Just when it was announced by newspaper “Le Parisien” that France would go internal this year, several other media outlets (“20 Minutes”,”Ouest-France”…) have felt the need to publish more details about the situation.

Indeed, French broadcaster “FranceTélévisions” has decided to drop “Destination Eurovision”, but the replacement method to choose the French entry this year is yet to be decided. It seems now that FTV dropped its national final, not because of viewing figures really, but because it wanted to be more closely involved in the process. Even if it is not said out loud, it is well known over here that last year’s victory by Bilal was mainly due to his huge social media influence, and that the broadcaster, despite the young boy’s talent, felt a bit powerless before the huge number of votes from his fanbase.

So this year, FranceTélévision is facing 2 options:

• a national final with only 3 to 4 acts to choose from. Those songs would be carefully chosen by FTV. That would be like a lighter version of “Destination Eurovision”. In that case, one could speak of “internal pre-selection” and the public would have the final say.
• an internal selection if one of the songs sent to the broadcaster seems to be the perfect choice. In that case, a special show would be broadcast in early March to present the entry.

FranceTélévison has already contacted record labels in France, but foreign ones as well (something that is a premiere since 2004) and has received many potential entries.

Stay tuned for more information from the hexagone!