Clé France

You may love Eurovision, you may hate it or you may just be indifferent about the annual song contest but one thing you need to know is "the French" love it! 

So buying a property in France and holidaying there during May you will be sure to see TV coverage in bars and public places and if you buy a house in france for full time living then be sure to have to use your French language skills to discuss the current years song entry.

We know of French families that make a party weekend of the event and invite friends and family to their houses for Eurovision get togethers that run long into the night, so be prepared to join in with a sing-a-long!

On Saturday night, most of Europe will be watching the finale of the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest. If you’re not familiar with this contest, it’s an annual song competition with countries in the European Broadcasting Union participating. This year, for its 60th anniversary, the contest is taking place in Vienna, Austria, because last year’s winner was Austria. Eurovision is a very popular: this year, an estimated 600 million viewers globally will be celebrating 60 years of singing.

Image courtesy of This Week UK

How it works is each country selects a singer to represent them. What surprised me is that the representative doesn’t have to be a citizen of the country he’s singing for! Canadian singer Céline Dion (ever heard of her?) sang for Switzerland in 1988 with the song “Ne Partez Pas Sans Moi” (Don’t Leave without Me), for example. Her participation helped launch her international career, so I’m pretty sure it’s safe to say that we can think Eurovision for our chance to perform our own drunken renditions of “My Heart Will Go On” at karaoke. Merci, Eurovision!

Céline isn’t the only big timer to come from a Eurovision background. ABBA won for Switzerland in 1974 with “Waterloo”.

The competition has two semi-finals and a final. For each semi-final, the 10 countries with the highest scores will make the journey to the Eurovision host country. Regardless of where they place, there is a group of 5 countries known as the Big Five that automatically place into the finals because they’re the biggest financial contributors to the European Broadcasting Union.

They are: France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the UK, and Australia. (Hey... that’s not 5. That’s 6! And Australia??). The previous year’s winner is also automatically in the final.

The winner is decided by 2 factors: a jury and public vote. Both are given 50%. This method can lead to a lot of geopolitical voting (which is interesting in and of itself).

France has appeared in the competition in 58 of the 60 competitions, missing the 1974 and 1982 contests. They’ve won 5 times:

1958 with “Dors, mon amour” by André Claveau

1960 with “Tom Pillibi” by Jacqueline Boyer

1962 with “Un premier amour” by Isabelle Aubret

1969 with “Un jour, un enfant” by Frida Boccara

1977 with “L’oiseau et l’enfant” by Marie Myriam

Since 1977, France has placed bronze 3 times and silver twice. Most notably, they placed last in 2014 with “Moustache” by Twin Twin. Yikes.

So what has France submitted this year to not repeat last year’s title?

This year’s French representative is a woman named Lisa Angell who is singing a song called “N’oubliez pas” (Don’t Forget). The song is a message to the entire generation to not repeat the mistake of past generations. It’s a song of “hope and peace, of courage and solidarity,” according to the singer.

Here are the the lyrics and an English translation.

Il ne me reste que des larmes

I only have tears left

Ces quelques notes venues d’autrefois

These few notes from the past

Et le chant de nos prières

And the melody of our prayers

Nos cœurs qui espèrent

Our hearts are hoping

Et le vide sous mes pas

And the emptiness beneath my steps.

 

Il ne me reste que les cendres

I only have ashes left

De mon village plongé dans le silence

Of my village that was plunged into silence

Je ne suis qu’une blessure

I’m only a wound

Un cœur sans armure

A heart without armour

Comment survivre après ça?

How can you survive after this?

 

Mais je suis là, je n’oublie pas

But I’m here, and I won’t forget

Dans mon village balayé par l’histoire

In my village swept away by history

Et je vis là, n’oubliez pas

And I live there. Don’t forget.

Effacé des cartes et des mémoires

Erased from the maps and memories

 

Je me souviens du rire des enfants

I remember the laughter of children

La voix des hommes quand ils partaient au champ

The voices of men leaving the field

Les fêtes des moissons

The harvest celebrations

L’odeur dans les maisons

The smell in the houses

Les éclats d’amour et de joie

The bursts of love and joy

 

Quand ils sont arrives

When they arrived

Cachés derrière leurs armes

Hidden behind their weapons

Ils étaient des milliers

There were thousands of them

Ils riaient de nos larmes

They laughed at our tears

 

Ils ont voulu détruire

They wanted to destroy

Nos croyances et nos âmes

Our beliefs and our souls

Avec des mots de haine

With hateful words

Que l’on n’connaissait pas

That we didn’t know

 

Je suis ici ce soir

I’m here tonight

Au milieu de ces ruines

In the middle of these ruins

Pour vous parler d’espoir

To talk to you about hope

Et vous chanter la vie

And to sing about life

Et je fais le serment

And I’m making a promise

Quand séchera le sang

That when the blood dries

De reconstruire ma ville

I will rebuild my city

Bien plus belle qu’avant

Even more beautiful than before

Mais n’oubliez pas

But don’t forget.

AND... remember to sing along on Saturday night!

Blog submitted by: Alex at The French Property Network - Cle France.

This blog was originally posted on The French Language Blog pages.