but their entry is too lightweight for my taste. An improved version of Joe and Jake.
Silvan and Battista should qualify. Others were all good too, so IDK…
So far:
1. Bilal (amazing voice… winner alert)
2. Florina (it wasn’t as bad as some think)
3. Chimene
4. Naestro
5. Lautner
6. Aysat
7. Silvan
8. Battista (very weird live)
srsly? I thought his performance was boring, and the vocals aren’t “that” great…
There’s something authentic about Bilal’s performance, yet his voice is easily the weakest of the entire evening.
Lautner guys were really good too. Quite chill song. The performance was nice and authentic.
The vocals tonight are pretty ropey all round – whoever qualifies they all need to sort it out by the final.
Aysat – (Another artist I’m a personal fan of. ) Tonight there were some technical sound issues, but apart from that I really liked the performance. This is going to be a very tough decision for the voters/juries tonight.
Very entertaining to watch! Musically, it’s not my thing, though I respect it.
Omg did the Destination Eurovision YouTube account just geoblock all the videos???
yes, apparently
The only three available videos rn are all the Bilal ones… whew they ain’t slick
Yes, they blocked almost all snippets as private, but uploaded Bilal’s live performance. I hope they upload every live performance now, otherwise this is no good impression. Poor Bilal. But they also blocked all videos of last season after a while, so I am not impressed by France at this point at all.
Ah, now we have all live performances in the “video” tab 🙂
Comme une grande – I liked it a lot. She has the right moves and the song is quite energetic.
Roi – The first notes sounded a bit off key, I think, he was very nervous cause of the hype. But then he rised! The staging was great. Maybe the dancers should wear gold instead of white, but the choreo and the smoke worked very well 🙂
Bilal Hassani: Because I’m a fan, it is difficult for me to say anything other than good things. There was a timing issue at the beginning, dealt with expertly of course. 🙂 The performance wasn’t perfect, but it’s only small things to improve. This could easily win the French selection. Best of luck Bilal
Roi – Don’t hate me, but I kind of see something a bit pretentious here, but then again, it feels authentic and fluid. I see why it has fans. He was quite good on stage. Likely qualifier.
Likely qualifier? She’s a famous youtuber, she’ll win the televote and jury vote too bc of political correctness.
She?? I think Bilal is a he, even though of his androgynous style. It is not a drag figure like Conchita is for Tom Neuwirth. Bilal is Bilal 🙂
I dunno the preferred pronoun sorry. But saying ‘they’ kinda dehumanizes him/her.
“Bilal” means………. “something else” in Brazilian Portuguese hahahaha
a slang for d*
Do you think the image is genuine to the artist, or fake marketing? (This question is open to everyone. I’m genuinely curious.)
It’s both. I feel like Bilal has no problem at all dressing up like that, but I also feel like it’s clearly done for attention.
I assume he is genuine in his unique style. There is something “oh, look at me, I’m perfect” in the song. It’s still a good entry. Maybe I am looking too deep into it…
I think it’s genuine. It’s a way of expression. And sometimes, people express themselves to be noticed by who they are or how they want to be seen.
I’m under the same impression. It’s weird how it felt at the same time pretentious and authentic to me. Bilal did a good job, he interacts very well with the camera and his voice was almost always on the right place. Many will deeply love it, many will deeply hate it, I won’t side with any of them. I think it’s a good entry, but not my favorite.
So far:
1. Bilal (amazing voice… winner alert)
2. Florina (it wasn’t as bad as some think)
3. Chimene
4. Naestro
5. Silvan
6. Battista (very weird live)
I feel like she’s overhyped because of the entire drag image, but the song is a bit whack. Battista Acquaviva has the best song.
Silvan didn’t convince me musically, but at least the performance was entertainment and a creative and funny idea 😀 The biggest goal for me as a fan is to have fun with Eurovision and this was fun 🙂
Silvàn Areg – A perfect performance. I am impressed. The staging worked very well. This might score better than the fans had expected.
The big surprise of the night so far. I can’t say I’m very fond of the song, but it worked quite well. The staging is super creative and the performance as a whole was energetic and entertaining, they just need to get some camera cuts right. This can really become a crowdpleaser.
Little Nicolas (for the first time whole) – actually, mesmerizing. Very original staging, ability to engage viewers and even super catchy. 🙂 Dark horse, mark my words!
WOW!!! Silvan surprised me. That was just amazing!!! 😮
1. Silvan
2. Naestro
3. Chimene
4. Battista
5. Florina
So far:
1. Florina (it wasn’t as bad as some think)
2. Chimene
3. Naestro
4. Silvan
5. Battista (very weird live)
So far:
1. Florina (it wasn’t as bad as some think)
2. Chimene
3. Naestro
4. Battista (very weird live)
Battista Acquaviva: Did I dream this staging? Definitely. 🙂 But musically, I’m not convinced that this is the winner. Also, her voice is not to my taste, but I understand why some people like it.
I must say I had the same dream. 😀
Passio – perfection! 🙂 Thankfully, no loading issues here. France, make her qualify!
