With only a few days left for artists to submit an application to represent France at Eurovision 2017, France’s broadcaster is remaining tight-lipped about who will follow in Amir’s footsteps.

However, daily newspaper Le Parisien has offered a bit of insight, claiming that French-Japanese act Alys is in the running to perform for France at Eurovision.

Alys is not an ordinary artist. In fact, she isn’t even human.

Alys is a humanoid persona that uses Alter/Ego technology and a singing voice synthesizer — all inspired by her Japanese equivalent, Hatsune Miku, who is a superstar in her native country. The newspaper reports that Alys (or perhaps we should say “her programmers”) have submitted a song called “Oxygen” — a rock number that describes her encounter with the real world.

Behind Alys is a new start-up called Voxwave, hosted by the Center of Arts of Enghien-les-Bains in the suburbs of Paris. The project might seem bold but the president and co-founder of Voxwave seems pretty confident about their chances of representing France at Eurovision.

He said: “Behind this seemingly odd application, Alys is a true project and the emotions she transmits on stage are real. Conchita Wurst’s victory in 2014 was bold in its artistic concept, so why not Alys?”

And how exactly would she perform on stage?

Voxwave have developed a holographic projection system that would make her look as if she’s actually standing on stage. She will also sing live — as the Eurovision rules forbid pre-recorded vocals — and would be accompanied by four REAL musicians: two guitarists, one bass player and one drummer.

Described by her founder as an alliance between French touch and French technology, Alys has already amassed more than 1.5 million views on her YouTube videos and 13,000 followers on her Facebook page.

She’s already released two albums and will hold her first-ever concert in Paris on December 17, and will possibly embark on a national tour later in 2017.

What do you think of Alys? Do you think she could bring France their first victory in 40 years? Let us know in the comments section below!