Eurovision 2022: why France does not participate in the semi-finals?

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Eurovision 2022 why France does not participate in the semi finals

EUROVISION. France is automatically qualified for the final of Eurovision 2022, broadcast on Saturday May 14. Why don’t we participate in the semi-finals on Tuesday and Thursday?

[Mis à jour le 10 mai 2022 à 20h45] In the minds of viewers across Europe, Eurovision boils down to the final scheduled for this Saturday, May 14, 2022. But before that, the semi-finals qualify the 20 candidates in the running. France does not, however, participate in any of these selection stages, broadcast on France 4 and Culturebox on May 10 and 12.

Indeed, the countries which contribute, financially, the most to the organization of Eurovision, namely France, Germany, Spain, Italy and the United Kingdom are automatically qualified for the final . French Eurovision fans can however vote during the first semi-final of 2022 by sending SMS to support their favorite candidate to 73003. It will not be possible to vote in the second semi-final, France not participating even as a guest.

If the final of Eurovision 2022 takes place this Saturday, May 14, candidates already stand out as favorites. According to the predictions of the bookmakers, Ukraine, and the group Kalush Orchestra, should win the competition. He is credited with a 49% chance of winning. In second position, we find the United Kingdom which would have a 10% chance of winning, ahead of Italy, also with a 10% chance of winning. Conversely, France is in 12th place in bookmakers’ predictions, with only a 1% chance of winning Eurovision this year. The bookmakers’ forecasts can however be denied on D-Day, and will continue to become clearer as the final approaches.

Kalush Orchestra, a Ukrainian rap group (three members) formed in 2019 and will perform the song “Stefania” on the Eurovision 2022 stage. In parallel, the group released two albums during the year 2021: Hotin and Yo-yo. For the record, Kalush Orchestra was initially not to participate in Eurovision since they had arrived in second place in the national selection: the initial candidate, Alina Pash, had to withdraw after a controversy. She was indeed accused of having traveled to Crimea via Russia in 2015. On May 10, Ukrainian candidates will participate in the Eurovision semi-final and will not be able to participate in the final four days later until in case of qualifying.

Every year, bookmakers make their predictions to try to guess who will be crowned winner of Eurovision. This year, all eyes are on Ukraine. Due to its invasion by Russia (disqualified from the contest for this same reason), the country can be expected to get many votes from the participating countries. The eurovisionworld.com site allows you to follow bookmakers’ predictions in real time. As of this writing, Ukraine and Kalush Orchestra are leading with a 49% chance of winning. They are ahead of Italy and the group Mahmood & Blanco, credited with a 12% chance of winning, and the United Kingdom, which would have a 10% chance of winning Eurovision in 2022. Conversely, France and the group Breton Alvan and Ahez are currently in 11th position in the forecasts, with only a 1% chance of winning.

Can we trust the predictions of the bookmakers? Each year, the forecasts provide an initial trend of votes for the Eurovision final. In 2019, they announced the Netherlands as the winners, a prediction which was confirmed in the final. Ditto in 2021, where the first two places (Italy, France) had been perfectly guessed by the bookmakers. But sometimes, the forecasts of the bettors do not allow to know the winner of the contest. In 2018, Israel won the title, while the predictions announced a victory for Cyprus. The country finally came second in the final.

Eurovision takes place in 2022 live from Turin. The two semi-finals are to follow on May 10 and 12, 2022, both broadcast live from 9 p.m. on France 4. The final will take place just a few days later, on Saturday May 14, 2022. It will be broadcast as every year from from 9 p.m. on France 2. Note that France, being one of the countries that have contributed the most financially to the competition since its creation, is automatically qualified for the final.

On March 5, 2022, it was in the tele-hook “Eurovision France: it’s you who decide” on France 2 that the French candidate was appointed ahead of Eurovision 2022. It is the group Alvan & Ahez , who sings in Breton her title “Fulenn” (which means both “spark” and “young girl”), which was chosen by the jury and the public to represent France at the biggest international singing competition. France being part of the “Big Five”, that is to say the countries which contribute the most to the organization of the competition from a financial point of view, Alvan & Ahez is automatically qualified for the Eurovision final. this Saturday, May 14, 2022. They will however make an appearance during the first semi-final.

Russia is not participating in Eurovision in 2022. The organizers have decided to sanction the country for the invasion of Ukraine by dismissing the Russian candidate from the international singing competition, but also preventing the country led by Vladimir Putin from vote. “In the context of the unprecedented crisis unfolding today in Ukraine, there were fears that a Russian participation this year would bring discredit to the Competition. Before taking its decision, the EBU took the time to carry out a broad consultation with its members”, specified a press release from the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), organizer of the event, on February 25, 2022.

We do not yet know the winner of Eurovision 2022, since the final takes place on May 14, 2022 from 9:00 p.m. During the last edition of Eurovision, broadcast on May 22, 2021, Maneskin, who represented Italy, was crowned the big winner. The Italian group won the international singing competition thanks to its title, “Zitti e buoni”. It ranked ahead of France and Switzerland, in second and third place respectively. Before the big night, the rock band was already the favorite of the bookmakers, who imagined them winning the competition. This Italian quartet comes from Rome. They began by performing in the streets of the Italian capital, before appearing at X Factor in Italy, in 2017. It was by winning the San Remo festival that they won their qualification for Eurovision 2021.

  • Italy (524 points)
  • France (499 points)
  • Switzerland (432 points)
  • Iceland (378 points)
  • Ukraine (364 points)
  • Finland (301 points)
  • Malta (255 points)
  • Lithuania (220 points)
  • Russia (204 points)
  • Greece (170 points)
  • Bulgaria (170 points)
  • Portugal (153 points)
  • Moldova (115 points)
  • Sweden (109 points)
  • Serbia (102 points)
  • Cyprus (94 points)
  • Israel (93 points)
  • Norway (75 points)
  • Belgium (74 points)
  • Azerbaijan (65 points)
  • Albania (57 points)
  • San Marino (50 points)
  • The Netherlands (11 points)
  • Spain (6 points)
  • Germany (3 points)
  • the United Kingdom (0 points)

Since its creation in 1956, France has won the Eurovision Song Contest five times: in 1958, 1960, 1962, 1969 and 1977. Our country is therefore just behind Ireland, which holds the record with seven victories. In 1958, singer André Claveau won France’s first victory with the title Dors, mon amour. Two years later, in 1960, the artist Jacqueline Boyer won unanimous support with the song Tom Pillibi. In 1962, Isabelle Aubret won Eurovision with the song Un premier amour. Then in 1969, it was Frida Boccara who won the Eurovision Song Contest with the title Un jour, un enfant. Finally, in 1977, the singer Marie Myriam was the last to win by performing The Bird and the Child, a title that has become cult over time for the public.

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