Maybe my expectations were too high for this one, but it hasn’t worked for me. I think Battista hasn’t projected her voice enough. It still stands out though.
Battista literally butchered the song wtf. It was my favorite. o.o
1. Naestro
2. Chimene
3. Battista
4. Florina
Couldn’t hear L’Haut properly due to too many loading. Hope this won’t be the pattern of the rest of the evening.
Chimene Badi – She is MUCH better than the song she is singing. Vocally it was perfect but still the song is just too weak and it wouldn’t stand out in Eurovision for sure.
1. Naestro
2. Chimene
3. Florina
Ohlala, I am positively surprised by Chimene. The performance in the cubic was very good! 🙂
Chimène Badi: Very powerful live voice – wow for that. The “glowing box” staging was very effective too. The only thing I didn’t like was the way the song recycles so much music and doesn’t develop enough.
The best vocals so far and the first time tonight that the producers nailed the staging. But I feel the same about the song.
I like the cube but think after the first chorus it restricted her. Maybe having it lift away would physically free her up to add the energy to give the end the crescendo it needs.
By the way, it’s strange that we had 4 acts already and not a single one of them was “allowed” to use the stage.
Naestro was very good. Florina will stay in that shadow I am afraid.
Not the most stellar performance of In the Shadow in the chorus, but the song is very good indeed.
In the shadows – one flat note after another. Eek!
Sadly, I agree. Owh dear. That’s a pity, because I liked the song. 🙁
I was disappointed too (though she did a good job with the cover she sang before). Everything sounded better on the studio version.
I am tad disappointed too. This is a top 10 song, but the chorus had some disputable notes indeed. Pity, because Florina has charisma. Juries ain’t putting it high and televoting is also under question now (+ deathspot 2). Anyway, I wouldn’t mind if it qualified for the sake of song itself.
Naestro is a very interesting artist. With all that Opera power, it’s a risk to not fully utilise it in his Eurovision song. And yet, his performance was good, and the song was authentic. Bravo.
I like him and I agree that it was an authentic and pleasant performance, but the song lacks some sort of punch.
Was that a pun about his boxing skills? 😀
Punch indeed. 😛
Not exactly. 😛 But as you mentioned, he has a power in his voice that the song hasn’t even tried to explore. Nothing wrong with that when you’re recording a single (I would definitely like it in a playlist), but it can be a problem when we’re talking about a contest entry.
What a voice indeed! The song is also very good and very dramatic. I’d make a performance a bit less static, considering the drama, but this is better than if he went overboard. Would be a proud representative. 🙂
First impression of the semi-final: WHY ARE THEY COVERING SONGS AGAIN. No wonder it takes 3 hours to discover who qualifies.
Silvan Areg’s chanson is the one I’d like to see winning
I am with you and Sabrina – Silvan and Battista FTW! I only hope they don’t fail in live.
We’re 40 minutes away from the semifinal and the only thing I know for sure is that I want Battista to qualify, because her song stands out. As Robyn mentioned “As last year’s semi-final showed, a song that slays in the studio version can fall flat on stage — and vice versa”. I have the feeling we’ll have both positive and negative surprises tonight.
Don’t get me wrong, I like Roi and In the shadow, but I do not see winning material. Over the two I prefer Roi, however, I kinda find it a bad replica of Rise Like a Phoenix. But again Roi’s androgyny vibe is not something we see every time at Eurovision. In my opinion, overall the quality of France this year is far better than other countries like Latvia or Czech Republic. We will see though, best of luck France!
France is… Cancelled.
Well, the YouTube stream was cancelled. For real
Was the Youtube stream official? I recall that last year they only broadcasted in Facebook. Youtube would be way better though. France 2’s streaming player seems stable, but I guess the content will be geoblocked and people would need a VPN to watch it.
I managed to get a good 20 minutes out of the French stream before it was “discontinued”. I’m not on Facebook and the links there aren’t obvious as to how the transmission is going to work.
I have managed to stay ahead so far by finding another YouTube source, but i’m expecting that to go down soon as well. All very frustrating and typical of National Finals season 🙁
It started on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EurovisionFrance/videos/236853310534431/
Thanks Sabrina. 🙂
You’re welcome. 🙂 Don’t want to jinx it, but the streaming seems to be more stable than last year.
Gloria ando Lautner are my options from this semifinal… I really don’t understand the hype surrounding Bilal, I don’t find anything special in Roi, is not a bad song, but it’s not that good neither
But La-Haut’s staging tho…
So…. First of all I’m annoyed that all the best songs are performing tonight. I also must say that sorry but Sylvàn and Battista, get out. Sylvàn’s song is very nice and French but in this blood bath it’s really not what we need and Battista who really sells that drama but the song has always been predictable for me and I lose interest after the first verse. And Mazy…..zzzzzzzzz. Bilal however is serving androgyny and is a definite qualifier for me. My other definite qualifier is Aysat who looks really cool and the staging is polished. Florina’s vocals won’t… Read more »