France are one of the big founding nations of Eurovision. They’ve struggled against the tide of English by stubbornly and admirably promoting their own language in their entries, and that makes up a lot of the focus of French trivia, but there’s some other interesting questions here too.
With a few weeks before we begin looking forward to Eurovision 2019, it’s that time in a Eurovision fan’s year to reflect on past years and all the good music and events they brought. And, also, some trivia.
So You Think You Know… is a series that will arrive each Wednesday, each time focusing on a new active Eurovision country. We are continuing alphabetically, France will be next.
It has been some time since the last French victory on the Eurovision stage. When was their last win?
Which one of these languages from within the Francophone sphere HASN’T been represented on the Eurovision stage?
Haitian was included in 1992, Corsican in 1993 and again in 2011, and Breton in 1996.
When was the first time a French entrant to Eurovision incorporated no French lyrics into their song?
The 1996 entry, Diwanit Bugale, was entirely in Breton. Sognu in 2011 was also entirely in Corsican.
Amina came 2nd in 1991 on countback. What did she have less of compared to Carola?
Rerun today, Amina would have won as now the rules say that countback is done on more votes. At the time they tied on 12s and the decision went in favour of Carola with more 10s.
What does the title of the French 2001 entry ‘Je n’ai que mon âme’ mean?
How many French entrants from the 2010s have a name starting with A?
It’s quite a lot isn’t it. Amaury, Anggun, Amandine, Amir and Alma for the full list, and that’s 5 of the 6 soloists France has sent so far this decade.
Which year did the French Eurovision entry also help promote the World Cup for the French broadcaster?
Allez Ola Olé was the song, it’s title referring to the official 1998 World Cup anthem. 1998 of course being hosted (and won) by France.
How many top 10 results has France had in the 21st century?
Natasha St. Pier, Sandrine François, Patricia Kaas and Amir are the 4.
Which award did ‘Sognu’ win?
Composer and Press are both part of the Marcel Bezençon awards. France has won both those two and the Artistic award also.
Which country has France given the most final points to?
195, surprising, right? Maybe with the length of time they’ve both been competing, perhaps not. Israel are two behind with 193.
If you haven’t already played them (or just want to play them again), check out the below links for the So You Think You Know… quizzes from past weeks.
