France is holding an ambitious national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest, the biggest in nearly two decades. 'Destination Eurovision' will see 18 artists compete for the right to represent the country at the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest in Lisbon.

Broadcaster France Télévisions will broadcast three heats of its national selection Destination Eurovision. Two semi-finals will be broadcast on 13th and 20th January with the live final taking place on Saturday 27th January.

The three shows will be broadcast on France2 as well as globally on TV5 Monde. Viewers from around the world can also follow the shows on Facebook live.

Calling in the experts

The finalists will be selected by an expert panel including both a Francophone jury as well as an international panel:

Amir – Singer-songwriter, represented France in the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest

Isabelle Boulay – Singer from Quebec

Christophe Willem – Singer, winner of Idol in 2006

The Francophone jury for 'Destination Eurovision 2018' © Benjamin Decoin / Starface

The international jury panel in the semi-finals will consist of:

Christer Björkman – Television Producer

Nicola Caligiore – Head of Delegation for Italy at Eurovision

Olga Salamakha – Head of Delegation for Belarus at Eurovision

Participating artists

Four acts from each semi-final will be selected to proceed to the final to compete for the right to represent France in the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest.

First semi-final

Lisandro Cuxi - Eva

Malo - Ciao

Noée - L’un près de l’autre

Elha - J’ai cru Masoé - Paradis

Emmy Lyianna - OK ou KO

Louka - Mamma Mia

Enea - I’ll Be There

Pheno Men - Jamais sans toi

Masoé - Paradis

Second semi-final

Madame Monsieur - Mercy

Jane Constance - Un jour j’ai rêvé

Max Cinnamon - Ailleurs

Igit - Lisboa Jérusalem

June The Girl - Same

Sarah Caillibot - Tu me manques

Nassi - Rêve de gamin Lucie - My world

Sweem - Là-haut

Lucie Vagenheim - My World

May we have your votes please?

During the semi-finals the expert juries will each have a 50% say in the result (50% from the Francophone panel and 50% from the international jury). During the final in the winner will be decided by both the international jury and the public.

Each member of the international jury will be individually invited to award a total of 42 points to only six songs among the final nine presented during the show. They will award points in the following way: 12 points to their favourite song then 10, 8, 6, 4, and 2 points to their sixth favourite.

The public vote will only be open to people living in France. The song that receives the highest score according to the total ranking will be the winner of Destination Eurovision and represent France in the Eurovision Song Contest. In the case of a tie, the song that received the highest votes from the public will be declared the winner.

Let’s get social

You can follow all the latest news about Destination Eurovision on Facebook, Twitter and don’t forget to check out the official website to hear clips of the songs. An official channel on YouTube will also be launched ahead of the show.

Last year Alma represented France in the Eurovision Song Contest with the song Requiem.

Bonne chance à tous les participants!







