EDIT: I’m a dumb ass bitch and accidentally said 2018 instead of 2019.

Bonjour, bonjour. Last year I didn’t get a chance to review the French songs for their NF, however this year I’m gonna take the opportunity to do this.

A special shoutout to Gabrielle, who was the victim of a horrific crime in the semi finals last weekend. You’ll always be the winner in our hearts 😥

Anyway, let’s get to this. I’ll be reviewing the songs in order of the semi final they qualified from.

Bilal Hassani – Roi

There’s a lot of hype building about the song, as it sits with 5.1 million views on YouTube so far. Along with Seemone’s Tous Les Deux it’s one of the two favourites to win. This seemed more like a generic ballad to me at the first listen, but it’s grown on me. My only worry is Bilal belting out those notes in the chorus. Bilal himself is an interesting performer: with his long hair and white robe, he has a very androgynous look. However he’s a very charismatic one too. (Have you even seen his Twitter?) Anyway, I do like this, and I think it’ll win.

Chiméne Badi – Lá-haut

This song came 2nd to Bilal in the first semi final, but I feel it should’ve won. This is my current favourite song in the competition. The driving piano in the chorus makes it sound like an Adele song, but the tambourine rhythms bring it to a different level. I feel with a revamp this could crack top 10, but sadly I can’t see it being picked.

Silvan Areg – Le Petit Nicolas

There’s always one entry that makes it despite nobody expecting it in DE. Last year it was Igit, and now it’s Silvan. Silvan has that voice that every French movie villain has. While the instrumental itself is pretty catchy, the rapping is very… meh. This ain’t my cup of tea, but it’s not bad.

Aysat – Comme une grande

I was very very surprised when this qualified for the final. The live performance was nothing special, but the instrumental is pretty cool. However, this kinda tires out after the 3rd listen.

Seemone – Tous Les Deux

Another song that has been coming closer and closer to toppling Bilal from the favourite position. Honestly, I get the whole sentimental aspect of this, but I really don’t enjoy this at all. I just can’t connect to the song at all. However, musically it’s a really nice piano piece. This stands a great chance at winning.

Emmanuel Moire – La promesse

Now, nobdoy expected this to qualify either. It’s a bit slow and inoffensive altogether. It isn’t a bad song (I really say this a lot) but it really isn’t a Eurovision song. More of a Coldplay album track.

La Divaz – La voix d’Aretha

Okay, this is my least favourite of the entries by quite a considerable margin. I understand this trio are trying to pay tribute to the late great Aretha Franklin, who left us last year, but honestly I do not enjoy this at all. The song is tiring, the stage performance is cringy, the randomly thrown in references to Aretha are heavy handed. How did this make it over Gabrielle??

Doutson – Sois un bon fils

This would probably remind me most of French pop at the minute. Doutson sings in that kinda half sing half rap way that singers like Slimane and Stromae do. This song… is very French pop, but I’m not a massive fan. Definitely better than at least two of the qualifiers from this semi though.

THE VERDICT

There’s one song I actually like in this final, and it’s Chiméne’s attempt ‘La-haut’. However, of the title contenders, I think Bilal Hassani should represent France with his song ‘Roi’.