France in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019

Destination Eurovision 2019 was the national final organised by France 2 to select France's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2019. The competition consisted of two semi-finals on 12 and 19 January 2019 and a final on 26 January 2019, all produced at the Studio Visual – Bât 210 in Saint-Denis and broadcast on France 2. The shows were also broadcast on TV5Monde and TV5 Québec Canada on a time delay.[4][5] All three shows in the competition were hosted by French-Canadian singer Garou.[6]

The format of the competition consisted of three live shows: two semi-finals on 12 and 19 January 2019 and a final on 26 January 2019.[7] Nine entries competed in each semi-final, from which four were selected to advance to the final from each show. Results during the semi-finals were determined by the combination of public televoting (50%) and a five-member international jury panel (50%), while results in the final were determined by the combination of public televoting (50%) and a ten-member international jury panel (50%). The jury panel in all shows varied in composition, therefore twenty juries were involved in the voting. The public and the juries each had a total of 210 points in the semi-finals and 420 points in the final to award, with each jury member awarding 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12 points to their top six entries. The public vote was based on the percentage of votes each song achieved through telephone and SMS voting. For example, if a song gained 10% of the viewer vote in the final, then that entry would be awarded 10% of 420 points rounded to the nearest integer: 42 points.

Like in 2018, the competition featured a three-member Francophone jury panel, however they no longer have a say in the results of the contest and only provided feedback to the artists during each of the three shows.[6] The Francophone jury panel consisted of:

• Christophe Willem – Singer, commentator of the Eurovision Song Contest semi-finals in 2018
• André Manoukian – Jazz singer and former judge on Nouvelle Star, commentator of the Eurovision Song Contest semi-finals in 2018
• Vitaa – Singer, French female artist with the most radio airplay in 2018, Destination Eurovision 2018 participant as a songwriter

France 2 opened a submission period on 21 June 2018 in order for interested artists and songwriters to submit their proposals through an online submission form up until the deadline on 30 November 2018. Songs were required to contain at least 70% French language lyrics with a free language allowance for the remaining lyrics. In addition to the open submissions, France 2 also requested proposals from record companies.[3] At the closing of the deadline, the French broadcaster received over 1,500 submissions.[8] A selection committee reviewed the received submissions and selected eighteen entries to compete in the national final. The competing artists and songs were announced on 6 December 2018 during a press conference at the headquarters of France Télévisions.[9][10]

The first semi-final took place on 12 January 2019. Eight entries competed and four qualified to the final. In addition to performing their contest entry, each artist performed a cover version of a popular song.

Detailed International Jury Votes
Draw	Song	ARM	ISR	POR	SRB	GBR	Total
1	"Le brasier"		2	2	2	6	12
2	"In the Shadow"						0
3	"Là-haut"	2	6	6		8	22
4	"Passiò"					2	2
5	"Allez leur dire"	10	12	10	6		38
6	"Roi"	12	10	12	12	12	58
7	"Comme une grande"	8	8	8	10		34
8	"J'ai pas le temps"	4	4		8	10	26
9	"Oulala"	6		4	4	4	18

The second semi-final took place on 19 January 2019. Eight entries competed and four qualified to the final. In addition to performing their contest entry, each artist performed a cover version of a popular song.

Detailed International Jury Votes
Draw	Song	ARM	AUT	CZE	GEO	SWE	Total
1	"On cherche encore (Never Get Enough)"		10	4			14
2	"La voix d'Aretha"	2	8	6	6	4	26
3	"Ce qui me blesse"	8	4		8	10	30
4	"Por aqui"					2	2
5	"La promesse"	10	6		4	8	28
6	"Ma petite famille"			8			8
7	"Tous les deux"	12	12	12	12	12	60
8	"Sois un bon fils"	6		10	2	6	24
9	"Madame la paix"	4	2	2	10		18

The final took place on 26 January 2019. The four entries that qualified from the preceding two semi-finals competed and "Roi" performed by Bilal Hassani was selected as the winner. In addition to performing their contest entry, the artists performed "Rise Like a Phoenix" by Conchita Wurst as well as performing a cover version of a former Eurovision winning song. Garou performed with André Manoukian as the interval act of the show.

