ESCXTRA’s 2018 Hopefuls: France

Welcome to our brand new weekly series, ‘ESCXTRA’s 2018 Hopefuls’, in which we will tell you who we would like to see in Eurovision next year! This series will keep you entertained with new music from across Europe every Monday until the national final season begins next year, and may give you somebody new to root for to represent your country!  Today, we look at who we want to see represent France in Eurovision 2018. Let’s get started!

Shy’m

Tamara Marthe, known as Shy’m, is one of the most successful French singers of the 21st century, with three albums reaching platinum classification! She as also won the 2012, 2013, and 2015 NRJ Music Award for Francophone Female Artist of the Year!

Being one of France’s most successful singers, Shy’m would be a fantastic choice to represent France in Eurovision. She could give the French public a song that they could really get behind. Her ballads are really something, and have a powerful effect even on those who speak little French!

Kendji Girac

In 2014, Kendji Girac won Season 3 of The voice: la plus belle voix, the French edition of the voice. Since then, he has released two chart-topping albums and a number of hit singles. He is the youngest of a Catalan Gitano (the Romani people of Catalonia) family. His first language is Catalan, and his first single, Color Gitano, was performed in both French and Spanish!

Kendji’s music is clearly influenced by his Catalan Gitano ancestry. The strong gypsy vibes, mixed with modern beats, works amazingly well. His music is reminiscent of last year’s Hungarian entry, Joci Pápai! Kendji representing France in Eurovision would be great!

Sofia Essaïdi

Half Algerian, half Moroccan Amel Bent rose to fame after reaching the semi-finals of Season 2 of French TV series Nouvelle Star. Of all the artists from Nouvelle Star, Amel Bent has done the best! Her first single, Ma philosophie, reached number 1 in both the French and Belgian charts.

More recently, she released Ma chance in 2012. Amel creates amazing R&B music, and it’s a wonder why she isn’t one of the most popular R&B artists worldwide! It is very rare to see R&B in Eurovision, and we think that Amel would be perfect to introduce it into the contest.

Emmanuel Moire

Emmanuel Moire is described as an “eclectic” artist. He has released 4 very successful albums, and in 2012 he won the French version of Dancing with the Stars, Danse avec les Stars. Emmanuel represented France at the 2007 Sopot Festival with his song Ça me fait du bien, coming second to the Polish winners.

Emmanuel has a beautiful voice, and clearly knows how to give a performance. We think that he could create a winner for France in Eurovision! He can also play the piano, so his performance could include him singing whilst playing. All that he needs is a great song, which he seems to have no trouble finding!

TAL

Israeli-French singer Tal Benyerzi, or TAL for short, was born into a musical home; the majority of her family are involved in music! Her biggest hit, Le sens de la vie, was taken from her first album, Le droit de rêver.

Just over a year ago, she released her single Are We Awake, and showed that she is still popular in both France and Belgium! Are We Awake sounds almost like something we’d hear from Poli Genova, and we love it.

M. Pokora

Matthieu Tota, commonly known as either Matt Pokora or M. Pokora, has sold more than 3.5 million records in France alone. In 2016, he was a coach for both The Voice: la plus belle voix, and The Voice Kids France! He began by winning the third season of the French talent show Popstars as part of boyband Linkup. However, the band disbanded after only creating one hit single.

Despite the low success for Linkup, Matthieu has done very well on his own! He has won 19 awards for his music, and it’s easy to see why; it’s so well-made! Matthieu’s music is modern and radio-friendly, but he still manages to maintain his own style! We would love to see him represent France in Eurovision!

Nolwenn Leroy

Nolwenn Leroy creates music that is very different to what we’ve shown you so far. Her music is influenced by world and Celtic music! Surprisingly, her unique music has done marvellously well in France; she has achieved two number ones and five studio albums. Her album, Bretonne, was certified 2x Diamond, and she has received countless awards and nominations!

Just 2 weeks ago, Nolween released her new single, Gemme. We think it’s fantastic, it’s just unfortunate that it has been released before the date set by the EBU, so can’t go to Eurovision next year! Nolwenn’s unique style and catchy beats could do very well for France in Eurovision; she would certainly stand out during the recap!

Next week, we will look at who we want to see represent Switzerland!
What do you think of our hopefuls? Is there anybody else you’d like to see for France in Eurovision? Do the idea of any of these artists excite you? Tell us in the comments below!