France in the Eurovision Song Contest 2004
| Eurovision Song Contest 2004 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country |  France | |||
| National selection | ||||
| Selection process | Internal selection | |||
| Selection date(s) | Artist: 9 February 2004 Song: 10 March 2004 | |||
| Selected entrant | Jonatan Cerrada | |||
| Selected song | "À chaque pas" | |||
| Selected songwriter(s) |
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| Finals performance | ||||
| Final result | 15th, 40 points | |||
| France in the Eurovision Song Contest | ||||
| ||||
France participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2004 with the song "À chaque pas" written by Ben "Jammin" Robbins, Steve Balsamo and Jonatan Cerrada. The song was performed by Jonatan Cerrada. The French broadcaster France Télévisions in collaboration with the television channel France 3 internally selected the French entry for the 2004 contest in Istanbul, Turkey. Jonatan Cerrada was officially announced by France 3 as the French entrant on 9 February 2004 and later "Laissez-moi le temps" was announced as the French entry on 11 February 2004. On 22 February 2004, France 3 announced that Cerrada would perform a new song at the Eurovision Song Contest and "À chaque pas" was presented to the public as the new contest entry during a live performance by Cerrada on 22 March 2004 during the France 3 programme Symphonic Show.
As a member of the "
Background
Prior to the 2004 Contest, France had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest forty-six times since its debut as one of seven countries to take part in
The French national broadcaster,
Before Eurovision
Internal selection
France 3 announced in early 2004 that the French entry for the 2004 Eurovision Song Contest would be selected internally. On 9 February 2004, France 3 announced that the French entrant for the Eurovision Song Contest 2004 would be Belgian singer Jonatan Cerrada.[3] Information that Cerrada would represent France at the Eurovision Song Contest 2004 was leaked on 24 January 2004 by French newspaper France Dimanche following his win at the first season of the singing competition Nouvelle Star.[4]
Jonatan Cerrada's song "Laissez-moi le temps", written by Shayane, was presented to the public on 11 February 2004 during a concert which was held at the L'Olympia in Paris. On 22 February 2004, France 3 announced that Cerrada would be performing a new song at the Eurovision Song Contest after "Laissez-moi le temps" was deemed unsuitable for the contest.[5][6] The replacement entry "À chaque pas", written by Ben "Jammin" Robbins, Steve Balsamo and Jonatan Cerrada and contains lyrics in a bilingual mix of French and Spanish, was previewed online on 10 March 2004 and formally presented to the public on 22 March 2004 during the France 3 programme Symphonic Show, hosted by Évelyne Thomas.[7][8]
At Eurovision
It was announced that the competition's format would be expanded to include a semi-final in 2004. According to the rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country, the "
In France, the final was broadcast on France 3 with commentary by Laurent Ruquier and Elsa Fayer, as well as via radio on France Bleu with commentary by Jean-Luc Delarue. The French spokesperson, who announced the French votes during the final, was Alex Taylor.
Final
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Jonatan Cerrada took part in technical rehearsals on 9 and 10 May, followed by dress rehearsals on 14 and 15 May. During the running order draw for the semi-final and final on 23 March 2004, France was placed to perform in position 4 in the final, following the entry from Norway and before the entry from Serbia and Montenegro.[9]
The French performance featured Jonatan Cerrada on stage dressed in a white suit and performing the song with a stilted dancer, Tatiana Seguin. The stage colours were predominantly white and two helium filled balloons, one on the arena ceiling and one on the big dome shaped stage, were displayed during the performance.[10][11] The performance was directed by Kamel Ouali who based the idea of the act around The Little Prince novella.[12] Jonatan Cerrada was also joined on stage by four backing vocalists: Elisabet Baile, Labila Mokedem, Caroline Pascaud and Michel Cerroni.[10] France placed fifteenth in the final, scoring 40 points.[13]
Voting
Below is a breakdown of points awarded to France and awarded by France in the grand final of the contest. The nation awarded its 12 points to Turkey in the final of the contest.
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References
- ^ "France Country Profile". EBU. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
- ^ Philips, Roel (11 January 2005). "France to organise national final in March". Esctoday. Retrieved 14 August 2021.
- ^ Bakker, Sietse (9 February 2004). "France confirmed: Jonatan Cerrada to Istanbul". Esctoday. Retrieved 14 August 2021.
- ^ Bakker, Sietse (24 January 2004). "French newspaper: Jonatan Cerrada for 200". Esctoday. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
- ^ "2004 – Sélection française". eurofans.fr (in French). Retrieved 14 August 2021.
- ^ Shahin, Kemal (22 February 2004). "France: Jonatan to sing A chaque pas". Esctoday. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
- ^ "Évelyne Thomas en Symphonic Show". TVMag (in French). 12 November 2003. Retrieved 14 August 2021.
- ^ Philips, Roel (10 March 2004). "French song A chaque pas available for listening". Esctoday. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
- ^ Bakker, Sietse (23 March 2004). "Eurovision 2004: this is the running order!". Esctoday. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
- ^ a b Bakker, Sietse (6 May 2004). "France reveals details about performance". Esctoday. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
- ^ Barak, Itamar (9 May 2004). "Stilts and globe balloons for French stage act". Esctoday. Retrieved 14 August 2021.
- ^ Marolle, Emmanuel (15 May 2004). "Jonatan Cerrada : "L'Eurovision, ce n'est pas ringard"". Le Parisien (in French). Retrieved 14 August 2004.
- ^ "Grand Final of Istanbul 2004". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 18 April 2021. Retrieved 18 April 2021.
- ^ a b "Results of the Grand Final of Istanbul 2004". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 19 April 2021. Retrieved 19 April 2021.