Detailed International Jury Votes
Draw	Song	ALB	BLR	CYP	GER	IRE	ISR	ITA	RUS	ESP	SWI	Total
1	"Là-haut"	6	10	4	10	2		4	12	2	6	56
2	"Allez leur dire"	4	2	8	8	12	10	2	6	12	12	76
3	"La voix d'Aretha"		6	2	2		12	6	10	4	2	44
4	"La promesse"	8	8	10	4	8		10	8	8		64
5	"Sois un bon fils"	2				4	4					10
6	"Tous les deux"	12	12	12	12	10	8	12		6	10	94
7	"Roi"	10	4	6	6	6	2		2	10	4	50
8	"Comme une grande"						6	8	4		8	26

Bilal Hassani made several appearances across Eurovision to specifically promote "Roi" as the French Eurovision entry. On 23 February, he performed "Roi" at the final of Vidbir 2019 in Ukraine.[11] He also participated in the Melfest WKND Pre-Party event at the Estelle venue in Stockholm, Sweden on 8 March 2019, and the Eurovision in Concert at the AFAS Live venue in Amsterdam, Netherlands on 6 April.[12][13] He also performed "Roi" at the London Eurovision Party in London, which was hosted by Nicki French and Paddy O'Connell.[14]

Voting during the three shows involved each country awarding two sets of points from 1–8, 10 and 12: one from their professional jury and the other from televoting. Each nation's jury consisted of five music industry professionals who are citizens of the country they represent, with their names published before the contest to ensure transparency. This jury judged each entry based on: vocal capacity; the stage performance; the song's composition and originality; and the overall impression by the act. In addition, no member of a national jury was permitted to be related in any way to any of the competing acts in such a way that they cannot vote impartially and independently. The individual rankings of each jury member, as well as the nation's televoting results, were released shortly after the grand final.[16]

The following five members comprised the French jury:[16]

• Bruno Berberes – Chairperson – artistic director, head of casting
• Bintily Diallo – music journalist
• Lionel Maurel – head of video content
• Mohamed Zayana – label manager, producer
• Delphine Elbé – singer, songwriter

Split voting results from France (Semi-final 1)
Draw	Country	Jury							Televote
		B. Berberes	B. Diallo	L. Maurel	M. Zayana	D. Elbé	Average Rank	Points	Rank	Points
01	Cyprus	6	10	4	2	6	5	6	11
02	Montenegro	17	13	16	15	13	17		17
03	Finland	15	15	12	6	10	14		16
04	Poland	3	9	9	14	12	11		3	8
05	Slovenia	16	4	15	10	15	13		9	2
06	Czech Republic	10	3	5	3	4	3	8	12
07	Hungary	9	1	14	7	1	2	10	13
08	Belarus	5	8	2	8	11	7	4	15
09	Serbia	12	6	6	11	2	8	3	5	6
10	Belgium	13	16	8	12	14	15		6	5
11	Georgia	4	7	10	9	7	9	2	7	4
12	Australia	14	14	3	1	3	4	7	4	7
13	Iceland	1	2	1	17	16	1	12	2	10
14	Estonia	8	12	7	5	8	10	1	10	1
15	Portugal	7	5	13	16	9	12		1	12
16	Greece	2	11	11	4	5	6	5	8	3
17	San Marino	11	17	17	13	17	16		14

Split voting results from France (final)
Draw	Country	Jury							Televote
		B. Berberes	B. Diallo	L. Maurel	M. Zayana	D. Elbé	Average Rank	Points	Rank	Points
01	Malta	17	14	8	22	9	15		19
02	Albania	6	12	20	14	16	13		13
03	Czech Republic	13	3	6	21	11	8	3	20
04	Germany	16	23	11	7	22	17		23
05	Russia	15	21	14	13	13	19		8	3
06	Denmark	8	13	9	8	7	10	1	7	4
07	San Marino	22	25	25	25	25	25		25
08	North Macedonia	3	15	2	15	2	4	7	18
09	Sweden	5	7	3	4	3	2	10	15
10	Slovenia	25	10	16	24	23	22		16
11	Cyprus	9	9	4	17	17	11		17
12	Netherlands	2	6	5	2	1	1	12	6	5
13	Greece	14	22	15	23	15	23		22
14	Israel	21	11	18	11	6	12		1	12
15	Norway	23	20	24	18	14	24		3	8
16	United Kingdom	20	18	23	6	20	18		24
17	Iceland	10	1	1	20	24	6	5	10	1
18	Estonia	12	17	19	12	18	20		14
19	Belarus	24	8	7	19	21	14		21
20	Azerbaijan	4	4	13	5	4	5	6	12
21	France
22	Italy	1	2	21	3	12	3	8	2	10
23	Serbia	19	16	17	10	8	16		11
24	Switzerland	7	5	12	9	10	9	2	9	2
25	Australia	18	24	10	1	5	7	4	5	6
26	Spain	11	19	22	16	19	21		4	7